This sexy Handmaid’s Tale costume has us asking why, why, why

An online retailer tried to sell a sexy Handmaid’s Tale Halloween costume, and safe to say no one was having it.

In today’s products that nobody ever wanted, the internet discovered that an online retailer, Yandy, was attempting to sell a sexy Handmaid’s Tale costume. It seems like this was almost inevitable, and yet, we’d hope and wish this was satire. It isn’t.

There’s a running internet joke that everything can be turned into a sexy Halloween costume. Sexy Iron Mans, Spongebobs, and basically almost anything else you can think of will be turned into a skimpy outfit for a woman’s Halloween costume.

This one goes too far, considering the subject matter of the series and what the outfit represents on the show. Gross, disgusting, just plain wrong are a few of many words we have for this concept of turning a Handmaid’s outfit into a sexy version meant to appeal to the male gaze.

The description of the product says:

“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.”

Brave. Red. Maiden? How many levels of wrong can we achieve, people?

Handmaids have their autonomy on almost every level taken away from them and are victims of rape and assault. This outfit is not to be celebrated, and there’s no way to salvage it and turn it into something positive or empowering, or we guess in this sense… sexy. Despite the makers of the outfit claiming they wanted to do just that, we just aren’t buying it.

Sadly, women’s trauma and pain are all too often not taken seriously, so it is unfortunately not a surprise someone would turn the idea of being a Handmaid into a joke.

Since uproar over the costume hit social media, Yandy has decided to remove it from their website. They also released this statement:

"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. This is unfortunate, as it was not our intention on any level. Related Story: 10 shows to check out if you miss The Handmaid's Tale"

Whatever the intent behind the costume, it was a bad choice, and it probably shouldn’t have been approved in the first place. What do you think about this (un)sexy Handmaid’s Tale costume?

(H/T Entertainment Weekly)