Arabian costumes have become fairly popular halloween costumes in recent years as the world has become smaller and globalization has become more of a reality in the day to day life of all people. The west, as a society, is far removed from the days when Arabs were far removed themselves. There’s a general understanding that we’re all on this planet together for better or for worse, and since we’ve become closer (relatively speaking), we’ve also become more aware of each other’s characteristics.
And as is always the case in these situations, proximity breeds uneasiness. And uneasiness breeds pretty great Halloween costumes.
Me personally, I’m twenty-five percent arab, so I figure I have more of a claim on making mocking – lovingly mocking or otherwise – arabian costumes than most other people. Whether it be wearing the robes of a caliph of a certain Arabian tribe, or a 7-11 sweatshirt and a makeshift turban, there are many, many directions to go with your own costume choices.
Of course, most arabs today don’t ride cames and run around the desert like Omar Shariff in Lawrence of Arabia, a truly great film and one that examines the roots the Arabic coalescence around the House of Saud in the early part of the last century. Times have changed, as much for them over there as for us over here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the stereotypes when coming up with a list of arabian costumes that would work best for you.
So find some robes (but you’ll probably want to make sure they don’t look like KKK robes… that’s a faux pas that is damn near unforgiveable to any number of groups, including but not limited to Arabs themselves), find a turban or other headgear, and get to work. Good props to fill out the costume include a sarazen sword – not a real one, you can get arrested for having that – and maybe a stuffed or cardboard camel. To me, that sounds like the type of costume most people can get into, plus there’s the added benefit of getting to call the people around you infidels and declaring jihad if the rum punch is too weak.
Just remember to know your audience. Some stereotypes can be funny when amongst the right group of people, but those same stereotypes can be hurtful if pushed too far or brought into the open.