Praise be, ladies. The world may be a dismal place at the moment, but Kylie Jenner is here to remind us that there is a bright side to everything – even torture, rape and oppression. The 21-year-old reality TV star and cosmetics mogul recently had the bright idea of throwing a Handmaid’s Tale-themed party for one of her BFFs. The book and TV show may be a downer, but, hey, the bright-red gowns look great on Instagram! Guests sipped “praise be vodka” and “under his eye tequila” cocktails while taking selfies – and completely missing the point of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel.

Jenner’s bash, which she shared on social media (naturally), has prompted a backlash. It does seem remarkably tone-deaf to treat The Handmaid’s Tale like a hilarious joke when the US is becoming more like the fictional Gilead by the day. If you think that is an overdramatic comparison, just take a look at Alabama, which recently became the latest state to pass an extreme abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. Not only does the bill force women to have their rapist’s babies, but Alabama law means the rapist can get parental rights and sue for custody. Meanwhile, any doctor caught performing an abortion could get 99 years in prison.

While I think we can agree that Jenner’s party was in poor taste, getting outraged about it seems hypocritical. Is dressing up as a handmaid for fun really so much worse than watching the TV adaptation, which seems to revel in violence against women and has been described as “torture porn”? I am not sure it is. In any case, there is not much use in getting outraged, considering that all publicity is good publicity for the Kardashian-Jenner clan. The attention Jenner’s party garnered may even encourage her to stage a sequel. A glow-in-the-dark Chernobyl-themed party, perhaps? Got a feeling that might make the internet go nuclear.

• Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist