Sexy Handmaid's Tale costume removed from sale

Cognizant dissonance at the value of a buck.

You may be, it’s Boing Boing.

Conservatives have been feedings us almost four decades of normalizing us to the dystopian future, including marketing.

1 Like

I have a Pagan ritual every Samhain, but, it’s not a party, at least not until after the circle is opened. The secret is to keep it secret.

2 Likes

Well, without context I could see how someone might think it was some manner of lingerie or something, but I guess if it’s sold as a costume the context is pretty much guaranteed.

I dunno, O Mighty Edgelord.

Somehow, not only you but your Oh So Daring comment are still here. Something’s amiss in the BBS Machine!

5 Likes

“Easily” is such a subjective word. Until you’ve lived someone else’s life, you really don’t have a right to decide what should and shouldn’t offend them.

As a thought exercise to try and prove that point, what offends you? But keep in mind, if it doesn’t offend me then you are obviously easily offended.

If a group of people find something offensive, and you don’t, you can either stand your ground and fight, or examine the thing and try to see why it might be offensive to that group. It may change your mind, or it may not. Fighting might change their minds, or not. Odds are – things being things – no minds will be changed.

In this case, the decision to remove the costume from sale will have two results; one, if you were planning to dress up in this costume this year you’ll either need to make your own; or two, wait until another company comes out with yet another knock-off version with a stupid, non-IP infringing name and get that instead.

I guess there’s also the third option of getting one of a billion other costumes of questionable taste off-the-rack and go in that.

And the most difficult fourth option; creating your own costume from your own clever idea.


I sent this article to my youngest daughter, and her reply – as I was typing the above – was, “Are you fucking kidding me? Way to miss THE ENTIRE point.”


This particular costume seems to be a bit of a political statement. Unless you are of the opinion that women’s reproductive rights and freedoms aren’t under attack by our current crop of politicians, religious institutions, and entitled men. In which case, there’s no point in reading any further. I’ll catch back up with you in a couple months when the ones complaining that “people are too easily offended” begin shouting about “the gays” attacking Christmas, or Starbucks cups undermining wholesomeness, or whateverthefuck else is coming next in this wacky year.

I’m sure that’s 100% correct without a drop of hyperbole to be found. In fact, I know what my costume is going to be this year. Note Taker (careful version, XXL).

Good for you.

Oh noes!

Hmm. Are you driving trollies? I’m starting to feel like you are driving trollies.

As I see it, that’s not the source of the outrage. So many people across a wide strata in our country – right freakin’ now – would love to see a reality where women finally know their place. Much like wanting to decide what should and shouldn’t be found offensive, they absolutely want to be the ones that decide on what “that place” should be.

I’m pretty sure nobody is stopping you from dressing like this for Halloween, including at the party you described (which sounds absolutely divine, I must add; only the most fun people will be attending!). Yes, you may catch flack for – what I feel are – valid reasons if you chose to do so. That’s how society and culture work. Have you never seen the results of walking down the red carpet at the Academy Awards? It can be scathing.

12 Likes

Preach.

11 Likes

You’d really love my costume: fake snaggle teeth; mullet wig; stained and ripped U.S. flag t-shirt with a rolled pack of Pall Malls; a sleeve of temporary tats including a celtic cross and “88” and lightning rune and a heart with “Cousin Starla” inside; fake pistol shoved safety-off right down the front of my dirty off-brand jeans over a big ol’ NRA belt buckle, never-opened New Testament in the back pocket; Carhartt boots with red-stained steel toes; can of Bud in one hand, tiki torch in the other; all topped off by a hat with a stars-and-bars patch. If you can’t guess who I’m pretending to be, wait until I do my hi-larious accent when I brag about almost graduating from high school and my 20 grandbabies.

What do you think? Fun, right?

10 Likes

Sadly, such costumes are a thing:

Hint; if someone uses Halloween as an excuse to make fun of other people who are different from them, they’re probably doing it wrong.

12 Likes

Oh, you’re such a PC killjoy. I’m sure Arch just loves it when affluent urban elites dress up like this for costume parties. Especially at themed parties.

9 Likes

Yeah, I’m a total monster for spoiling such “good clean fun;”

­

­

­

­

14 Likes

Wait, why compare those to my costume? It’s not like conservatives are saying that white people are the last group of people in this country who can be made fun of with no consequences.

3 Likes

That’s an interesting reading, I agree that as much as they try to oppress her, she does what she can to not give in, which is not the same as her demonstrating having agency by “choosing” from one of the limited number of options left to her.

I do too, a lot of things are fun when you’re a kid that just become a burden when you’re an adult.

There’s a lot to be said for a tolerance which is committed to living and letting live, an acceptance that people are sometimes unique. You seem to be describing not caring, which is easy for kids, hard for adults.

10 Likes
18 Likes

Well you sure got me.

The hillbilly/redneck costume has been a thing for at least as long as I have been alive. I don’t take it personally.

15 Likes

Glad you agree it’s fun and harmless and totally not making a social statement. So many rural and southern white people (and their conservative pundit champions) take offense to it for some stupid reason. Imagine the kind of humourless idiot who’d claim that out-of-touch affluent “coastal elites” are mocking salt-of-the-Earth white Americans. Glad you never imply such things here.

11 Likes

Do you self-identify as a hillbilly/redneck? If not, then why would you take it personally? *

And if you just self-identify as white, then again, why would you take it personally, since it’s not a reference to white people in general?

*And if you do, then I wouldn’t see a problem with you and yours dressing up that way.

8 Likes