Mum slams Halloween site: ‘Why are your costumes for toddler girls so sexual?’

This mum’s furious letter to a Halloween costume shop has gone viral - but do you agree with what she has to say?

costumes

by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

When Lin Kramer visited Party City’s website to look for a Halloween costume for her 3-year-old daughter, she was shocked by what she found.

In the section dedicated to Toddler Costumes, she found an array of empowering costumes for little boys.

But, for the little girls, there was nothing but sexualised outfits on offer.

Unwilling to let this pass, the mum penned a powerful open letter to Party City on Facebook.

In it, she fumed: "When you look around at the police officers in your city or neighbourhood, the uniforms they wear are probably substantially similar to the costumes you have elected to offer for boys.

"However, the same cannot be said of the costume you market to girls. Generally speaking, real life uniformed female police officers do not wear short skirts and low cut shirts, but instead wear exactly the same slacks and shirts as their male counterparts."

Lin continued: “While Halloween costumes are undoubtedly about ‘make-believe,’ it is unfathomable that toddler girls and boys who might be interested in dressing up as police officers are seeking to imagine themselves in the incongruent way your business apparently imagines them.

“Toddler girls are not imagining and hoping that they will grow up to become a 'sexy cop,' which is clearly what your girl costume suggests; rather, young girls, just as young boys, see and admire their family members and neighbours offering service to their communities and delight in the idea of doing the same.

“I am absolutely appalled that your business reinterprets girls' innocent and well-intentioned dreams into this costume.”

The frustrated mum added: "The thing that I would maybe most like to point out to you is this: Your company could EASILY include many, if not all, of the costumes you have in the boys' section as option in the girls' section as well!"

**You can read Lin Kramer’s full letter below: **

An open letter to #PartyCity Party City, Having just finished perusing your website for Halloween costumes for... > >

Posted by [Lin Kramer](#) on [Monday, September 14, 2015](https://www.facebook.com/Lindretta/posts/10104829369057540)

Despite Party City writing back to Lin, thanking her for her feedback and telling her that they would take her comments into consideration, the mum later revealed that they deleted her comment, along with all the supportive comments she had received from fellow parents.

She also claims that they banned her from the Facebook page.

A Party City spokesperson later told The Huffington Post: “We expect parents to be as involved in their children's costume selections as they are in selecting their everyday wardrobe, and we encourage parents to shop with their children.

“We supply the types of products that our customers, and specifically parents, demand, and the Girls Cop Costume mentioned by Ms. Lin Kramer is one of our most popular costumes.”

They also said that if Lin Kramer would like to contact them directly with her complaint, they would be more than happy to speak with her.

Do you agree with this mum's complaint?

Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us