Halloween is just around the corner. I’m super excited, are you super excited?
I am.
So anyway, for Halloween this year I’ll be dressing up as Hit Girl from the comic-book-turned-movie, Kick Ass:
My costume is less "badass little girl" and more "poor college student using her friend's sewing machine for the first time."
But this wasn’t my first choice for a costume, not by a long shot. My first choice? Resident Evil 5‘s Sheva Alomar:
"What's 'emasculation' and can I shoot it in the face?" Yes, Sheva, please do, because we're all sick of that term.
I was all a-twitter about the costume: should I wear a BSAA version of her shmexy, impractical cleavage outfit? What sort of gun should I use? Do I need to get my ears pierced, risking infection? Should I get a wig?
And then I remembered something: Holy shit, Sheva Alomar is South African, and also black.
I am white.
Suddenly, my costume idea was a terrible one. I mean, granted, Sheva was incredibly white-washed compared to the other South Africans encountered during the game [even when they were transformed into obligatory “zombie gray”], but her parents’ skin color was never mentioned; she could have had one parent who had lighter/white skin. And obviously, not every South African should or does have the same damn skin color. I felt racist even considering that, and sat for a while staring at a picture of her and thinking how awful I’d been for even considering dressing up like a black woman.
But Sheva is my favorite character from the Resident Evil series. She’s awesome! In the game, she completely holds her own, isn’t flirty with Chris like Jill is with Josh in the downloadable content [and with helicopter guy, who, to be frank, was being super fucking creepy. Seriously, we are in the midst of a fucking zombie outbreak and you are trying to HOOK UP with the lady you are rescuing?] and gets to SLIT PEOPLE’S THROATS when you melee from behind.
GAH! Plus, her boots… WOO! I want those damn boots.
But still, dressing up as her felt something akin to blackface, which is deplorable.
I’m thinking back on my decision, today, going over all the racist Halloween costumes out in stores, and even the racist extra costumes for Sheva in the game.
This is called Sheva's Clubbin' Outfit, and if you don't know why that's racist, then you need to read some bell hooks.
NO CAPCOM. THAT IS NOT ACCURATE OR OKAY. PLEASE STOP.
I’m thinking… waitasec. Why is it racist for a white woman to dress up as a black woman, if the point of the costume is the character she is portraying, and not that the character is black? Sheva’s blackness is part of her identity, obviously, and me attempting to mimic her blackness through makeup or other means is just plain… well, stupid. But why would dressing up like Sheva be racist? In fact, I’m thinking my decision NOT to dress up like her was the racist one. I was afraid that my numerous black friends [zero] would become enraged that I had dared to dress up like a black woman.
Way to go Sunshinetango, way to assume all of your black friends [zero] are going to all become angry and offended for the same reason, when you A) aren’t trying to be offense and B) aren’t really doing something offensive. What if I was trying to dress up like Ada Wong [I wouldn’t, her dress would be fucking hard to make]? Would that be less racist because we have a similar skin tone? Or would I have had the same issue, feeling like my Asian friends [two] would become angry with me? Especially considering that Ada Wong is Chinese [I think?] and not all of my Asian friends [two] are Chinese.
No, look, my decision to not dress up like Sheva was a racist one. And I rejected the costume in favor of a ten-year-old white girl.
But still, at least Hit Girl is also a badass.
vidéo rouge 