Once again, Kylie Jenner is doing some controversial shit that’s entirely tone deaf. Am I surprised? Not at all.
Over the weekend, Kylie Jenner threw a birthday bash for her BFF Instagram star Stassie Karanikolaou. The theme was… The Handmaids Tale.
But why is Kylie Jenner having a handmaids tale party… she does realize it’s about rape & oppression… right?
— christina (@tinatheweina) 9 June 2019
Apparently it’s one of her fave series, but if she’s really out there thinking that this party was acceptable, then I don’t think she got the message of what the show’s really about.
Kylie posted snaps of her party, showing the blood red curtains and wearing the robes and bonnets worn by oppressed “handmaids” in the show. She says “Welcome to Gilead.” Cause you know, it’s totally cool and trendy to make your house look like a place where women are brutally raped and treated like cattle. Dressing like the oppressed is def the cutest look.
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Kylie throwing a themed birthday party for @stassiebaby and the premiere of @handmaidsonhulu who watched the show? I watched most of it it’s so good
I mean, the fact that she’s appropriating an image of extreme oppression, objectification and sexual violence for a cute selfie is just… yikes.
Why This Is So Messed Up
Throwing a lavish, exclusive, money-saturated party celebrating and romanticising the oppression of women is gross for so many reasons. The Handmaid’s Tale is about the struggle of horrifically oppressed women in a dystopic patriarchal religious society. They’re reduced to walking uteruses, condemned to a life of being raped and silenced, forced to endure childbirth for rich people.
Yeah, it’s super messed up. And what’s worse is how reproductive laws IRL are going backwards. Now that Alabama and Georgia are outlawing abortions and controlling women’s bodies in ways we usually associate with speculative fiction, treating the show like a joke is even more tasteless. The fact that a lot of the horrifying shit in THT is seeping into the real world has not been lost on us; Kylie Jenner’s party is exactly what we don’t need.
Kylie Jenner throwing a Handmaid’s Tale themed party while abortion rights are being systematically rolled back across the US is some Gilead-level bullshit 🙄
— *Actual Dr.* Tabby Price (@tabbymprice) 9 June 2019
Using women’s oppression as a party theme glorifies misogyny, the brutalisation of women and their reproductive rights. It’s so mocking and tone deaf, especially considering activists have been dressed up in the same handmaid robes as a protest against the new laws controlling women’s bodies. Wearing the same thing as a funny costume for the gals is gross and completely undermines just how real the struggle is.
Kylie Jenner hosting a Handmaid’s Tale themed birthday party is actually a perfect analogy for how rich people will be perfectly fine if Roe v. Wade is overturned. They’ll always find a way to afford and access abortion—low income folks won’t. #StopTheBans
— Natalie Green (@natalieg92) 10 June 2019
What This Says About Kylie Jenner
The party raises heaps of points on how out of touch rich celebrities – particularly the Kardashians – are with the rest of the world. I mean, remember Kendall Jenner’s ad suggesting that offering cops Pepsi will stop police brutality? They’re constantly trying to package current events into cute marketable trends and it shows that they don’t actually care about the issues at hand.
Kylie hasn’t responded to the backlash against her gross party, but she’s deleted the posts from her social media. Let’s hope she re-evaluates her perspective on the show, and maybe re-watches it to drive home that slavery and rape are def not good party themes.
Sources: Instagram @kyliesnapchat, Twitter: @tinatheweina, @tabbymprice, @natalieg92, GIPHY
