"Sexy" is not a bad word

There's a meme going around Facebook about how sexist it is that when you go into a Halloween shop, most of the men's costumes have "sexy" versions for the women: sexy zombie, sexy vampire, sexy superhero, sexy monster, sexy mummy....

Well, I'm going to take the unpopular opinion that it's sexist to say it's sexist to give us sexy costumes. Because here's the thing: this might come as a shock, but... I don't want to look like a fat hairy bigfoot at a Halloween party.  Let's face it: we all stopped trick-or-treating when we were ten.  The days of being the adorable cat with fluffy ears and a tail in a baggy onesie or an ugly witch or whatever else cute and bouncy and scary and childlike we dressed up as as kids are over for us.  When adult women dress up for Halloween, it is more often than not to go out to a bar or a party.  And if we're honest, most women want to look sexy and/or feminine at parties.  And what's wrong with that?  I'm not going to dress up like Yogi Bear at a Halloween party -- sorry, Facebook outraged masses.  This is not to say that it doesn't get carried to an absurd extreme (Sexy Ebola Nurse costume? Really?!) But I don't see the problem with adult women enjoying being sexy adult women.  I can't say there was ever a time I went out with my female friends when we were trying to figure out how to look less sexy and more like men.  There would of course be nothing wrong with that, and I do believe it's imperative there are options available for everyone's preference and comfort level -- and if that's what I wanted for Halloween, there are plenty of unisex costumes and non "sexy" women's costumes to choose from as well.  In fact, what I think most people assume to be men's costumes in stores don't usually actually say they're for men -- they have a man modelling them, but there's a size chart with measurements on the back, and they're merely labeled "adult costume."  So who's jumping to the conclusion that women can't wear those too?  But for those of us women who for Halloween want to enjoy the fact that yep, newsflash, we've got different bodies from men, and we want to show them off and have some feminine fun being this pirate

instead of this one

 

or this zombie

 

instead of this one,

I say we should be able to celebrate our sexiness without being told that it's demeaning to women to accentuate our womanliness.  Sexy does not equal slutty, nor does it equal stupid or ditsy or anything else that takes away from our empowerment and intelligence and respect.  Sexy is not a dirty word, and it's far more troubling to me to be told it is -- to be told something unisex is "better" or more proper than something made specifically for a woman's body --  than to have the option to dress up however I want.  Because if I'm going to go out in public dressed up like an undead, blood-dripping cannibal with rotting flesh, you better believe I'm going to go for the version with "sexy" attached.  And there's nothing wrong with that.