Times of India publishes sexist joke on Women's Day, faces backlash
Media outlets all over the world paid homage to women on Women's Day this Sunday — but one newspaper took a more antagonistic approach.
Times of India (TOI) published a sexist joke on International Women's Day, reported Buzzfeed India. The Q&A style joke asked:
"Why haven't they sent a woman to the moon yet?"
The answer? "It doesn't need cleaning."
Predictably, the backlash was swift and brutal.
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Some people wondered if the paper had forgotten it was Women's Day altogether:
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Some kept it simple:
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For others the joke was a reminder of how the documentary India's Daughter, about Jyoti Singh's 2012 gang rape and murder, has been banned:
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Interestingly, this isn't the first time the publication has come under fire for being sexist. In 2014 TOI had a very public row with Deepika Padukone, which began when TOI published a tweet that read "“OMG! Deepika Padukone’s cleavage show!” linking to a camera shot straining to look down the actress's shirt.
To this, Deepika replied "Yes! !I am a woman. I have breasts and a cleavage! You got a problem!!??" Later Deepika told the media that she felt "violated as a woman."
In a piece responding to Deepika's criticisms, the paper called her a hypocrite.