Online retailer Yandy has removed its sexy The Handmaid’s Tale-inspired Halloween costume after receiving an intense backlash over the outfit, with the company releasing a statement apologizing for the ensemble.
“Yandy always has stood, and will continue to stand, at the forefront of encouraging our customers to ‘Own Your Sexy,’” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “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.”
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The statement added that the whole thing was “unfortunate” and not their “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,” the statement concluded.
Titled “Sexy Handmaid” costume, the outfit features a red mini dress, matching cape and white bonnet, and while The Handmaid’s Tale was not explicitly mentioned, it’s clear the red capes and white bonnets the handmaids in the Hulu show are forced to wear provided direct inspiration for the ensemble.
“An upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say,” the costume’s original description read. “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. (Pantyhose not included.)”
Naturally, people were in no way on board with this.
Many people tweeted that creating a “sexy” costume based on a series where women continually suffer sanctioned abuse and sexual assault is not okay.
It seems a lot of people on this thread are missing the point. But, it feels like we will never see the same point, anyway. A Handmaids Tale is about a Patriarchal society that uses RAPE as a basic construct. Thank you for doing the right thing, Yandy.
— Devin Rocks (@devinrx) September 21, 2018
Others noted that while the Brave Red Maiden costume was pulled, Yandy is selling several other questionable ensembles.
okay like everyone is up in arms about the #handmaidstale costume like yandy doesn’t still have 7 PAGES of these “costumes” in 2018 //t.co/i38pxHLwfW pic.twitter.com/pKSaIvWOmq
— kam (@mckam4496) September 21, 2018
The retailer as a whole was also subject to criticism.
Every year at Halloween I think “You know who’s horrible? Yandy.” and every year I get proven overwhelmingly correct. //t.co/urvJHNE3gI
— John Lam (@AnxiousPenman) September 20, 2018
Photo Credit: Hulu
