That’s not very PC! Police in online sexism storm over photo of ‘pretty’ female officers
YOU’D expect a modern police force to be a world away from the kind portrayed in television show Life on Mars.
But Police Scotland has been accused of ‘going back to the 70s’ after posting a snap of three female police officers online with the caption ‘more than just pretty faces’.
The selfie of the three beaming women in uniform was put up on the Facebook page of Edinburgh Police Division on Tuesday.
Within minutes its caption had caused a sexism storm with outraged followers accusing the force of harking back to the ‘dark ages’.
Police Scotland then caused further backlash when it defended the caption, adding that it also hires ‘ugly’ people as well.
The post, which last night had received hundreds of hits, was published as part of a recruitment drive aimed at future female special constables.
Facebook user David Grant said ‘Ladies and pretty faces all in the one sentence. It’s 1972 again!’
Social media user Ian Bettison added: ‘Do you comment on the attractiveness of all applicants or just the pretty girls?’
The picture shows Superintendent Lesley Clark posing on duty with two colleagues. The post read: ‘From SPC [Special Police Constable] to Superintendent, there are opportunities for everyone. Don’t sit and wonder what it would be like, come and join us!’
But the post was criticised for its language, which one user said belonged in the ‘dark ages’.
Superintendent Clark later said: ‘The intention of this social media interaction, which was written by a female officer, was to illustrate the incredibly important role that women play within policing in a number of ways.’