Halloween is awesome, right? Yeah it is. Costumes, candy, fun! Of course, some people just have no sense of what fun is.

Gory and sexualized costumes for kids? Really? Looking at Target’s costume page, it doesn’t look that bad to me. First off, Halloween is supposed to be scary. I mean, that’s the point. Ghouls, goblins, monsters, ghosts. Why wouldn’t we want something scary running around. Zombies? Sure, they can be a bit “gory” because they’re the animated dead. Vampires? They’re hip, and cool, and they suck blood. Maybe that’s a bit macabre, but that’s the essence of Halloween. Werewolves? They turn from people into wolves and eat other living things, like animals do. Maybe that’s dark, but no worries. Again, that’s the point of Halloween.

Other than that, we have a lot of princesses, pop culture references, and super heroes, as well as many clever ideas like crayons and such. I won’t argue that adult costumes are far too sexual these days, especially when you compare the male to female versions. It becomes a bit laughable. But the kid’s stuff? What is sexualized, really? This?

I honestly believe that if you are completely willing to allow your little girls to run around in shorts that barely cover their butt cheeks, you should rethink what means “sexual” to you. Because in all reality, the parents who flip out about this sort of costume are the ones who are allowing their girls to wear this modern “trend.”

Here’s the big thing: Parents need to get the sticks removed from their asses. There are far too many people who are far to paranoid for their own good. These are the type of people who think that the word “suck” or “violent” in a song is bad for their kids. These are the hypocritical morons who say one thing is bad for their kids and then turn a blind eye when their kids wear something that’s trendy that actually shows off too much or is too sexual.

At the same time, our choices of what to censor from our kids show our prudish nature. This country needs an enema. Our inability to accept the true nature of our existence as human beings – the sexual truths and the matter of death as an eventuality – leave us unprepared to exist in the real world upon growing up. In essence, hiding the world from our kids keeps them from truly growing up until some dramatic event wakes them up and catches them off guard, and it’s painful for that to happen all at once.

So my final point is this: Have the sticks removed. Enjoy Halloween for what it is: scary, macabre, maybe a little gory, and let your kids have some fun. And honestly if you won’t let your kids dress up the way they want to, maybe you should reconsider that sexy vampire costume and just go as yourself. That’s probably scary enough.