Limited costumes available

Yes, it’s that time of year again — Halloween. As I strolled the seasonal aisles of Wal-Mart earlier this month, looking for a costume (yes, I still dress up), I was overwhelmed at the choices available for ladies. As long as I wanted to be a French maid, witch, or nurse, I was set. That is, if “sexy time” was an option for all three, because all three looked like something out of Fredericks of Hollywood.

Halloween is traditionally a time when ghosts and goblins are most familiar, not stripperesque costumes.

Understandably, it really is the time of year when we can be something or someone else. If you want to carry on with the traditional scary costume and you’re female, you’d be better off choosing from the men’s items. There are a few ladies costumes that aren’t cut-up-to-here, but that’s just it — they’re few and far between.

The really scary part of this whole sexed-up Halloween trend is the fact that kids are being targeted as well.

On the Today Show Web site, Dr. Gail Saltz states that, “Costumes for girls around 8 and up all have the same cut - tight, short, with a cinched waist and accentuated bust.

They show off midriff, cleavage and thigh.”

Unfortunately, this is not a new fad — I remember when our daughter was in first grade, and the Jasmine costume from the movie “Aladdin” featured a bikini-type top with a bare midriff and harem-type bottom. I continually thank God that my mom and mother-in-law have made our daughter’s costumes most years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a prude or someone who poo-poos the idea of assuming a different identity for Halloween’s sake. But it goes so much further than this one day of the year. It sounds cliché, but our society has become so sexualized that when it comes to young girls, we seem to push girls to become women way too soon. Take, for example, your typical sitcom. When we were growing up, back in the ’70s and ’80s, sitcoms were relatively innocent (save, for “Three’s Company,” but their metaphors could be taken either way).

In this day and age, it’s rare to watch a sitcom that doesn’t reference some sort of sexual topic. I feel so torn sometimes — I am a proponent of free speech, and I’m of the schooling that if I don’t want our daughter to be exposed to it, I won’t let her watch it. Hence, the shows some of us adore on HBO are specifically targeted to adults, and I commend HBO on their marketing efforts.

Free speech and freedom of expression are wonderful things that we’re very fortunate to have in our country. One of my favorite quotes is by Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

My view, though, as far as the “sexualizing” of our youth is concerned is that stores, in their marketing efforts, are focusing on our youngsters trying to look “hot” or “sexy.” We cannot control that, aside from avoiding the stores in question.

It seems like it’s gotten worse, but has it really? In the early 1980s, Brooke Shields, not yet of legal age, was touting, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.” She was wearing a low-cut blouse that had one button holding it together, exposing her stomach. At my tender ages of 10 to 11, I wanted to look like that. And to go even further back in time, Marilyn Monroe (although at a size 14, God bless her!) typified sexy in ’50s and ’60s society. How many times have we seen her purr, “Happy birthday, Mr. President?”

So, it’s the same old story. Now that I’m a parent, I get it, but I don’t like it, especially as the mother of a girl who desperately wants to look 15 but is still our baby at the tender age of 11.

Thus is the struggle — and the curse my mother wished on me has come home: “When you have a child, I hope she’s just like you!” She actually wished the curse on my older brother, but he does not have children. Hence, it fell to me.

Hope A. Smith is an independent columnist and resident of Orange County. Her column appears Fridays. E-mail cancerstinx@aol.com