Woman’s ‘unique’ and ‘inappropriate’ meme-inspired dress for gay wedding divides the internet
Reddit post about ‘inappropriate’ rat-themed wedding outfit divides internet (Arthur/PBS)
A Reddit post detailing a woman’s “unique” outfit idea for a gay wedding has divided the internet, with hundreds of users deeming it “inappropriate” and “homophobic”.
The user harleygfproblem described his girlfriend’s outfit – “full of little stuffed rats” and “Pride flags” – for a friend’s wedding, asking if he was an “a**hole” for not letting her wear it.
He said: “Sometimes she likes to incorporate memes into her clothes. No problem. It’s cute.
“But now she wants to wear a dress inspired on the meme ‘gay rat wedding’. To my friend’s wedding. He and his fiancé are gay. I told her, maybe that is not really appropriate?
“The dress in question would be full of little stuffed rats, Pride flags and a big ‘I SUPPORT GAY RATS’ on the front.
“She is upset with me and claiming that i am ‘throwing water in her flame of creativity’.”
The outfit in question is based on the children’s TV show Arthur, in which aardvark Arthur’s rodent teacher Mr Ratburn gets married to his husband. The episode was banned in Alabama, leading people to Tweet “I support gay rats”.
AITA for not letting my girlfriend wear her “unique” dress to a wedding?
byu/harleygfproblem inAmItheAsshole
The outfit for the gay wedding proved so controversial that the user announced he broke up with his girlfriend after she found the Reddit post.
He said: “Although I showed her the comments (most importantly, the ones from the LGBTQIA community) she refused to admit that her dress was a poor choice, but in fact, her way to ‘appreciate the gays’.
“That did not sit well with me. Love can move mountains, but can NOT maintain a relationship with a homophobic. So, now i am going to the wedding a single, rat-free-dress, man!”
He explained that he told his friend, the groom-to-be, about the post, and he agreed that he would “kick us to the curb” if she turned up in the dress.
Reddit users rallied to agree with him, with one stating that “people need to understand they’re basically NPCs (non-player characters) at a wedding unless they’re immediately close with the bride and groom and even then they’re just background characters.”
Many found the dress “inappropriate”, however one user said that as the meme wasn’t incredibly popular, the meaning could be lost and render the outfit “extremely offensive”.
A user said: “I would say it’s on the border of ‘could technically be called supportive or extremely offensive’.
“Not everyone is going to be familiar with the meme, and while rats are awesome animals they also have a lot of negative connotations.
“So basically showing up in Not The Dress Code in a dress about a gay rat wedding comes across as disrespectful at best. At worst, it comes across as mocking the idea that gay marriage exists or comparing LGBT folks to vermin.”
In a Twitter poll that measures Reddit posts to find who the person in the wrong is, an overwhelming 94.3 per cent thought that the girlfriend should not wear the rat dress to the wedding.
