A group of Native Americans recently protested a Phoenix-based lingerie store for selling a line of costumes they call dehumanizing.
Several people stood outside Yandy headquarters shouting, “People, not costumes!” Amanda Blackhorse, who is Navajo, delivered a petition with more than 25,000 signatures asking Yandy to remove 50 costumes including “Sexy Pocahontas” and “Tribal Trouble” from the online retail site.
Blackhorse, who is a social worker, said the fake buckskin fringe costumes are offensive because they perpetuate violence against women.
“Native women are 2 1/2 times more likely to be victims of sexual violence in their lifetimes,” Blackhorse said. “Most of the time the violence is inflicted by a non-Native. And so when we see these overly sexualized costumes of stereotypical Native women, that doesn’t do anything to progress us forward.”
Yandy didn’t return requests for comment.
