Halloween is one of only two sex-related topics that the two of us have disagreed upon completely in our eight years of writing together (the other is baby talk in the bedroom, but that's a post for another day). As we write in New York magazine this week:

Em thinks sexy costumes are only slightly less annoying than those Axe Bodyspray commercials and are for women who are too chickenshit to dress provocatively the rest of the year. Lo, on the other hand, sees nothing wrong with a holiday that sanctions a little light role-playing for everyone and gives straight men an excuse to wear eyeliner and tight pants. Meaning, sexy costumes can serve as an on-ramp to after-party kinkiness in the bedroom, without the need for any of those awkward 'Who's going to be the top tonight?' conversations.

This Halloween seemed as good a time as any to work out our issues in print, as a recent poll conducted on behalf of, yes, Axe grooming products, found that 55 percent of women believe Halloween is an excuse to act or dress naughty, and 39 percent have worn a naughty costume for Halloween. When we started asking around for people's opinions on Halloween and sex, we got more stories than we could possibly use--turns out everyone's got an opinion on this, the sluttiest of holidays.

Like the one from our friend Amy, who thought that by avoiding the Halloween clichés (slutty nurse, etc.) she'd be able to opt out of the sexy trend. She has nothing but disdain for women who wear a body stocking to dress as a cat and pretend that--oops!--I didn't mean to turn you on. So one year, to make a statement, she dressed as a '70s disgruntled housewife: blue and white flowered muumuu, rollers, head scarf, a cigarette stuck to her lip, and a can of Tab. "I thought it was really unflattering," she told us. "But I was told later--like, two years later--by a male friend that it had been a sexy, and apparently memorable, get-up." Another woman told us that her "I Dream of Jeannie's Evil Twin Sister" outfit attracted a lot more male attention than she was expecting. Perhaps, on October 31st, any outfit looks like a role-playing scenario waiting to happen.