This Halloween, women will not be going as a “sexy Handmaid’s Tale” character.
The costume description, which read “An upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say, however, we say be bold and speak your mind in this exclusive Brave Red Maiden costume” didn’t sit well with feminists, so online retailer Yandy yanked it from their web store.
I’m dressing up as existential despair this Halloween pic.twitter.com/fMyuNuuU1g
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) September 21, 2018
WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/ITHe2Ni9O0
— dontwasteyourpretty (@wastedprettypod) September 20, 2018
Nothing like a sexy rape victim for Halloween fun huh @Yandy
— dontwasteyourpretty (@wastedprettypod) September 20, 2018
White women: That sexy handmaid's tale costume is oppressive and hurtful towards women!
Also white women: Racism is over. No one is racist. It's just a costume! https://t.co/ZN4L30KBZi
— Ms. Anthropology, *the other face-tattoo one,* MA (@SavvyOlogy) September 21, 2018
If you’re at all surprised that someone tried to sell a sexy Handmaid’s Tale costume, you just aren’t paying attention to the current state of things.
— TheAC (@TheAudreyC) September 21, 2018
If you can’t see the irony in the costume…I don’t know what to tell you. Do you need to be reminded that when a woman is sexually assaulted that one of the first questions she’s asked is “What were you wearing?” Back of that trigger, turbo
— Colleen McCullough (@CMviolin) September 21, 2018
This one’s pretty funny though.
When you have a protest at the Capitol at 4 and happy hour plans at 5. https://t.co/gOZ9IEMVio
— Alyssa E. Hackbarth (@AlyssaEinDC) September 20, 2018
After pulling the costume, Yandy issued this statement:
Yandy always has stood, and will continue to stand, at the forefront of encouraging our customers to “Own Your Sexy”. We support our customers being comfortable in their skin, regardless of who they are or what they choose to wear. Our corporate ideology is rooted in female empowerment, and gender empowerment overall.
Over the last few hours, it has become obvious that our “Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume” is being seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, rather than an expression of women’s empowerment. This is unfortunate, as it was not our intention on any level. Our initial inspiration to create the piece was through witnessing its use in recent months as a powerful protest image.
Given the sincere, heartfelt response, supported by numerous personal stories we’ve received, we are removing the costume from our site.
Guess it’s only okay to wear the original version of the costume when protesting things like Brett Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS hearing, Donald Trump’s election or “anti-abortion” legislation.