Times of India publishes sexist joke on Women's Day, faces backlash

Published March 9, 2015
A picture of the joke printed in TOI.
A picture of the joke printed in TOI.

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.

Some people wondered if the paper had forgotten it was Women's Day altogether:

Some kept it simple:

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:

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.

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