Halloween is upon us once again. Time to don your costume, find a group of fellow masqueraders, and hit the drinks/town.
Surprisingly, there are very few research articles on Halloween or dressing up or new identity while dressed up. The best research on this topic is from 1993!
But here is what we know about Halloween based on the limited research out there:
Dressing up = drinking. Those who dress up are more likely to drink (I guess there’s something about being in a potentially ridiculous costume that makes us want to take the edge off). This pattern isn’t really seen for other drugs or smoking marijuana.
Gender patterns of drinking during Halloween. Women slam back an average of 5 drinks (considered binge drinking) while men hammer back an average of 8 drinks (also considered binge drinking).
Group costumes protect you from drinking too much. False. It doesn’t matter if you are doing a solo costume or a group costume, you’re still gonna drink. And probably drink hard.
Men are more likely to hide their identity in their costume. I remember being out at the bar one Halloween dressed up as a she-devil and I had a bright red wig on. I was chatting up this good-looking guy and he kept asking me to take off my wig so he could see my hair. Because I’m difficult, I refused. We made out at the bar but that was the end of the road for him because he didn’t want to discover that I was some troll once I took the wig off. He went home alone. I didn’t. Way to cockblock yourself, buddy.
Women less likely to feel that their costumes hide their identity/think they can play different roles because of their costumes. However, if you’ve visited any local costume store lately, you’ll have noticed the plethora of sexy options for women which makes me wonder about this.
Any seemingly innocent female profession is suddenly skanked out and makes for a sexy (insert title here) costume. Police Officer (handcuffs are the perfect S&M addition to this costume), Yoga instructor (can you say flexible = fun sex positions?), Dental Hygienist (open wide, please), and many, many more.
According to this video, the only thing you can count on definitely seeing this Halloween are multiple Jack Sparrow’s and sluts ‘whorin’ it up.’
But why is this? Well, Halloween is basically like being a tourist in your own town. You get to act in ways that you normally wouldn’t on a regular day. Put that costume on and all the rules are off. Halloween costumes do seem to offer many people ‘get out of jail free’ cards for their behaviour.
So this year, may you land on whatever side of the jailhouse you want.
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