Sexist Washing Instructions in Men's Pants: Funny or Offensive?
I could care less if Dr Pepper doesn't want me to drink their new soda. I don't want to drink it anyway. If the Milk Board wants to poke un-funny fun at my PMS? Go right ahead.
But telling my husband that it's my job to do his laundry via the label in his pants? That's actually where I draw the line.
Emma Barnett is the digital media editor for the UK's Daily Telegraph. She stumbled upon this set of washing instructions in her boyfriend's pants:
MACHINE WASH WARM. INSIDE OUT WITH LIKE COLORS. USE ONLY NON-CHLORINE BLEACH. TUMBLE DRY MEDIUM. MEDIUM HOT IRON. DO NOT IRON PRINT! OR GIVE IT TO YOUR WOMAN. IT'S HER JOB.
I can take a joke. Really, I can. Even when it's directed at me, or people like me. I like jokes. And when they're funny, I laugh.
Related: 10 "funny" t-shirts that aren't funny
Barnett nicely summed up what's so not funny about this label:
"There was no attempt at wit, and unlike the Topman t-shirts, which offended so many with their brazen slogans to be worn across young men's chests - this was a hidden message - or rather an order, intended to encourage women to reassume their once their 'proper place' (in the home) and young men to maintain the expectations of their grandfathers.
Even the language - 'Your Woman' - presupposed some kind of Neanderthal mentality from my boyfriend, an unwilling shopper after some affordable chinos - preferably not lined with sexist imperatives."
There's nothing funny about an inside joke when the joke is inside of something that's not meant to be seen by everyone. Then it's just plain scary and creepy because it feels like it's intended for people to be laughing at us, and not with us and in a base, crass and absurdly sexist manner.
Oh, and to whoever makes the sexist trousers (Barnett has yet to name the brand): Sorry to disappoint you, but my husband will never wear your sh*tty chinos.
Related: 25 vintage ads that scream SEXISM
And if he ever does? He'll be washing them. He does all the laundry in our house.
Is there anything remotely funny to you about the label in these trousers?
- By Meredith Carroll
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