Playful Promises does not have time for homophobic comments and they want you to know it! The British intimates brand just went viral for clapping back at negative comments left on their Instagram post of a male model in revealing lingerie.
The Instagram post in question features dancer and “boylesque babe” Jake DuPree in a bright red matching bra and panty set. The photo was originally posted on DuPree’s page earlier this week and was later reposted by Playful Promises. It’s a hot picture and DuPree looks fucking fantastic in it, so it makes sense why the brand reposted it. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for homophobic trolls to come in and ruin everything.
“I would never buy the set now… Because I wouldn’t want to be seen in a set made for men too,” wrote a commenter I assume is named Karen. “This is not attractive at all.”
“Were you previously unaware that all garments can be worn by all genders?” the brand replied on Instagram. “Nothing is made ‘for’ any gender, it’s just a garment.”
Playful Promises didn’t stop there. They made sure to drive their point home that homophobic hate isn’t welcome on their page.
“Just no. Not sexy at all,” wrote another commenter I assume is also named Karen.
“Key info we needed to know, thanks,” sarcastically replied the brand. “Making a note of it.”
Screenshots of the brand clapping back at the army of Karens went viral on Twitter and drew mass attention to the picture of DuPree. At time of publication, the Playful Promises’ repost of DuPree has over 34,000 likes – a significant amount more than the 500-3,000 likes their posts usually get.
Playful Promises is the only lingerie brand I recognize from now on pic.twitter.com/pZOvLEj1c5
— vampyr (@givemeyourbIood) May 3, 2020
Playful Promises has a long history of supporting the queer community. In 2017, they hired RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Violet Chachki to be the face of their Bettie Page Lingerie collection. Chachki made history as the first drag queen to ever be the face of a woman’s lingerie campaign.
Unsurprisingly, the brand faced backlash for hiring someone that wasn’t an assigned-at-birth woman. In response, Playful Promises posted a long Twitter thread defending their decision to hire Chachki.
“So many lingerie campaigns are created with the male gaze in mind,” wrote the brand on Twitter. “Less so than 20-30 years ago, but it’s still there. What does using a non-binary model who is not a cis woman, shot by a woman, wearing lingerie created by women, say to you about the male gaze?”
Read the entire thread below:
Things you need to know about why we chose Violet Chachki to model our new range of Bettie Page Lingerie:
1. Violet is gender fluid. We did not choose "a man". We chose a gender fluid person that is not represented in the media, and certainly not in the lingerie industry.
— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017
3. We also chose to use a non-binary model because the vintage/pinup community has certain issues with gender (also racism, but that's another thread). We've seen comments comparing "modern" women to their "classier" counterparts of the past.
— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017
Also, you can't claim to be a fan of Bettie Page without acknowledging that what she was doing at the time was severely frowned upon. If you expect a brand named after her to do things by the book, you're missing the point of what she stood for.
— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017
5. So many lingerie campaigns are created with the male gaze in mind. Less so than 20-30 years ago, but it's still there. What does using a non-binary model who is not a cis woman, shot by a woman, wearing lingerie created by women, say to you about the male gaze?
— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017
I realize I didn't mention the points (because they seem obvious to me) that 1) Violet looks stunning, always and 2) her style is so closely aligned with everything Bettie that it's a match made in heaven.
— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017
What do you think of the photo of DuPree? What do you think of Playful Promises’ clapback on Instagram? Sound off with your opinions in the comments below.
Call it whatever you want to. I fucking hate this all PC, all “equally” all “inclusive” brain fuck agenda. Other people aren’t allowed to voice their opinion anymore and is this what “democracy” really mean?? People should be able to tell the others what their opinion is without being shut down and labeled. They are merely expressing how they feel and it has nothing to do with hate or being phobic to any fucktarfd. Calling people “homophobic” or whatever phobic so quickly is just dumb and annoying. The person only pointed out it isn’t attractive (for her) and suddenly she’s condemned to death. I fucking hate that whenever you put a man in a dress or women’s garment, you are supposed to applause and be in awe these days. There are moments that they look like shit and that’s the truth. Call it non gender or whatever fucking shit you like, it is true that a certain garment is made for a certain sex because the body fit differently. To force people to “like” it takes away the free will of people and we should accept that having a different opinion does not automatically equals to hate or being “phobic”.
You have the right to say whatever you want. However, others have the right to push back and call you out. Granted, death threats are uncalled for (and illegal), but other than that, say your piece and be respectful. If others are not respectful, that says more about them than you. But you also have an obligation to hear what others have to say in response to any of your statements with an open mind. Your opinions are not the only ones that matter. If all of that is too much, there is always silence.
Now you know why they call it the “FREAK SHOW”!
Better to be a freak than a conformist. If you don’t like something, just move on. The world does not exist to exclusively please you.