Own it.

It's your body, you're comfortable, and you love to do it.

Granted, perhaps you should make your own, instead of purchasing one? Then you wouldn't be contributing to the market of it.

While a lot of the uber-sexy Halloween costumes baffle me, I don't really see anything wrong with them in that they are costumes.

On Halloween, people can dress up in ways they normally don't. It's like playing a part, IMO.

Dressing as a sexy schoolgirl one Halloween when I was much, much younger, I found that it actually reinforced my feminism. I was curious as to what dressing so sexy would achieve. It turned out, it achieved a lot of harassment and catcalling. It was enough that I don't do the overtly sexy costumes any more.

You could always be a female chauvinist pig for Halloween. :P lol.

All joking aside, I find that women's choices for costumes (not just what is made for women but costumes based on female characters in comics and tv and such) are generally overly sexy. Many strong female characters like Wonder Woman or She Hulk or Catwoman wear costume that many would describe as "sexy." I'm going as Tank Girl this Halloween, a character I ADORE because she's just so freakin' awesome, but if you look up pictures of her it's mostly tattered short shorts/skirts and lacy bras. Was gonna do the tattered t-shirt with the red and blue circles on it since it's fairly iconic and a bit more covering, although I don't really expect anyone to be all "Tank Girl! Rock on!" since I don't think anyone even remembers the comic even if they read it. :) So yeah, it's kind of just the luck of being a woman. If you want to go as a character you're gonna end up with boobs everywhere and some thigh showing. Unless you go as something generic like a zombie or a witch or something that is typical Halloween but not a specific character one would be hard pressed to be a modest Trick Or Treater.

And I say more power to you in your costume decisions. If I felt more confident in some of those outfits I'd be right out there with ya, lol. And not like you dress like that everyday (or at least I assume you don't from your post). It's Halloween, have fun with your bad self. :D

The line between dressing for oneself and dressing in a manner that contributes to objectification can be somewhat blury. The determining of where that line is is a matter of personal opinion and comfort.

I favour the thinking that a woman has a right to dress in whatever manner she chooses. If you choose to dress sexily for a Halloween costume, cool. If not, cool. The point is that it's your choice. And an important part of this choice is that you've thought about and reflected upon it, and have made a choice that's right for you.

Will there be people that objectify you if you wear the sexy outfit? Yes. Is that reason in itself to not wear the sexy outfit? No. We can not control how others will respond. Some will compliment you on your outfit, to which you can say thank you, and some may comment in a way that objectifies you, to which you can reply I don't appreciate that type of comment. You don't have to launch into a femminist critique of the objectification of women every time a person makes an objectifying comment or gesture: "I don't appreciate that", or "that's innappropriate" can be enough.

So, basically, enjoy youself, and wear what you want.

Halloween is a time when the rules are lax and people will be what they're not (maybe!).

I think it's more of a commentary about where are society is at rather than a personal betrayal of feminism. For example, apparently a sexy nurse is more "transgressive" than a zombie.

I think if you're dressing that way as an opportunity to express yourself in a way you normally wouldn't, that's cool and empowering.

And just as long as you don't dress up as Juno.

As others have said - go for it. It's your body you can do as you like. Based on your post you've clearly thought about it and seem to be doing it for valid reasons, which is a good thing.

I personally get majorly turned on by having guys look at me in sexy outfits like that... it really does it for me. So I also have generally been one to wear some pretty sexy costumes at halloween, etc. I usually feel better doing it at halloween, like somehow it's less of a feminist betrayal because it's only once a year and most do, but deep down I know it shouldn't make any diff what day of the year it is. So I'm actually still working on resolving the internal conflicts I have about dressing sexy throughout the year, which I tend to do but often feel bad about. This is a perfect example of where I feel you just cannot win. Do what makes you happy but arguably support something you dislike, or make yourself unhappy where probably no one will notice anyways. What to do? I usually go with what makes me happy as long as my conscience isn't too hurt by it.

It's your body. Don't let anyone -- even if they're feminist and swear they have your best interests in mind -- tell you what to do with it and how much you need to cover up in order to not be a tool of the patriarchy.

Halloween is a time to let loose and have fun. It's a time to dress in silly costumes and for quite a few of us it also involves sex and booze.

Where what you like and have fun.

I've worn "sexy" cat costumes and the like and see no problem with it.

And sometimes, I just like dressing in a sexy way...

I don't think that looking pretty/sexy/attractive is unfeminist. Some lucky feminists are just lovely without even trying (although you'll never see that in the media).

It's when women are expected to sacrifice their personal preferences, their own sense of individuality, their safety (5inch heels, anyone?), or any aspect of who they are to fulfill the societal role of what a "woman" should be.

I understand how you feel. It's not my Halloween costume this year (which is Luna Lovegood BTW) but a costume I'm working on for future anime conventions. Lucy from Elfen Lied. Lucy has several different outfits throughout the series but I decided to go with her covered in bandages like she is in many promotional pictures. While it's not like typical "sexy" costumes that look like lingre(can't spell) it's still revealing.

While I different ideas about sexual objectification than most of the feminists who have commented thus far, I will pass on something I was once told something by another feminist in passing while we were discussing a similar topic. Since having this conversation, I have been, somewhat, put at ease.

She said, "The difference between a feminist woman and just any other woman is that while she may desire to be a sexual object, she doesn't only desire to be a sexual object."

Keep in mind that this was said in passing and with a certain intention, not meaning non-feminist-identifying women want only to be seen as sexual objects, but that a feminist woman also lives in a world where these temptations exist.

"So yeah, it's kind of just the luck of being a woman."

This sentence struck me as inexpressably poignant.

So much bad "luck" out there, no? So many accidents of birth resulting in female sexual organs, ethnic minorities, gay people, and other unluckies.

Funny how "luck" just happens...it's no one's fault...it's just the way things are, and have been...some people are just born "unluckier" than others...and we have to shrug and pull out the old lacy bra and take our unlucky lumps.

Maybe we should be working (harder) on trying to change our existential bad "luck."