Yandy, an American lingerie company, came up with a sexualised version of the outfits worn by the handmaids in the dystopian TV show “The Handmaid’s Tale.” They apparently considered the outfit to be ideal for Halloween.
As reported by Time, horror was the word when people spotted Yandy's adverts for the outfit. People were literally horrified when they saw the costume and took to Twitter to express their opinion.
Some of those opinions are dotted throughout the article.
Brave Red Maiden costume hits the headlines
Yandy came up with the idea for the costume after seeing the outfits worn in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The series tells the story of a dystopian future where fertile women are kept as sex slaves and made to become surrogate mothers by being raped to produce babies. The series has been adapted and is based on the novel by Margaret Atwood.
The sales page for the Brave Red Maiden costume described the item by mentioning the “upsetting dystopian future” where women have no say. They went on to urge customers to be bold and to speak their minds by wearing the exclusive costume.
Making a costume to sexualise the show was a really bad idea. The Brave Red Maiden costume was on sale on Yandy’s website at a price of $65 (£49), but has since been removed after the backlash the company received online. The company has since apologised for the tasteless costume.
Twitter goes wild over ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ costume
Many people immediately headed to Twitter after seeing adverts for the costume. They pointed out that many women wear the actual costume all over the world to protest the oppression of women. They say the new costume sexualises the concept, which has caused outrage and shock.
As reported by the Independent, after removing the Brave Red Maiden costume from their website, Yandy issued a statement to say they have always, and will always, stand for urging their customers to “own their sexy.” They said they support their customers in being comfortable in their own skin, no matter who they are, or what they may choose to wear.
Yandy stated that overall their corporate ideology is firmly rooted in female and gender empowerment.
The statement continued to say that it had become obvious to them that their Brave Red Maiden costume is seen by the public as a symbol of oppression against women, rather than as an expression of empowerment for women. They said this was unfortunate and that it wasn’t their intention at all. The powerful protest image of women wearing the outfit was their inspiration to create the costume.
Yandy then wrote that after seeing the heartfelt and sincere response to the costume, which is supported by several personal stories they have received, they were removing the costume from their website. The full statement can be read below.