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‘Tranny Granny’ Halloween Costume Pulled From Walmart, Amazon Websites — See If You Can Spot The Problem

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 07:56 PST, Oct 5, 2016

A “Tranny Granny” costume — that is, a costume that ostensibly depicts an old lady but that is intended for men — has been pulled from the Walmart and Amazon websites after some complained that it was offensive, Yahoo News is reporting.

The costume features an outfit that purports to depict a stereotypical old lady — a floral print dress, gray slippers, a pink babushka, thick glasses — that promises to “have the room roaring with laughter,” according to the product description. The costume features an exaggerated behind and saggy, oversized breasts to complete the look. Men who wear the costume can slap on some exaggerated makeup for extra effect.

The manufacturer, Rasta Imposta, says the suggested retail price is $64, but Walmart.com and Amazon.com both offered for a “steal” at $25 — plus tax, shipping, and handling, of course. Besides Walmart.com and Amazon.com, the costume was available on other websites, including Wholesale Halloween Costumes, Costume Super Center, and Pure Costumes. Rasta Imposta itself, perhaps having heard the complaints, now refers to the costume as a “Manny Granny” costume, while other websites still use the original “Tranny Granny” name.

So what’s the problem? Well, let’s start with the word “tranny.” The LGBTQ community regards it as an offensive term for a transsexual (one who was assigned one biological sex at birth but identifies as the other); in particular, a person who was born biologically male but identifies as female.

Transgender activist Ashlee Marie Preston explained to Mic how the term “tranny” is offensive.

“The word ‘tranny’ and the stigma associated with it is often used to humiliate, dehumanize and degrade transgender women in a way that challenges and discredits our womanhood. When society refuses to view us as women, we are instantly filed away under the ‘it’ category and stripped of our humanity.”

Beyond the use of an unacceptable word, however, is the larger issue of a man dressing as a woman being played for comic effect.

“Placing a cisgender man in ‘granny-like’ attire, and marketing it as the ‘Tranny Granny Costume,’ is such a poignant reflection of how society views trans women.”

Preston says the costume, and gender-bending costumes like it, “dehumanize” trans women and could lead to violence against transgender women. She notes that 72 percent of the victims of hate violence are transgender women.

Now that complaints are pouring in, Walmart and Amazon have both pulled the costume. In a statement, Walmart noted that the retailer acts as a sort of middleman between the vendor — in this case, Rasta Imposta — and the consumer.

“The way our marketplace works, there are various marketplace sellers that can upload products from their catalog to our website.”

In other words, the costume is not, has never been, and will never be available in stores. And Walmart notes that even though the costume somehow slipped by its team dedicated to weeding out offensive costumes, it’s not going to be available online any longer.

“This was one [item] that clearly violated our policy and we very quickly removed it. We’re appalled that the seller put this item up.”

As Mic writer Rachel Lubitz notes, offensive Halloween costumes pop up around this time every year. Last year, the winner of the Controversial Costume of the Season award may have gone to another costume the appeared to take a dig at the LGBTQ community: the Caitlin Jenner costume.

Do you find the “Tranny Granny” Halloween costume offensive?

[Feature Image by Sunny Studio/Shutterstock]

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