Retail site Yandy.com on Thursday removed a sexy handmaid costume, inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale, following outcry on social media. 
 
 The Halloween costume, which referred to both the dystopian Margaret Atwood novel and Hulu series, was depicted as a bright red mini dress and cape with high heels. BuzzFeed News reported on the costume earlier Thursday, chronicling the Twitter responses that ranged from confusion to disgust. 
 
 Here’s part of the statement from Yandy: 
 
 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. Our initial inspiration to create the piece was through witnessing its use in recent months as a powerful protest image. 
 
 The red cloaks and white bonnets worn by handmaids (aka the fertile women in the fictional Gilead who are subjected to ritualized rape and forced pregnancy) in The Handmaid’s Tale have been adopted as symbols of feminism. Most recently, women wore outfits inspired by the narrative to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 But the “brave red maiden costume” was much more revealing. Here was Yandy’s original description of the costume: 
 
 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. 
 
 Some people on Twitter thought the execution of the costume was confusing, while many others found it completely appalling. 
 
 Wait. Is this…sexy handmaid? This is so far from the point I can't even. — Noncompliant (@_noncompliant_) September 20, 2018 
 
 capitalism wins again https://t.co/eYurdOvoUE — Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) September 20, 2018 
 
 Great moments in self-satire. https://t.co/Ug6tFCRXs2 — Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) September 20, 2018 
 
 WTF WHO THIUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA I JUST WANNA TALK https://t.co/DsHBarTujG — Kozmo (@kozmos92) September 21, 2018 
 
 Of course, some people made jokes. 
 
 When you have a protest at the Capitol at 4 and happy hour plans at 5. https://t.co/gOZ9IEMVio — Alyssa E. Hackbarth (@AlyssaEinDC) September 20, 2018 
 
 And still others had even found the silver lining. 
 
 is it wrong if i think the slutty handmaid's tale costume is accidentally brilliant and subversive despite that not being the intention behind it at all — sophie bee (@pogform) September 20, 2018 
 
 The retail site seems to be erring on the side caution. Yandy’s statement said: “Given the sincere, heartfelt response, supported by numerous personal stories we’ve received, we are removing the costume from our site.” 
 
 Luckily, there are still plenty of other sexy costumes to choose from. 
 
 H/T Jezebel ||||| When Hulu released a trailer for their adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic The Handmaid’s Tale, some conservatives didn’t realize the series was based on a decades-old novel – they thought it was created in response to Trump’s presidential win. 
 
 The confusion makes some sense. Much of the show feels familiar in today’s political climate: children being wrenched from their parents’ arms at borders. A lesbian tortured in order, she’s told, to cure her unnatural appetites. Women forced to carry pregnancies after they’ve been raped. 
 
 But what makes The Handmaid’s Tale so terrifying is not that it’s timely, but that it’s timeless. And after watching seven episodes, what’s been keeping me up at night isn’t the explicit horrors as much as how the show surfaces women’s fear of what everyday sexism really means. 
 
 Before the handmaid era has been ushered in by a coup d’état, for example, Moss and her friend Moira (played by Samira Wiley) are called “fucking sluts” by a cashier at a coffee shop for no real reason. It’s as if the man, who seems to know about the impending government shift, is finally free to say whatever he wants to women – a misogynist troll empowered. (A sobering thought in any time, but even more so in the wake of the news that one New Hampshire politician got his start on Reddit forums calling for an end to women’s autonomy.) 
 
 There’s violence and sexual assault to spare, but it’s the milquetoast misogynists that feel more familiar: the boss who offers a meek apology when he’s forced to mass-fire female employees at a publishing company; the soldier who holds door open for the women as they file out of their workplace, knowing they’ll never return; the “commander” who allows his handmaid to read a now-forbidden fashion magazine so he can feel benevolent. 
 
 The Handmaid's Tale review – timely adaptation scares with dystopian dread Read more 
 
 It’s a creeping sort of sexism that American women are all-too familiar with – the kind that pats you on the head instead of on the ass. 
 
 Like Atwood’s book, the series makes clear that personal anxiety about masculinity underpins this world’s politics – it’s forbidden to suggest that men could ever be infertile, for example, and women are banned from reading lest intellectual pursuits distract them from childbearing. 
 
 Even well-meaning men fall into patriarchal traps: when Moss’s character – before she’s forced to become a handmaid – is panicking because women’s bank accounts across the country have been emptied and passed on to their closest male relative, her husband responds by assuring her that he will “take care of” her. 
 
 It’s an empty promise that misses the point entirely. The world is crashing down around her, and her husband can only offer words of comfort that exalt his power. 
 
 And that’s what makes the series – and sexism – so scary. It’s not just that we live in a country where politicians call pregnant women ‘hosts’ and the vice-president refuses to dine alone with women. It isn’t just that we can’t trust the government to treat us as full human beings – it’s that oftentimes we don’t know if we can trust the men in our lives, either. 
 
 Because as much as The Handmaid’s Tale is about what happens when some men’s disdain for women boils over, it’s also about the danger of “good” men’s apathy and attachment to the privileges sexism affords them. Both are horrors women know well.
– Halloween costumes based on popular TV shows usually do well their first year out, but one new getup was nixed before the first pumpkin was carved. The Daily Dot reports Yandy.com, a retail site known for its sexy costumes, yanked one based on the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale after "confusion and disgust" was the main reaction to it online. The costume, labeled "Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume" and listing for $64.95, consisted of a short red dress, matching red cape, and white bonnet. The sultry-looking blonde model sporting the costume wore black high heels. The accompanying description: "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." This all prompted an outcry on Twitter, namely because the concept behind the Hulu show, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, revolves around handmaidens who are raped and forced to carry pregnancies to term for elite families. Others tried to make light of it, noting that knockoffs of the handmaiden costumes are often worn at protests advocating for women's rights. And that seems to have been Yandy's original intent, at least according to a statement it put out after the pushback started. "It has become obvious that our … [costume] is being seen as a symbol of women's oppression, rather than an expression of women's empowerment," it said, adding that the costume has been pulled.