Sexist TV? It’s men who are seen as the weaker sex
THE advertising watchdog is going to ban ‘traditional portrayals’ of housewives in a crackdown on sexist stereotypes. I haven’t seen a commercial depicting a woman as a housewife since Katie sprinkled her oxo cubes in the gravy dish. And it’s been a decade or so since we saw the lady with hands as soft as her face in the Fairy Liquid commercial. today, it’s a small boy asking his dad when the washing-up liquid will be finished because he wants to turn the bottle into a spaceship. the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) claims it wants to ensure that advertising doesn’t reinforce gender stereotypes. But there’s been little mention of all the anti-men TV commercials featuring inconsiderate Neanderthal dads who are behind the times and a constant embarrassment to their highly intelligent daughters? then there are family TV programmes, such as outnumbered, where mums and daughters are forced to make all the important decisions as they are usually competent and in control, while the dads and sons are portrayed as stupid. It seems white men are the only group you are still allowed to ridicule. It’s time the ASA took a more balanced view, instead of bowing to pressure from the sisterhood’s anti-male agenda.
TONY EDWARDS, Ockham, Surrey. INSTEAD of worrying about gender stereotyping and sexism in adverts, we should be more concerned that the advertising industry depends on us buying more and more stuff that we don’t need. It peddles the falsehood that our lives would be so much better if only we bought more — and, if we can’t afford it, then just borrow.
A. STEAD, Loftus, N. Yorks.