Kylie Jenner Threw A "Disturbing" Handmaid's Tale Party For Her Best Friend
Twitter is dragging the "tone-deaf" theme for the celebration
Photo: Instagram
Kylie Jenner knows how to throw a themed party, but she might've taken it too far this time. The 21-year-old beauty mogul honored her friend Anastasia "Stassie" Karanikolaou with an elaborate party inspired by The Handmaid's Tale over the weekend. Some fans, however, were put off by the celebration.
The hit Hulu series, adapted from the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, takes place in the totalitarian state of Gilead, where women are raped and forced to give birth to children who will be raised by high-ranking officials and their wives.
According to footage on Jenner's Instagram Story, which has now expired but was captured by fan accounts, her party for Karanikolaou included Handmaid robes (complete with a signature white bonnet and red cape) for guests, Gilead posters, and servers who dressed as Marthas, or female housekeepers. Pictures from the party showed Jenner, Karanikolaou, and even pal Sofia Richie posing and taking selfies in the robes.
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It's not uncommon for people to wear the Handmaid robes in real life. Protestors and activists have donned them at rallies and even the Senate floor to make a point about how certain laws challenge women's autonomy. But co-opting the outfits as fun party costumes? Seems like crossing the line.
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Jenner received backlash from a number of online users who called the party "disturbing," "disgusting," and "tone-deaf." Some even assumed Kylie didn't read the book or watch the show if she used the premise as a theme for a birthday celebration. As critics pointed out, the function is especially alarming as it arrives at a time when women's reproductive rights are being attacked in real life, making The Handmaid's Tale all the more relevant.
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Kylie hasn't publicly responded to the uproar, but some of her fans defended her on social media, saying Jenner threw the themed fête because her friend is such a fan of the series.
This article originally appeared on Harper's Bazaar US.