Oct 31
Halloween in the Workplace
Posted by editor at 10:31 am in workplace notes

I’m going to write the fifth draft of this increasingly troublesome Halloween post as bulleted questions and observations. You can add your answers or observations in comments if you wish.

  1. We all wear masks to work and uniforms of a sort. How is Halloween an opportunity at work to take off the masks and uniforms? Is celebrating Halloween at work really an excuse to replace one mask with another? And do I really want to see my coworkers without their masks and uniforms?
  2. Halloween is a religious holiday (Samhain) for some pagans. Is it celebrated religiously for pagans in the workplace?
  3. Halloween is a cultural holiday for others. Is it celebrated in a cultural way at work? And does the cultural way of celebrating the holiday degrade the religious way?
  4. And what to make of all the costumes for women that are different versions of the same old sexism? and the racist costumes? What can we make of these opportunities to cross boundaries that are not normally crossed in the workplace?

Resources

Examining the Workplace Mask
How do you celebrate Halloween at Work?

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