So its just a costume, right, why the double standard....

[mykell]

so its halloween kids getting into costumes and trick or treating, adults invariably will be too (different thread)

google girls spiderman costume https://www.google.com/search?q=girls+spiderman+costume&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

cute right, then boys catwomen costume, https://www.google.com/search?q=boys+catwomen+costume&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

nuttin, maybe boys batgirl costume, https://www.google.com/search?q=boys+batgirl+costume&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

kinda sums things up right, we get the trick they get the treat....

boys superhero costumes, https://www.google.com/search?q=boys+superhero+costumes&client=firefox-a&hs=e2S&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=KZ0-VMn6J82AygSvsILwDw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1280&bih=591

girls superhero costumes, https://www.google.com/search?q=girls+superhero+costumes&client=firefox-a&hs=0L8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=25w-VPjDGpL3yQSBtoKACg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1280&bih=591

[vicky_cd99_2]

It has always been a double standard and always will be. We can have women dress in a mans suit complete with necktie and no one says anything. Let a man dress in a woman business skirt suit and he is a freak. Why would it be any different with kids costumes.

[Zylia]

Just for my understanding, if a boy wants to dress up as Catwoman, can't he just wear the 'girl' costume? And if a girl wants to be regular Spider-Man and not Princess Spider-Man, can't she just wear the regular Spider-Man costume? The only double standard I see based on your examples is that they do make feminised versions of male superheroes especially made for girls, but no masculinised versions of female superheroes. It's kind of patronising to assume that girls want to be Princess Spider-Man instead of Amazing Spider-Man, but it's fine that the option is there. As I said, they can always buy the regular costume instead.

[Barbara Jo]

The "double standard' comes from the false perception that a man is step up for a women while being a woman is step down for a man.
A woman is commended for being "strong like a man" while a man is condemned for wanting to be "weak like a woman".

Gender specific clothes serve to reinforce the stereotypes and clothes just illustrate what you perceive yourself to be.
The perception is, a women wearing male clothes is bettering herself while a male wearing female female clothes has chosen to degrade himself due to some character flaw.

[mykell]

. Why would it be any different with kids costumes.
Halloween is a profit driven holiday, especially costumes.

The only double standard I see based on your examples is that they do make feminised versions of male superheroes especially made for girls, but no masculinised versions of female superheroes.
girl costumes show on the boy superhero search, only girl costumes on the girl superhero search...


The "double standard' comes from the false perception that a man is step up for a women while being a woman is step down for a man.
A woman is commended for being "strong like a man" while a man is condemned for wanting to be "weak like a woman".

Gender specific clothes serve to reinforce the stereotypes and clothes just illustrate what you perceive yourself to be.
The perception is, a women wearing male clothes is bettering herself while a male wearing female female clothes has chosen to degrade himself due to some character flaw.
took that out with the superhero search, they are equally strong.....

[docrobbysherry]

My 2 cents: If there was a market for it? Someone would be making it.

There's no double standard in manufacturing. But, maybe in the folks that buy the costumes?

[Zylia]

So what's the double standard? The fact that they have to make up girl costumes of male superheroes (even when there are 'official' girl versions like Spider-Woman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Woman)), but they don't make boy costumes of female superheroes because A: it's very unlikely that boys want to dress up like a female superhero (I'm assuming), B: there are very few female superheroes and C: most are derivatives of a male counterpart, e.g. Supergirl to Superman, Batgirl to Batman, so you'll end up with the original male superhero anyway?

Costumes are borderline sexist in most regards. Guys can be cowboy, doctor, pilot, etc. Girls can be sexy cowgirl, sexy nurse and sexy air attendant. Double standard indeed...

Just another thought here: Of the few original non-derivative female superheroes/villains (e.g. Wonderwoman), how many have a male derivative? Right.

[Jorja]

A: it's very unlikely that boys want to dress up like a female superhero (I'm assuming),

Never assume anything because it can make an ass out of u and me. ass-u-me ;)

[Zylia]

Well, that proves everything. Anyway, sorry kids, if you want to be Wonderwomanboy you're out of luck (unless you know how to sew your own costume that is).

[UNDERDRESSER]

Society today, expects the female to be the subject, or object, to be pursued and won. The male is supposed to do all the chasing, and his role is to show his worth, usually from a financial aspect. There are some that say that men are mostly visual creatures when it comes to attraction and true, we are more visual on average, but women have visual cues as well, but the average is for their drives to be on other levels. The overlay of social conditioning makes it seem like it's all or nothing. As various aspects of equality are expanded, this will start to show some more visible changes in female response, and male behaviour. i.e more girls doing some of the chasing, and sexier clothing from the men.

Personally, I dislike "full on" sexual display, (from either, any? gender) some subtlety and style is appreciated. Around here, there is an annual festival when girls seem to have all the excuse they need to go all out, and a depressing number go way over the top in an awful way. Sexy is not just how much skin you can show.

[sometimes_miss]

My 2 cents: If there was a market for it? Someone would be making it. There's no double standard in manufacturing. But, maybe in the folks that buy the costumes?
^this. And yes, you can get anything you want sewn for you, you just have to know where to look. Thanks to the internet, and especially ebay, there are vendors that will make any outfit you want. Just give them the pics, and your measurements, and they will make it for you. Several years ago, I saw a really, really cute gothic lolita dress; found something similar on ebay, wrote to the vendor, and they emailed me back what they needed. I sent the picture, and all my measurements. Several months later, I had a dress just like the picture, only made to fit me, a giant sized male. And yes, if there were enough boys who wanted to be batgirl or wonderwoman, there would be a company that would make those costumes, and stores that would sell them. Capitalism at it's finest.
Besides, up to a certain age, it doesn't matter what sex you are, the clothes fit both bodies. Remember the 'Belle dress' story, by Lucy Caldwell, about a young boy who, when brought to the toy store just before christmas, secretly wants the beautiful dress more than life itself. http://vimeo.com/92738743

[carahawkwind]

A lot of the time I think the princess spiderman nonsense is more for parents than kids, I know if my daughter wanted to be spiderman she'd just be spiderman and she has some boy batman stuff. A while back McDonalds was doing happy meals with boy spiderman and pink girl spiderman toys and she wanted nothing to do with the girls spiderman stuff, didn't help the girls stuff was journals and hair clips and boy items were way cooler stuff like figures and cars. Last year she wore a robot costume made for boys, this year she's got a cute super Anna from Frozen dress she's wearing.

[Jenniferathome]

Mikell, first, there are very few female superheroes. So making a "girl" version of a male super hero makes some sense. Now, throw in that most little girls DO want to be princesses. My two daughters dressed as various princesses for years. Most little girls don't want to wear a "boys" costume any more than a little boy wants to wear a little girls costume. It's called reality. Welcome.

[Aaron Zwidling]

When kids are younger I would say for the most part it's the parents who would not want to buy their little boy a girls costume, and so would either never bring up the possibility or would 'talk' them out of it if the boy brought it up. Once they get a bit older I would think peer pressure would stop boys from asking for a girls costume, as I'm sure most of the kids would have been instilled with enough of current societal values by that point to make fun of any boy who wanted to do something like that. Either way it means no real market for the manufacturers to fill for such costumes. Hopefully things will change over the next few decades so that it will matter less and less.