While not the classiest of traditions, it has long been held a belief that Halloween costumes could turn ANY profession "sexy." Sexy nurse? Easy. Sexy teacher? You bet. Sexy lawyer? A bit more of a challenge, but there's no doubt it could be done. We might have found one, however, that's completely off limits, as one company tried to produce a Sexy Handmaiden's Tale costume, and was met with immediate backlash.
Online retailer Yandy, which specializes in lingerie, posted a "Brave Red Maiden" costume for women to order and wear on Halloween. It's an unmistakable nod to the women on Hulu's award-winning television series... only, it ignores the fact that women in the world of The Handmaid's Tale are treated about as horrible as one could possibly imagine. Set in a Dystopian society, the last remaining fertile women are forced to be sex slaves, and the main character, Offred (Elisabeth Moss), endures numerous horrors just to survive and maybe see the daughter she once had to abandon.
You know... sexy.
Naturally, this costume was met with fierce resistance online, with Tweets like the following arriving by the boatload:
Here's where things get extremely odd, however. Realizing that they might have made an insensitive move, Yandy actually reacted rapidly, pulling the "Brave Red Maiden" costume from its online stores and issuing the following statement.
Let this be a lesson. There are numerous ways to empower females, and a lot of pop culture characters who can be turned into sexier versions of themselves if someone wants to pretend to be that side of their personality on Halloween night. Lawyers CAN be sexy, dammit. But the costume probably shouldn't veer so far off of the course of the original character so as to reverse -- or even mock -- the point of he person in pop culture being represented by the Halloween costume. Offred doesn't feel sexy, so you probably should try to feel sexy when playing a version of her on Halloween.
The Handmaid's Tale, in addition to inspiring tasteless Halloween costumes, is between seasons at the moment, though it has been announced that the show has been renewed for a third season. We will continue to track the program's progress, and bring you up-to-the-minute details on new episodes as they arrive. In the meantime, what will you go as for Halloween this year?
