Roman army meme sparks sexism row for British Museum
WHEN George Osborne was made chairman of the British Museum, he may have assumed it would be a cosy sinecure a world away from the scandals he was accustomed to in Westminster.
Instead, the former chancellor finds himself presiding over yet another controversy at the London institution, this time over alleged sexism.
the row was provoked by a post by the museum’s social media team. Promoting its ‘Legion: Life In the Roman Army’ exhibition, it declared: ‘ Girlies, if you’re single and looking for a man, this is your sign to go to the British Museum’s new exhibition and walk around looking confused.’
It adds: ‘Come for the Romans, stay for some romance,’ and shows five red imperial banners featured in the exhibition.
the post was a light-hearted reference to a recent social media trend in which women asked the men in their lives how often they thought about the Roman Empire — and expressed bewilderment at their answers.
Some men were even found to think about it more often than sex. However, the reference was apparently lost on many, who reacted with fury. ‘Unrelenting fascist imagery and sexism dolloped on top,’ fumes Dr Claire Millington, a visiting research fellow at King’s College London. She likens the banners to those displayed at Nazi rallies.
‘[I] can’t believe this is an official British Museum post,’ says another academic.
the museum deleted its post and a spokesman said that ‘mansplaining’ was ‘the butt of the joke’, adding: ‘We are not actually suggesting that women need to look for dates or pretend to be stupid. Apologies to anyone who wasn’t aware of the wider context who felt offended.’
Dr Millington dismisses this as a ‘non-apology’.