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.
Comments (33) Closed
I have nothing against women but the whole "women's day " concept is confusing. Same like a Rani Mukherjee movie on women empowerment was called "Mardanni". I cannot get more self-contradictory than this.
TOI is not for intellects.
Respect Guys, We are sharing the Planet with them.
Was it a sexist joke ? ........people realize that here women and ' washing and cleaning ' are synonymous and by drawing attention to this , it has created a type of awareness that this is WRONG. Why does everything have to be taken so literally ?
These days nobody cares for petty issues.
Dont belittle any job, cleaning requires lot of effort and patience something men dont have.
What s shame..? This shouldn't have happened. Lets see how Times Of India respond this. I don't see them apologizing by the way :(
There was a time when Times of India was respected and people here in Dubai used to read it. Now I don't see anybody reading it.
This section of TOI --- the daily ad-driven supplement -- is handled by a bunch of empty-headed marketing people, with zero-journalistic credentials. No serious journalist in the TOI's editorial team works here.
A joke should never be taken that seriously, else it attracts more attention.
Jokes reflects IndoPak society !!!
@Riaz Thats why many Indians prefer Dawn than Indian news paper .
@Parvez I agree with you...u have rightly pointed out the joke...
First of all it was just joke !! I think on womens day it was published, to get the attention of men about their own thinking towords women.So I think there is nothing wrong in it!!
Times of India, once a respected newspaper, is now the worst kind of tabloid. It is India's answer to the Daily Mail, only worse. Times Now, its television arm, is India's answer to Fox News. Times Now peddles shrill jingoism all day, led by its chief anchor, Arnab Goswami. The Times of India website consists mainly of lurid pictures of scantily clad women, placed in between shrill, sensationalist headlines. Its unmoderated comments sections are infested with trolls who peddle small-minded hate and bigotry all day. Pakistanis should be thankful that they have a news portal like Dawn. There are few Indian newspapers that are comparable in quality and objectivity. The Hindu is one that comes close.
Times of India is a sensationalist rag. There are many many other highly respected newspapers in India, with excellent reporting and analysis.
"Why haven't they sent a woman to the moon yet?" The answer? "It doesn't need cleaning." I found nothing in this joke that tends to be obscene.... Why do people make a mountain from molehill..
TOI & The Hindu, both are trash.I used to read them online some times ago but ceased to as both are unnecessarily anti-pakistan and feel pleasure to publish those stories which could foment hatred and enemity b/w both nations.I regard DAWN as a best newspaper, far far ahead of them.
hahaha the joke is funny though :D
Pakistani and Indians are not too serious about women!
@karachi Wally "Now I don't see anybody reading it."
Because they all read it on the net.
Come on man it's just a joke. If its like this then Sardars and Khans should fight a war against rest of the world
Over the years,TOI has become a rag and nothing more!:(
The joke is jarring,but it IS funny!!!:)
It is one of the worst jokes, i ever heard...Sorry women.
As I have been stating, that is the level of their newspapers and see this one of ours. All Pakistanis come here, so many Indians come here, I need say no more.
huh! Indian Media...usual way of selling their product cheap & sensational
In my view its a compliment to women- what i get of this joke is that "wherever women goes things and surrounding become clean and pure", it talks good and true about the Female gender, i don't think it means they are only good in Jhadu/Ponchaa.....
Thats the raeson indians always visiting our news sites...
Just boycott these kind of newspapers.
All Indian newspapers should learn journalism from Dawn.
How did I miss deepika padikone pics.
Times of India ....out of the times...belongs in the 16th century along with the Mullahs
We do the exact same thing with our sisters and mothers, but if India makes a joke about it, we go all crazy on her. Seriously? I know it is a sexist and a very cheap joke, but let's not forget we do the exact same thing in Pakistan too.