‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Yandy Acknowledges That Its Sexy ‘Brave Red Maiden’ Costume Wasn’t a Great Idea
Sexy versions of pop culture costumes are a proud Halloween tradition going all the way back to the first sexy pilgrims. But the clothing provider Yandy.com acknowledged Friday that they crossed a line when offering up their twist on a 2018 pop culture favorite: the Sexy Handmaid. Or, in their non-copyright-infringing language, the “Brave Red Maiden,” costing just $64.95.
Slutty Handmaid Tale Costume was the natural progression of things pic.twitter.com/LuW9LiwK8X
— Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) September 20, 2018
The costume attracted no shortage of criticism online, since it created a sexualized version of a costume that, in the world of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” represents the literal sexual enslavement of women by the government — not the most erotic of concepts. The response was perhaps best summed up by a retweet from Margaret Atwood, the author of the original novel:
— Victoria Brown (@VNBwrites) September 21, 2018
While Yandy.com features no shortage of “sexy” costumes that might border on the offensive or absurd, this time it did acknowledge that this was a bridge too far, and pulled the “Brave Red Maiden” costume from its site, accompanied by this statement:
https://twitter.com/RachaelGreen/status/1043092525261582336
While the costume is now unavailable (congrats to those who did buy it before it was taken down, who now own a collector’s item), a Twitter user did note that there was a context in which the Brave Red Maiden costume did make sense within the world of “The Handmaid’s Tale” — specifically at the Gileadean brothel Jezebel’s, where women deemed unfit for traditional society serve at the pleasure of high-ranking officials, often wearing absurd costumes just like this. Though Atwood did have a note: the men who frequent Jezebel’s have different taste — and also, Yandy wasn’t the first company to play with the costumes.
Well it could well be, though Jezebel's went in more for cheerleaders' outfits.
See also the tapdancing Handmaids at last year's Emmys…. https://t.co/42cOc43pVh— Margaret E Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) September 21, 2018
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is streaming now on Hulu.
