The saying “My culture is not your costume” is a common phrase that has been a growing trend for a long time. With these remarks, costumes like black-face, Native American costumes and geisha costumes can all be seen as cultural appropriations.

“They’re making fun of us, our culture and I do not think other people would like it if I dressed up like them,” said Las Vegas resident Perla Diaz.

Anything to do with Native Americans, such as costumes like Pocahontas, Indian Chiefs and Sacajawea, are often controversial. Yandy.com, found itself subject to such controversy while it was selling offensive native American costumes. They advertised native American headdresses, bows and arrows, and their costumes were very provocative. They also used to feature the “Brave Red Maiden,” a costume derived from the TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale”. The outfit featured a woman in a short, tight red dress with a red shoulder cape and a bonnet. In the TV series, the brave red maidens are women who are sexually assaulted and forced to carry children for women who are infertile. These characters are considered to be the town’s property and a costume of that nature can send the wrong message in this day and age. Yandy was forced to take down the offensive costume after all the backlash it was given.

Yandy.com acknowledged that the outfit was “being seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, rather than an expression of women’s empowerment.”

While some children want to dress up as Disney princesses this year for Halloween, there have been disagreements when choosing which princess is acceptable to be. The latest princess to be added to the Disney lineup, Moana, comes from a Polynesian island. People are wondering if parents should let their children change their skin tone and appearance to better fit the role of the character.

Skin color has always been controversial when it comes to skin tone and race. One site, in particular, seems to have no qualms about being racists when it comes to Halloween costumes. HalloweenCostumes.com is selling some very controversial costumes this year. One example includes “Adult Chinese Gentleman Costume,” which features a man wearing traditional changes and depicts him with the long beard and mustaches similar to the stereotypical Chinese facial hair style.

American parents need to change and realize how wrong and offensive some “fun” Halloween costumes are. People all around the world celebrate their cultures and embrace diversity in their community. Instead, Americans mock other cultures with caricatured depictions of offensive assumptions and unfair stereotypes. We are better than this.