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Halloween is traditionally a time for masquerading and hiding one’s true identity behind a costume. Sigma Chi threw all such deception out the window when it announced that its annual Halloween party would be called “Wizards and Sluts.”
The announcement has generated a lot of debate around campus, as many students object to the stereotypes inherent in the party’s title. “I don’t get why they have to be so heteronormative,” commented Kim Ream ’14. “I mean, what if a girl wants to dress up as a wizard? At a party like this, she can’t do that without feeling awkward and out of place.”
The LGBTQ resource center issued a statement chastising Sigma Chi for its traditionalist views, saying that “Sigma Chi’s costume party completely overlooks Warlocks, a thriving, beautiful part of the wizarding community. Warlocks should no longer be looked at as immoral or as less than full wizards, yet Sigma Chi endorses this view wholeheartedly through its choice of theme and seeks to maintain the backwards prejudices that have barred warlocks from the forefront of the world for centuries.”
“I’m insulted that they’re using a backwards term like ‘wizards,’” noted Jared Young ’12. “‘Wizards’ implies an old white British man with a long beard, cape and pointy hat. That Euro-centric term in no way represents the rich diversity of what we like to call ‘magic-wielding individuals.’ Witch doctors, shamans and medicine men are all powerful magic users, yet they constantly get pushed aside in the magical annals in favor of their European counterparts.”
Other students feel the theme seriously limits their creative license. “Why are my only options wizard and slut?” lamented Timothy LaBrande ’15. “Why can’t I be both a wizard and a slut? A slizzard, if you will.”
The real winners of the day seem to be fantasy roleplay enthusiasts, as many of their members need to look no further than their closets to find a “Cape of Destiny” and “Staff of Destruction.” “I’m expecting to be quite a hit with the ladies, so I went out and bought cloaks of protection for my magic wand” boasted Geoff Oppenheim ’12, also known as Elrindor, Sorcerer of the Western Realm. “With a plus-seven charisma bonus and the arsenal of enchantments I prepared overnight, girls are going to go from saying ‘You shall not pass’ to ‘Enter my mines of Moria,’ if you know what I mean.”
When reached for comment, Emma Watson ’13 said that she “appreciated being seen as a slut instead of as a witch for once.”
