The Caitlyn Jenner costume, which comes with a sash and auburn brown wig, hit the shelves in time for Halloween. The problem? Consumers are finding the costume to be transphobic.
As the Inquisitr reported, the Jenner costume is in poor taste. It’s not a “silly” costume, but it is actually targeting a transgender person who is currently one of the most famous transgender people in the history of trans. The photos of the Caitlyn Jenner costume, presumably for men, hit the web and sparked an enormous outcry.
Online Halloween store brings out @Caitlyn_Jenner Halloween costume – Twitter reacts http://t.co/V53aKZOs7o pic.twitter.com/M5DPkNY0Vd
— BreakingNews.ie (@breakingnewsie) August 26, 2015
. @Caitlyn_Jenner Halloween Costume Pulled by Company That Defended It http://t.co/j3zUm6Qe6b pic.twitter.com/pRuLItdEba — TheWrap (@TheWrap) August 26, 2015
Now, according to the Wrap , one retail store has decided to pull the Caitlin Jenner costume from its shelves. According to the outlet, after receiving a ton of backlash, Spirit Halloween has decided to not distribute the costume. Lisa Barr, the marketing director, went on to release a statement in the wake of the controversy. At the time, Barr defended the decision to offer the costume, which recreated Jenner’s historic Vanity Fair cover.
“At Spirit Halloween, we create a wide range of costumes that are often based on celebrities, public figures, heroes and superheroes,” Barr said. “Caitlyn Jenner is all of the above and our Caitlyn-inspired costume reflects just that.”
The National Center for Transgender Equality hit back quickly.
“There’s no tasteful way to ‘celebrate’ Caitlyn Jenner or respect transgender people this way on the one night of the year when people use their most twisted imaginations to pretend to be villains and monsters.”
GLAAD spokesman, Nick Adams, said in a statement, “When transgender women step out into the world as their authentic selves, they aren’t wearing a costume. Companies should think twice before seeking to profit from mocking trans women.”
Although Spirit Halloween did defend the costume, it’s said that they are no longer selling it on their shelves. The team did not release a statement in response to this decision.
Here are a few reactions from Twitter:
@BuzzFeed Just saw pic its Awful
— Lisza M Hayward (@1c72bbaa880143c) August 25, 2015
I’m glad people are speaking of how horrible it is to make a halloween costume of Caitlyn Jenner she isn’t a joke or anything. — Norma Villanueva (@NAV112233) August 26, 2015
But seriously, the @Caitlyn_Jenner “costume” is offensive. Trans* people are not costumes, trans* peoples lives are not a joke.
— [Sov] KingofHearts? (@SovereignKeeper) August 25, 2015
Even if u don’t mean it that way, transphobic and transmisogynistic jokes like the Caitlyn Jenner Halloween costume r hurtful and not okay. — Amber Chisholm (@Weakshine) August 26, 2015
[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images]