Halloween Costumes

There was a time when Halloween costumes were variations on a few themes like witches, ghosts, mummies, vampires, princesses, and hobos. Then came comic book superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Robin.

Most were homemade, often with a little help from Mom. It was the innocent province of children, traveling in neighborhood packs, with pillow cases to collect treats. Starting in the 1950s, social causes crept in with small orange cardboard boxes supplied at schools to solicit coins for those less fortunate by saying "Trick or treat for UNICEF."

Today, college students and adults buy trendy, expensive costumes, and go to Halloween parades and parties to make statements about identity and politics, increasingly at their own peril. Many colleges now restrict "ethnic" costumes that some say inflame feelings of cultural appropriation.

Vogue magazine researched the most Googled costumes for women by state this year. The winner by a landslide . . . Wonder Woman.

And then there's this costume. I hope it's bulletproof.

Red MAGA hat sold separately.

The Wall ~ PartyCity

Is Sexism Dead?

On Sunday I stopped at Grey Barn farm in Chilmark to get some cheese and meat. A little boy of around four was running excitedly like an airplane in the farmyard. He ran up to my car window and asked breathlessly, "Guess who I am?" I answered, "Superman!" He replied, "Noooo, I'm Wonder Woman!"

DC Comics ~ Wonder Woman