If you followed the link from the flier (One of these things really is like the others...), thank you! Keeping stereotypes alive, even as a joke, is a big and painful topic for a lot of people. Thanks for being willing to learn more about it.
Here are some quick starting points for learning how cultural costumes can affect people. While you're reading, remember: You're always free to express yourself. You can dress in anything you want. But if more people understood the consequences, most of us wouldn't want to express ourselves through painful stereotypes.
- Racially Offensive Costumes (About.com article)
- Why can’t I wear a hipster headdress? (blog post)
- yellow apparel: when the coolie becomes cool (video)
The PDF of this Halloween headdress PSA is free to distribute or modify, electronically or physically. If you remove the link to this page, please keep crediting the images. (Fair use doesn't absolve you of giving credit!)
If you want to share your experience, suggest other resources, or tell me how to do better, please comment. I welcome all feedback and discussion.
Image credits- Mad Men, John Slattery as Roger Sterling in blackface. Image from AtomCulture (blog), September 8, 2009, TV: Naughty Republicans: Rich (Mad Men) and Poor (True Blood)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi. Image from Gender Goggles (blog), October 26, 2008, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mr. Yunioshi, and good old-fashioned racism
- Anonymous men as “Indians.” Image from Headdress (zine), June 26, 2010, http://zinelibrary.info/files/headdress.pdf
