Nowadays it is common to see the term cultural appropriation all over social media and people talking about it. Cultural appropriation is “the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the costumes, practices, ideas, etc., of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society” according to Oxford dictionaries. Simply put, it is when someone adopts something from a culture that is not his or her own. This is a problem when somebody takes something from another less dominant culture in a way that members of the culture find offensive, the point is that the marginalized group does not get a say, while their culture is being used by someone in a position of greater privilege for fun or fashion. Cultural appropriation cases are most commonly found on festivals and Halloween. This year a lot of articles have been posted talking about the subject and what is considered an offensive costume according to the USA today. Some offensive costumes are: painting yourself black, traditional Native America dress, Mexican ponchos and sombreros, Jamaican dreadlocks, and Japanese geisha or samurai. But what happens when a kid wants to dress up as Disney characters such as Moana, who is a member of Pacific Islander community, or Mulan, who is Chinese, or Pocahontas a Native American woman, or Tiana, an African American princess? Is it cultural appropriation? Parents are concerned of letting their children dress up as one of these characters because it can be offensive, so now choosing a costume for their children is a hard task.  

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              Some kids don’t dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-tricking ever because of their religion. These kids were raised in religions that don’t celebrate Halloween for different reasons, and so they have not asked for candies in their entire lives. Jehovah’s witnesses don’t celebrate holidays not even birthdays, and they do not celebrate Halloween because “they believe that Halloween is the devil’s influence”. Some Christians don’t celebrate Halloween because “God is God of life, but Halloween focuses on death”. Jews don’t celebrate Halloween but, they have their own holiday named the Purim in which once a year Jewish kids dress up as sages, princesses, heroes and clowns, and they drop by the homes of their community, collecting tzedakah (charity) for the needy. Also, Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween because it´s against everything their religion teaches them. These are some examples of religions that don’t celebrate Halloween.