Sadness

Local Halloween shop had various moving attractions. This one seemed less scary than sad to me. She had no arms and had hooks attached to chains pushed through the stumps of her elbows. This display is more than a little sexist, I think, but beyond that -- it wasn't very realistic, of course, but the eyes really drew me in. She didn't want to be scary, but was conscripted into that role. Scariness is a construction like anything else, I suppose. But isn't that the point of Halloween? It's like an elaborate parody of everything we find difficult to stomach. It forces us to ask why. Why am I supposed to find this tortured body terrifying? Why am I meant to look past the sadness in her eyes?

Anyway, I'm dressing as a singing fox for Halloween this year.