Gwendolyn Sobkowiak | staff writer

As Halloween approaches, the never-ending frenzy to pick a costume intensifies. It’s the same question every year, and every time the possibilities still overwhelm me. We all know you can be literally anything you want for Halloween. Sure, maybe there are things that are more common or recognizable, but really, it’s no holds barred in this day and age. Last year, I saw just as many orange traffic cones as I did witches.

That’s really saying something about our costume creativity.

My own personal conundrum aside (for those wondering, I’ve settled on being a ghost, groundbreaking, I know) Halloween costumes have been a hot button issue for a while now. With the advent of social media, the tacky, tone-deaf and sometimes downright offensive costumes making the rounds at neighborhood parties have become a lot more visible, and a lot less kindly looked upon. The mockery of cultural symbols and dress have become a long-standing conversation that felt, for many, long overdue.

While I do feel as though there have been major improvements in our societal awareness of things that cross the line from creative to just downright offensive, there seems to be one costume that continues to haunt the halls of Spirit Halloween and Oakland backyard darties (daytime parties). It’s a mixed bag when I bring it up, and from the amount of times I’ve seen it posted by celebs and local sorority sisters alike, I don’t think it really seems to be losing steam anytime soon.

The “sexy nun costume,” as it’s so referred directly on the Spirit Halloween website (also see Naughty Nun costumes available at other stores), just gives me a horrible twinge in my stomach. There’s a lot to unpack with it to say the least.

For starters, I have an issue with sexualization in Halloween costumes in general. Yes, we’re in college and we want to have a good time, but does every single thing under the sun need to have an adult costume option? Maybe we could roll back on the weirdly adult “Dora the Explorer” costumes while we’re at it, she’s 6 on the show, and you all are being kind of weird.

Sure, there are a lot of costumes on the market that are a really creative twist on something that also just so happens to make it more adult. It just doesn’t mean that nuns need to be subject to that same weirdness.

Plus, the whole nun costume idea really does strike deeper than just some weird play on a kids TV show. Nuns aren’t some fairy tale character or movie trope. They’re real people who exist, right now. The clothing they’re wearing isn’t a costume, but an expression of their religious commitment and vows.

Think about someone donning a yarmulke or a hijab for Halloween. It would quickly be labeled as an offensive overstep, a violation of the boundaries between the sacredness of religious clothing and costume.

Some argue that since Catholicism is a dominant religion in the U.S., mocking its symbols isn’t all that serious. But that’s a shallow defense at best. An institution’s scandals shouldn’t represent every believer within them. The failures of the Church don’t give anyone the right to mock the faith of individual Catholics, just as wrongdoing of other religious groups wouldn’t justify mocking their members. If we’re going to draw respectful boundaries around religion and Halloween, those lines should apply equally across faiths.

But there’s another, deeper issue going on here. The reason I focus on the “sexy nun costume” is because it reflects a broader societal habit: The relentless sexualization of women, no matter who they are or what they represent. How strange for us as a society to allow for the objectification of this group of people who are so specifically asking for the focus of their lives not to be on lust. Nuns, in particular, have taken vows of chastity and devoted their lives to serving others. Their very calling is to step away from lust and focus on spiritual purpose, so turning them into sexual objects feels especially perverse. It’s really not clever or edgy.

It’s just disturbing.

What makes this even more troubling is the reality that many nuns have been made victims of sexual abuse, both in their lives beyond the convent and within the Church itself. In 2019, even the late Pope Francis commented on the sexual abuse of nuns within in the Church and his commitment to making a change, according to PBS.

It’s not just a one-off story, it’s a heartbreaking pattern that exists. When we turn their image into a sexualized costume, we’re not only mocking a symbol of faith, but we’re reinforcing a painful and ongoing dynamic of objectification and violation.

If you’re thinking of donning a habit for the 31st, I politely ask that you consider what you’re representing.

There’s just about a million funnier, more creative and more respectful costumes out there that aren’t mocking and sexualizing a group of women’s religious beliefs. If you’re really stuck, grab a sheet, cut out some eye holes and call it a day. It’s timeless, it’s easy and best of all, it’s not even a little bit offensive.

Gwendolyn Sobkowiak can be reached at sobkowiakg@duq.edu