We quickly located a firefighter costume for boys, complete with a bright red jacket, a traditional helmet and an axe. The girls’ version, on the other hand, is a skin-tight, short, shiny dress that’s surely flammable. It includes a fascinator (in lieu of a helmet) never before seen on a real firefighter.

The model on the package, who looks to be about the same age as my daughter, completes the outfit with heeled, calf-high boots — not ideal for running into burning buildings, or trick-or-treating for that matter. The costume is for children four to six and it’s one of several provocative costumes for the age group.

Even the pumpkin costume for preschoolers is sexy: it’s sleeveless and features a black bodice with an orange ribbon that laces up the front like a corset. I found the girls’ firefighter and the police officer costumes the most offensive, as they hung on the rack in stark contrast to the boys’ versions.

What kind of message do these costumes send to our girls? While the boys have costumes that look like the real thing, girls are expected to dress up in spoof ensembles, thus suggesting they can’t, or shouldn’t, do the real job. The costumes are not only “sexy,” they’re also sexist.