Halloween is one of the most special and fun nights of the year for the little ones. Dressing up is undoubtedly the most entertaining part, but the controversy has even reached something as innocent as a children's costume.
Sachi Feris, a New York mother and activist for a "conscious" education, published a post a few days ago in her blog raceconscious.org two very popular costumes among girls how are they Moana, Disney's Polynesian princess, and Elsa from Frozen, the Scandinavian princess.
He did it after his five-year-old daughter expressed his desire to disguise himself this year of Moana and next year, of Elsa. But the mother does not like the idea.
Consider that dressing girls like Moana is a cultural appropriation, a mockery of other cultures:
“Moana is based on a true story and a true group of people… if we are going to disguise a person, we have to make sure we do it in a respectful way. Otherwise, it is as if we were making fun of someone else's culture, the mother said.
With respect to Elsa, believes that it promotes standards of beauty with which he does not agree:
"There is something I don't like about Elsa. I feel like Elsa is a White princess, and we see so many White princesses, her character sends the message that you must be a certain way to be beautiful or to be a princess. You must have White skin , long blonde hair and blue eyes. And I don't like the message. "
Ridiculous or sensible?
In the end, neither Moana nor Elsa. Your daughter will be disguised as Mickey Mouse. "It's a great solution since we don't have to worry about making fun of anyone or dressing up as a culture different from ours, because Mickey is a fantasy mouse."
However, far from resolving the issue, he has managed to raise a controversy that many consider absurd around children's costumes, but at the same time, others defend.
There are parents who agree that there is a point of cultural appropriation, but most argue that children should be able to choose the costume they wish to wear, and that they don't see anything problematic.
In addition, they ensure that it is contradictory that we make them see cultural differences and on the other hand, they are told that differences do not matter and that they must be tolerant of other cultures.
