Ray Rice Halloween costumes are not funny

[KamaAina]

http://feministing.com/2014/10/27/ray-rice-halloween-costumes-are-not-funny/

Halloween always reminds me that there are things far scarier than ghosts and goblins, things like racism and misogyny that persist when the costumes are packed away and November 1st rolls around.

ICYMI, yesterday more photos surfaced of couples costumed as Janay and Ray Rice for Halloween, complete with blackface and bruises. Still others — including a white child, also in blackface — dragged blow-up dolls behind them. The hashtags that appeared alongside the photos on Twitter and Instagram? #hilarious #BestCostume #funny #lmfao #hitabitch #shewasknockedupnowshesknockedout and, inexplicably, #domesticviolenceisnotfunny #butmycostumewas.

The message couldn’t be clearer: in 2014, violence against black women is seen as nothing more than a joke. As Wagatwe summed up on Twitter, “Yet another reminder of how black women are not seen as humans, but props (see: black blowup doll) and our pain & trauma as punchlines.” As Janay Rice herself said, “It’s sad, that my suffering amuses others.”

The Cut reported that “no one found the racist and sexist costume amusing” but if you check the comments, retweets, favorites, and hashtags, it seems like quite a few people did.

[NCTraveler]

1. I agree that there is nothing funny about them.

Serious question. The image of the costumes disgusts me. They make me feel uncomfortable and angry, along with a number of other emotions. Question is, what effect will it have on those who see it? The difference with Rice is that it was on tape. This is an act that is more often than not behind closed doors and never sees the light of day. How will people feel when they see these costumes? Will it be a negative or a positive for people to see them in public? What will men who do this behind closed doors feel when seeing it? My close friends would never let someone in this costume into their Halloween party. That in itself shows it isn't viewed as a joke to all, but to just some. How many is some?

[Man from Pickens]

2. Is it still too soon

to dress up my dog like Michael Vick for Halloween?

[KamaAina]

4. DUzy!

And I would imagine kids' No. 7 Jets jerseys are on the clearance rack at Sports Authority.

[Youdontwantthetruth]

3. Stick with the Holloween Classics like Pregnant Nun, Naughty Nurse or Pirate

ya cant go wrong.

I would have also said Hobo or Ghost but now days even that maybe offensive to some.

[Daemonaquila]

6. Those also have the potential to offend.

Pregnant nun? That's as offensive as can be to some people. Sexy nurse? That's making fun of nursing professionals, and is considered deeply offensive by some nurses who feel they've fought long and hard to be taken seriously, and not fantasized about as hospital servants in cute little white dresses. People have been complaining about others dressing up as witches, religious figures of all sorts, cops/criminals, fetuses, and everything else under the sun.

It's time for the PC police to simmer the heck down, and for people planning costumes to realize that (a) if you're putting on a costume that requires you to change your skin color, it's probably racist and they shouldn't do it, and (b) if you're lampooning a living individual who has been through a newsworthy trauma in the past 10 years (or more, in some cases), that's just tacky and unkind and you probably shouldn't do that either. Short of that, let's just stop taking things done in fun, one night out of the year, so damned personally.

And seriously, those hashtags are REALLY offensive and uncalled for. They say a lot about the racism and mean-spiritedness of the people who wrote them.

[Johonny]

5. There goes my slutty Ray Rice costume

I guess slutty ebola it is...