Flaunt it, Ladies! (and Gents)

The countdown to the spookiest night of the year is upon us - from spiders and bats, to witches and cats – we’re all cock-a-hoop about the prospect of covering ourselves in webs and lacey stuff. So fetch.

But, as ever, Halloween marks the annual deluge of judgement aimed, steadied and fired in the direction of all young women.

It’s evident we live in an era of narcissism, where materialistic eyes cast their moral glances over everything. Currently, there are 1.37 billion daily active users on Facebook, an increase of 16% from last year, outlining the significance social media has in modern culture.

As a result, a discourse of disparaging judgement, facilitated by social media, has been embedded within society. And it needs to be stopped.

If we back-pedal away from the gory gruels of October, in July British Prime Minister Theresa May was pictured on holiday in Italy.

The Daily Mail unsurprisingly took the controversial plunge to plaster the image on their front cover, accompanying it with the headline ‘Oh Dear Theresa’.

Inside, the Mail’s fashion editor Fiona McIntosh gave her scathing verdicton the outfit - advising May to save it “till you get a tan”, criticizing her “pasty and shiny” skin.

CC: The Daily Mail

What’s most shocking about this is that the attack aimed at Mrs. May comes not from a hypercritical, chauvinistic, sexist male journo (which we have become all too familiar with, note Michael Fassbender’s interview with Katherine Waterston), but from a fellow female.

Whatever happened to us women liberating one another?

In the words of Madeline Albright, “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

What About the Guys?

Last week saw Saudi Arabia implement a law banning nightwear from sports stadiums.

Normally, you’d presume this type of restriction in regard to clothing was aimed at women, as is so often the case. However, the decision appears to an attempt by Saudi authorities to stop men from wearing a loose, short-sleeved robe in public.

It begs the question of why we, as individuals in the 21stcentury, males and females, are not only berated for expressing ourselves through clothing, but are actually prevented to do so by legal regulations?

So, guys and gals, as you deliberate over what to wear this Halloween, ignore the twitter trolls and their jaded judgements, rebel against the governing glances from afar and wear whatever the HELL you want. And enjoy it.