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.

Editorial

Updated 04 Aug, 2026

Swat bombing

IT is a bitter irony that terrorists struck a protest against violence in Swat on Sunday, causing at least 17...
04 Aug, 2026

Tariff blow

FOR an export sector already squeezed by high production costs, the additional 10pc tariff on top of the existing...
04 Aug, 2026

Perilous peaks

THE deaths of 10 climbers in an avalanche on Broad Peak is a sad reminder of the perils that many mountaineers face...
Updated 03 Aug, 2026

Farewell to arms?

PALESTINIAN resistance group Hamas recently made a major concession by agreeing to give up its weapons. It should be...
03 Aug, 2026

Unplanned future

A PROJECTION that Pakistan’s population could reach 400m by 2040 should not be treated as another dramatic number...
03 Aug, 2026

No more torture

EVEN the best laws on the books are worth little unless the state shows the willingness to enforce them. This is...