Our TikTok feeds have been inundated with girls dressed as the Lorax—wearing neon orange nylon bodysuits stuffed with pillows for bellies, big fluffy yellow mustaches, and orange paint smeared across their faces—and we’re loving every video. A scroll through the comment sections of these videos, however, reveals that we’re in the minority. But the backlash over the Lorax costume isn’t just about costumes—it’s about controlling how women express themselves.
The Lorax is the most recent popular women’s costume to draw unwarranted criticism from society. When skimming the comment sections of these videos, one encounters countless barbs using the term “pretty girl humor” as an insult. According to People Magazine, “pretty girl humor” describes “conventionally attractive women who attempt to seem quirky or relatable by subverting typically feminine behavior.” In this context, it implies that these girls are pretending to be comical for attention and views under many social media users’ assumption that women can be either pretty or humorous, but certainly not both—which is, frankly, misogynistic.
Setting aside the assumption that there is such a thing as “typical female behavior,” what’s so wrong with having pretty girl humor? In a generation that supposedly values authenticity and uniqueness in the age of superficial social media, being labeled as basic is the ultimate insult. Commenters end up using phrases like “fake,” “basic,” and “pretty girl humor” to point out microtrends that strip people of their individuality, with girls as the main targets—because, of course, only pretty girls participate in these trends, right?
Since traditionally attractive people are often perceived as lacking personality, many view their humor as inauthentic—assuming they must be faking it or copying others. Obviously, one of the challenging aspects of social media is that viewers are unable to get to know the creator’s personality when the camera is turned off, leaving them to wonder if their dressing a certain way is performative or a true reflection of who they are. On Halloween, dressing as something silly, sexy, or somewhere in-between can reveal insights into your personality or your enthusiasm for the holiday. But this isn’t the case for these girls online, as people limit them to being just pretty or popular, and thus, incapable of being genuinely funny or excited for the holiday. This perceived inauthenticity causes viewers to feel annoyed when they see girls who are thought to be unaware of characters like the Lorax dressed in silly costumes as them.
These obsessions over clothing aren’t new. Women’s Halloween costumes have always been a subject of criticism. A woman can’t dress too provocatively without accusations of vying for male attention and being reduced to their body. They can’t put on a suit and bald cap to dress as Pitbull or pull on a Lorax costume without being accused of being inauthentic or a “pick-me girl,” which refers to girls who do “everything for external, mostly male validation.” And if they choose not to dress at all? They’re boring. It becomes clear that regardless of what they choose to wear, they can never win.
Meanwhile, men aren’t subject to these fashion insults nearly as often. Even the terms “pick-me girl” and “pretty girl humor” reveal this double standard through their wording. There are plenty of men and boys who participate in fast fashion trends to appeal to others, who are both attractive and funny, and who also wear the same costumes as other men. Despite this, these insults specifically include the word “girl,” suggesting that it’s only acceptable for men to do these things. Even when men dressed as Jeffrey Dahmer after Ryan Murphy’s Netflix show in 2022, they still didn’t face as much ridicule as women endure for far less controversial costumes.
But these trends and phrases are only a microcosm of the female experience in everyday life. Women are constantly reduced to their looks and overanalyzed for their fashion choices, both of which are evident in workplace and school dress codes as well as conventional beauty standards. What makes these comments really sting is that both men and women perpetuate them. These comments not only put girls down by limiting them to their looks and generalizing them into the two categories—pretty or weird—but they also pit girls against each other.
According to the United Nations, women and girls in the public eye face online gender-based hate speech and harassment—including bullying and sexual harassment—so often that it “compel[s] women to self-censor, limit what they post or leave platforms” entirely. While it may appear that these terms are just what people say on TikTok, the hate disguised through humor has the potential to shame a population already susceptible to cyberbullying, especially when they are simply trying to express themselves and explore their interests.
In her TED Talk “Listening to Shame,” academic Brené Brown said, “Shame, for women, is this web of unattainable, conflicting, competing expectations about who we’re supposed to be. And it’s a straitjacket.” She goes on to say how society weaponizes shame by creating dress codes that tie women’s clothing to their value and morality—and how failure to comply results in rejection and ostracism.
And so as Halloween approaches, we are reminded of “Mean Girls,” a movie that captures the pitfalls of the teenage girl experience with the famous quote: “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Cady Heron, the protagonist, says it best: girls should be able to dress however they want without facing any backlash—whether it be on Halloween or not.
Ultimately, as clothes often symbolize self-expression and autonomy, this obsession over costumes is not about fabric—it’s about power. Halloween is a holiday where you can dress up and disguise yourself as whoever or whatever you want to be for a night. What should be a freeing experience to express yourself has evolved into a means to yet again shame, objectify, and make fun of women—except this time behind a TikTok comment section. That’s what’s truly scary this Halloween season.