Trick or treat 2004: 'Pimp and Ho' kids
2004 08 25
Provocative costumes for children spark outrage among some parents
By Joe Kovacs
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
 If you attend a Halloween event this year, don't be surprised if you run into a child dressed as a pimp or prostitute, as a California company is selling "Child Pimp & Ho Costumes."
Los Angeles-based Brands On Sale began selling the $40- $60 outfits for children last year, but the company says there wasn't much publicity originally.
Now, the items are a hot topic with word spreading on the Internet.
"I am completely appalled that people would expose children to this disgusting sin by selling or even buying these costumes. It just makes me sick," Heather Church of Haines City, Fla., tells WorldNetDaily. "It makes me sick because it is endorsing this sin as acceptable, and gives exposes innocent children to evil."
Some comments posted among online messageboards include:
"Yikes! I thought that was a joke at first."
"This world is a messed up place. What's next? Four-year-olds dressing like Playboy bunnies?"
"This means little considering how easy it is for kids now days to become desensitized to the vice of society after watching late-night TV."
"Not to be an old square, but that's just not right. Although, come to think of it, I definitely remember trick-or-treating with the Flanigan girls one year when they were dressed up as prostitutes. I was probably 10, which would make them 11 and 12. I can't remember what I was dressed up as that year. Probably a serial killer. I had one of those creepy, clear plastic masks that bank robbers wear. Ah, Halloween. It really is the work of the devil, isn't it?"
"I much prefer the costume featuring the butcher-knife-in-the-head look."
"Kinda gives new meaning to 'trick or treat.'"
 In the face of the criticism, Brands On Sale costume creator Johnathon Weeks says "we're not telling everyone to buy them," admitting they're for "unique customers."
"If they want, they can purchase a devil costume, or a ghoul or ghost costume – I don't care," he tells WorldNetDaily. "But it does not promote prostitution or sexual exploitation. It's just a costume for kids to dress up and pretend."
Weeks says real pimps these days don't look like the colorful costumes he's selling.
"If you think about a real pimp, they're not in flamboyant suits. Kids don't even know that the word pimp means – regarding soliciting women for sex. They think being 'pimp' means having big, fancy cars and homes."
The dictionary defines "pimp" as a man who acts as an agent for prostitutes and lives off their earnings, while "ho" is a slang synonym for "whore."
But Weeks says television shows like MTV's "Pimp My Ride" and celebrities like Snoop Dogg have made the terms more mainstream and less offensive.
He points out parents, not children, need to approve of the costume purchases, since they have to submit their credit card information.
Even dogs can be pimped up |
"The 'Ho' costume is just there for excitement," says Weeks, claiming it looks more like a 1920s-era flapper.
Though less than 500 of the pimp and ho costumes have been sold, 90 percent of them have been shipped to California, New York and Florida.
He says his company, which sells up to 100,000 costumes annually, looks to provide everyone with a chance to dress up.
"We have Jesus costumes, Moses costumes, and coming soon we'll offer the infant pimp."
Article From: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40152
Ed Note: What do you mean 1919 Communist Rules for Revolution?
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