Yep. Halloween is here again. It’s that one time of the year when women can dress like sluts without being called sluts — men can wear makeup without being called gay — and children can act like monsters without being scolded. Halloween is a time for breaking rules. It’s a time when you can violate every social standard for what is considered to be “acceptable” or “appropriate” and get away with it because it’s all in fun.

One of the best things about Halloween are the costumes because they allow you to openly express that socially incorrect side of your personality that you repress the other 354 days of the year. That’s why slutty, bad girl costumes, for example, are so popular. Being called a “slut” is the ultimate insult for most women, and social standards define any woman who acts out in an overtly sexual way as a “slut.” This is bad news for women that like sex because it forces them to repress who they really are for the sake of social acceptability.  But on Halloween, social standards go out the window. For one night, women can embrace their inner “bad girl” and dress as “slutty” as they like — and it’s perfectly acceptable (as long as they’re not underage) because it’s all in fum.

So what can I be for Halloween that would allow me to express some of my inner qualities? There are so many sides to my personality that I could be any number of things. But the one I choose this year is…

 Boop-boop-a-do! This is as close as I personally come to being a “bad girl.” Though Betty Boop is pretty tame compared to a lot of what’s out there, being Betty Boop for Halloween would give me a chance to express my more provocative side. I love men and I enjoy being flirtatious. This is not something that I can easily express on a daily basis because (1.) People think that being a Virgin means being asexual and to show any sign of having a pulse is to be accused of not being a Virgin at all. (2.) Warm-blooded though I may be, the last thing I want is sex, and being a flirt, even an innocent one like Betty Boop, may give guys the wrong idea.

But I’m not going to worry about that for now. After all, It’s just a costume. And in the spirit of Halloween, it’s all in fun.

Happy Halloween!