https 2F2Fblueprint api production.s3.amazonaws.com2Fuploads2Fcard2Fimage2F8496062Fb2f62c60 8232 4b53 9550 4a7930d9b547 1b1ea

Offensive Halloween Costumes 2018: The Sexy Handmaid

by Francesca Volpe

 

In this year’s edition of tasteless Halloween costumes, we present to you Sexy Handmaid. Mashable reports that Yandy, an online lingerie and costume retailer, released the “Brave Red Maiden Costume” last week, with the description “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 featuring a red mini dress, a matching cloak, with an attached hood, and a white bonnet headpiece.”

Clearly inspired by the uniform worn by women forced into sexual submission in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the almost-$65 ensemble unsurprisingly received an onslaught of online criticism. In response to the backlash, Yandy removed the costume from their website and released the below statement.

Screen Shot 2018 09 21 at 11.46.50 AM 95844Via Twitter/Yandy.com

Fast Company writes that “the company was struck by the appearance of handmaidens at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings and wanted to make it like that, but sexier.” The series, based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, takes place in the totalitarian society of Gilead, where selected women are forced to engaged in ritualized rape with high-ranking men for the purpose of procreation, as most women are unable to have children.

Since women’s reproductive rights are being called into question by powerful men in our current society, it’s difficult to comprehend how a sexualized version of a garment symbolizing a woman’s handmaid status, and therefore her government sanctioned abuse, could be seen as empowering. Similar sentiments echoed over Twitter. Molly Sanchez, a San Francisco based comedian and writer, tweeted, “Our society doesn’t take the rape of real women seriously, why should they take the rape of fictional women seriously?” Another user wrote, “Nothing like a sexy rape victim for Halloween fun huh.” This handmaid costume’s sexual overtones downplay a harmful misogynistic universe that, by law, allows and encourages the rape and denigration of women.

Now, if only Yandy would remove their entire collection of appropriative costumes

Header image via Yandy

More From BUST

A Guide To Cultural Appropriation Vs. Appreciation

Breaking Down Cultural Appropriation In Pop Music And More

Jay-Z And Azealia Banks Call Out Miley Cyrus On Cultural Appropriation; She Doesn’t Get It

You may also like

Get the print magazine.

The best of BUST in your inbox!

Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter

About Us

Founded in 1993, BUST is the inclusive feminist lifestyle trailblazer offering a unique mix of humor, female-focused entertainment, uncensored personal stories, and candid reporting that tells the truth about women’s lives.

©2023 Street Media LLC.  All Right Reserved.