Complementary G-string, anybody? (Simone)

I’ve been trying to come up with some costume ideas for the Arts Bookworm Ball, and so far, all I’ve thought of is that if I were a guy, I would totally be dressing up as Mr Darcy – he’s the ultimate bachelor (clearly! But maybe I wouldn’t know this if I was a guy?), and he wouldn’t take much effort to dress up as, you know? A top hat, some breachers maybe, a vest, boots, a bow tie. Or even, though this is a bit more cliche, Prince Charming with a crown, or Harry Potter. It would be totally suitable, easy, and you would actually look like the character does in the book without changing much!

But as a girl?! It’s so hard to come up with a good costume (pretty much regardless of the theme) that looks right. You couldn’t simply go to any dress up themed event as Elizabeth Bennett just as she is described in the book, for instance, without somehow modernising her long, old-fashioned dress to make it look… well, ‘hot’ enough. For some reason – maybe the bombardment of over sexualised images of female celebrities and modals we see pretty much everywhere – our culture seems to demand that we girls must look ‘hot’ in order to not only impress, but fit in. Whether it’s Halloween or Superhero day, characters always seem to have to have a certain sex appeal – hence why Supergirl outfits always have a mini skirt bottom, why Cat Woman is classically very ‘sexy’ in tight black leather, why even all the Disney Princess outfits for women are low cut or extremely tight around the waist.

Hell, I even saw an advertisement on the internet for an adult sized Snow White costume that boasted a ‘FREE G-STRING’ thrown in! – As if I would be then be like, oh yeeaah! Great! I would’ve bought a G-string anyway so that saves me some money! (Cough, cough!). I’m quite positive that no costume for men would feature a complimentary g-string (and much less have enough visibility in that area, unlike the short skirts for girls, to make it of any use!).

But, unfortunately, it feels like it’s one of those situations where you’re damned if you do, and yet damned if you don’t. The option is: to fit in better with the rest of the crowd, even though you may actually feel like you’re objectifying yourself to some extent – and not honouring the classic princess that the book described her to be. Or else? You’re exactly like Lindsay Lohan as Cady in ‘Mean Girls’, when she goes into the Halloween party dressed full-on as a zombie bride and is humiliated! There are some limited options, of course. Hermione Granger or Katniss Everdeen are a couple of the few characters I could imagine girls’ dressing up as that would not feature a corset or revealing top… but maybe that’s just reflective of our lack of strong female heroines in past and present literature.

I think what annoys me the most about all of this is that there is a double standard; guys’ don’t get that same pressure, or at least to the same extent. Costumes of book/film characters for guys’ online certainly are not sexualised in the same way the girls’ are. Don’t get me wrong; there’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to look a bit sexy. But when women are valued primarily for their sex appeal or domestic abilities? – That ticks me off!

There’s only one thing I can be sure of: no G-String with any costume for me, thanks!