Hallowe’en Costumes
Ask students to describe Hallowe’en costumes they have worn in the past, or ones they plan to wear this year.
Now ask: “What can a Hallowe’en costume say?”
Students will likely be unsure how to answer or skeptical that a costume can “say” anything. Point out that costumes are a kind of media, that were constructed by people who made choices while making them. Those choices send messages like what’s good or bad, what’s important or unimportant, and who is included or left out.
Now ask students:
How do they decide what costumes to wear? What do they think about? Who helps them decide?
Do they mostly wear home-made or store-bought costumes? Where do they (or their parents) buy store-bought costumes?
How do they think the people who make store-bought costumes decide which costumes to make? How often do they make costumes based on other media? How often do they make characters based on other things kids like such as fairy tales, animals, et cetera?
Now show students the Image Slider in the student chapter Hallowe’en Costumes or have students access it.
Show the first image and ask if they recognize the character and where it’s from. If nobody does, tell them this is “Meowscles,” a character from the video game Fortnite.
Point out that Fortnite is rated “T,” which means only kids 13 and over should play it.
Does offering this costume in kids’ sizes suggest that it’s okay for younger kids to play Fortnite? Why or why not?
Show the next two images and ask:
What do you notice about these costumes?
How are the costumes different?
Why do you think the “Camo Trooper” costume only offered to boys, and the “Pop Singer” only offered to girls?
What does that say about what boys and girls like, or are expected to like?
Older students only: Write the word stereotype on the board and ask students if they know what it means. Make sure they understand that a stereotype is an image or picture of a kind of person that makes it seem like they are all the same: all girls wear pink, all boys want to be tough, and so on.
Show the final image and ask students if they know what a “ninja” is. Make sure they understand that ninjas do not just come from media: they were a kind of spy and soldier during the “warring states” period in Japan (roughly the 15th to 17th centuries CE) that later became very popular in Japanese media such as kabuki theatre.
Ask students:
How might a person who is Japanese feel about someone who is not Japanese wearing a ninja costume? Why?
Have students consider the phrase “My culture is not a costume.” Remind them that while your culture is a big part of who you are, a costume is something you can buy, put on and take off again. Do those sound the same?
Can students think of something from their culture or history that they would not want other people to wear as a costume?
(Note: Students do not have to come to a definite answer to any of these questions; it is enough that they become aware of them. If you have students who are Indigenous or are members or racially or culturally diverse groups, do not call on them specifically during this discussion, but let them choose whether or not to contribute to each question.)
Now show students the video in the student chapter Hipster Headdress, or have students access it.
Ask:
What did you see?
What jumped out at you when you were watching it?
How did it make you feel?
What do you think made you feel that way?
How was the video made?
A mixture of puppets and stop-motion. (If you like, you can show students some behind-the-scenes shots here.)
Now show students the video a second time and ask:
What kind of “costume” is the girl at the beginning of the video putting on? Whose culture does it come from?
The “costume” is a a feathered headdress or war bonnet
The people wearing the costumes in the video are supposed to be adults. Do kids who are not Indigenous ever dress up as Indigenous people?
If students don’t share any examples, you can tell them that children’s costumes based on traditional Indigenous clothing (or people’s imagination of it) were very popular for generations and, while they are less common, are still sold today.
Why do you think the Indigenous man who appears at the end is angry?
You may want to show students the video a second time so they can see his photo on the girl’s mirror at the beginning. This shows that she was using his photo as a model when making her “costume.”
The person who made the video, Amanda Strong, is a Michif/Red River Métis artist.
How do you think her identity and experience might have made her want to make the video?
What parts of the video come from her identity or experience?
The music uses drumming that recalls Indigenous drumming.
Though the Métis did not traditionally wear feathered headdresses, as an Indigenous person she has had experience with people who are not Indigenous “putting on” elements of Indigenous cultures like a costume.
Ask students if they have ever done a similar exercise, in class or elsewhere. If so, ask them to reflect on what has changed since the last time they did.
A representation of a kind of person that makes it seem like they are all the same.
A feathered headdress that is gifted to a respected person in a First Nations community and worn for ceremonial, political, or cultural purposes.
The language spoken by the Métis people across the Métis homeland in Canada and the United States.
People of mixed First Nations and European ancestry. The Métis history and culture draw on diverse ancestral origins, such as Scottish, Irish, French, Ojibwe, and Cree.
