"Halloween is nearly two months away, but there's already trouble brewing over my 13-year-old daughter, "Shelby's" choice of costume. Shelby wants to go as a sexy nurse. My husband is vehemently against it and has told her that she is "not going out dressed as a slut." The costume is a little on the skimpy side, but it's not THAT revealing. And our daughter is no longer a child. I don't see the harm in this sort of thing for a single evening."
"Your daughter is a child. Sexy nurse is a jokey-sexy costume for an adult (not that I like it much for a grown woman, either). Your child is most definitely not an adult, and going along with her pretending to be one is a very bad idea. If she wants to dress as a nurse, that's another matter entirely. And if she protests that dressing as a nurse is boring, brainstorm with her (Frankenstein's monster nurse? Demon or zombie nurse? Nurse-alien? Nurse-robot? Half-nurse, half-dragon? K-pop nurse?)."
A 13-year-old is still a child and should not be encouraged to wear costumes meant for adults. A 'sexy nurse' is an adult, jokey-sexualized costume inappropriate for a young teenager. Parents should distinguish between a nurse costume and a sexualized version, and can suggest creative, age-appropriate twists like Frankenstein's monster nurse, demon or zombie nurse, nurse-alien, nurse-robot, half-nurse half-dragon, or K-pop nurse. Labeling a girl as 'dressed as a slut' is inappropriate and harmful. Both overly permissive encouragement and shaming restrictions are wrong; parents should set limits while offering imaginative alternatives.
Read at Slate Magazine
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