My cousin’s daughter dressed up as Captain America for Halloween this year and I think it is one of the cutest and most empowering moments from my Halloween this year. After being out on Halloween night, I did not see many families out but decided to reach out to my friends and family that have kids to see what they were doing to celebrate.
When asking my cousin Shalai about how the costumes came about, she reminded me about how opinionated Maleah is and how she chose to be Captain America. It was not something that was forced onto her for a photo-op, she loved dressing up and stood tall to have her photo taken. Maleah’s choice was not a political statement or chance to defy stereotypes, (she’s only four after all) she simply resonated with Captain America, and my cousin Shalai has done an amazing job at making sure she knows she can do and be anything despite gender roles. My cousin has always been aware of the importance of gender and gender fluidity while raising her kids and recognized that at Maleah’s age, superhero’s aren’t gendered.
The year before, she dressed them up as Olaf and Elsa which is equally as adorable but I love that in 2020 she decided to dress them both as superheroes.
