Mood: These Women Destroying Culturally Appropriative Halloween Costumes

It’s that time of year again. Orange and red leaves everywhere, pumpkin spice everything––and lots of culturally appropriative Halloween costumes! But thanks to it being 2017, everyone is finally getting more woke to the fact that cultural appropriate is wrong, and Teen Vogue is helping the process along. In a recent video, “Cultural Appropriation at Halloween: My Culture Is Not a Costume,” the media brand takes an impactful approach to this evergreen issue.

"One of the things about Hawaiian culture that not a lot of people know is that historically it was illegal to practice anything that had to do with native Hawaiian culture,” Cashman Aiu explains in the video. “My grandmother is currently in her 70s, and she's finally learning how to dance hula. And she's been creating her hula skirt and lei for weeks now, and this is nothing like what it looks like." Generations of Hawaiians have had their culture erased, and plastic skirts and flowers are only continuing that. 

We're so overwhelmed that Teen Vogue put out this incredible reminder, and thankful that this video highlights the identities that exist behind the cultures getting stolen. Tbh, our forever mood is badass women taking cultural appropriation down. 

So this Halloween, dress up, be funny, and enjoy yourself––just don’t steal someone else's culture.