Feminism and Halloween Costumes

Take Back Halloween: A costume guide for women with imagination is a great resource for feminists looking for costume ideas, including Ada Lovelace: “Ada Byron Lovelace (1815-1852) was one of the most remarkable visionaries in the history of science. Her friend Charles Babbage invented the Analytical Engine to crunch numbers; it was Ada who realized that it could do much more. She saw that a mechanical device—a computer, if you will—could solve all kinds of analytical problems, as long as … ” and Assae Yaa: “Asase Yaa is the earth goddess of the Asante people in Ghana. She created human beings and receives them back into her body when they die; she is also the mother of the gods. There are no temples to her, for the earth itself is both her body and her temple. There are also no standard anthropomorphic depictions of her, which means we’re free to come up with our own costume. Our design is a blend of inspirations: the kente cloth and fabulous gold jewelry of Ghanaian royalty …. the green plants and sparkling gems that are the gifts of the earth; and the libations that farmers pour out to Asase Yaa in their fields.”

Readers of this blog will also enjoy Skepchick’s take on the usual array of Halloween costumes for women, I Don’t Want To Be A Sexy Halloween Anything.