Trick or treat, smell my feet, the only place on the body with an article of clothing.

A disturbing trend is only gaining more steam, with young women opting to show skin on All Hallows’ Eve.

There was a time when Halloween was about candy, creativity and creepiness.

Remember that first sugar rush? The silly act of taking a white sheet, cutting holes in it, making it into a ghost costume and spooking your siblings?

That’s all been thrown out the window.

Now, young women in these creatively seductive costumes are the candy, and eyes that fall upon them are the creepiness incarnate.

Some women walk around at night in these ridiculous outfits, putting themselves not just in immediate danger but also affecting them long-term in subtle ways.

The struggle for equality is at the heart of this issue, reflecting a generation obsessed with image.

No more than one century ago, women were fighting for their right to vote, a privilege often taken for granted these days by all young people alike.

Man, concerned about the wife’s sufficient rage about her suffrage, adopted the changes.

Forty years ago, women were burning their brassieres, jilted by a society that had a different set of rules for each sex and demanding better treatment.

Again, men, perhaps not so much threatened by the prospect of a bra-less world but fearful of fire, made the changes.

Women’s liberation seems a thing of the past, and now women seem more inclined to bind themselves in chains and define themselves as objects instead of as equally valuable members of society.

The counter-argument that dressing slutty on Halloween is a right in and of itself is nonsense, based on the idea that it is a woman expressing herself through her lack of clothing.

The truth is that it only serves to objectify oneself further.

Actor Zac Efron’s advice may not always be highly sought after, but his character from the film “17 Again” perhaps best sums up the point that needs to be reached:

“Listen, girls. If you don’t respect yourself, how do you expect others to respect you?”

Unfortunately, this statement is met with even further advances by the girls, and one suggests that he need not even remember her name.

Here is the point; these are characters, and they serve their purpose of helping to advance a plot in a story, as well as earning a few laughs in the process.

Women, real women, are not characters to be propped up for a good laugh or scant titillation.

They are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters and our significant others.

That woman at the party isn’t just slutty Snow White, she is a volunteer at the nearby homeless shelter.

The naughty police woman could just as soon be a real officer that protects the public and upholds the law.

People cannot see that.

To demonstrate that greater depth of humanity and especially compassion, you have to dig deep, past the facade of slutty woman number five, and into the soul of a woman.

For most people, that’s just too much trouble, and it is easier for them to pass judgement on the scantily-clad women as just wanting to sleep around.

Don’t let them turn you into a character. Find a sheet, cut out the holes and scare the willies out of them.

Prove to them that a woman can be just as scary and strong as any man.