It’s time to reconsider your “Conquistabros and Navajos” themed mixer.
Representatives of multicultural and diversity organizations on campus met Wednesday night to discuss the societal implications of cultural appropriation and hypersexualization for Halloween.
Organizations involved included the Women’s Student Association, Black Student Union, Hispanic Student Association and Students Taking Action Against Racism.
Stephanie Boothby, a UF anthropology graduate student who teaches a gender and sex roles cross-cultural course, said she believes cultural appropriation stems from a lack of awareness.
“(Cultural appropriation) is when someone takes aspects of a certain culture and takes it out of context, not realizing the implications of mocking certain types of cultural symbols, dress and traditions,” Boothby, 26, said.
Representatives from BSU discussed the significance of blackface, referencing an instance two years ago, when two UF students received national attention for wearing blackface at a fraternity party.
UF public relations junior and WSA president Diamond Delancy said it’s an important issue to discuss before Halloween so people understand how harmful some costumes are to certain minority groups.
“People just want to chalk it up as a joke, but why is it that my culture is a costume and yours isn’t?” Delancy, 19, said.
Students Taking Action Against Racism representatives suggest that it is ideal for students to talk to people from the culture a costume represents and gauge their opinions before mistakenly offending someone.
“It’s important to educate UF students on the impact of their decisions before they make them so nobody is offended, and everyone can have a happy Halloween,” Delancy said.
