Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

We’ve entered the offence Olympics – and everyone’s desperate to win a medal

From Meghan Markle to the PC-brigade’s Halloween costume clampdown, when will we hit peak hypersensitivity?

Janet Street-Porter
Friday 01 November 2019 20:50 GMT
Comments
 Brimful of anger: sombreros are considered ‘culturally insensitive’ costumes at Sheffield University
Brimful of anger: sombreros are considered ‘culturally insensitive’ costumes at Sheffield University

Ten years ago, it seemed relatively simple to avoid causing offence, but now it’s a minefield. In some quarters it’s even considered an act of cultural vandalism to wear the wrong hairstyle (corn rows on white people – Romeo Beckham, please take note), and now even fancy dress is under the spotlight.

During Halloween, Sheffield University banned students from wearing “culturally insensitive” costumes, describing them as acts of cultural appropriation. The student union produced posters showing Arab costumes, American-Indian headdresses and Mexican sombreros with the slogan “my culture is not your costume”. This follows advice issued to universities by the NUS, who said “we want people to check and double check their costume to avoid the exploitation and degradation of others. Don’t let racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism be the real horror this Halloween”.

That message might play well with the woke generation, but it obviously didn’t filter through to guests attending Jonathan Ross’s annual Halloween party, where Jimmy Carr dressed as a female sex slave from The Handmaid’s Tale, “Judge” Rob Rinder as Anne Boleyn and Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood in full drag as Cruella de Vil.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in