Government ‘Stay At Home’ Advert Pulled Following Sexism Backlash

The government's 'stay at home' advert has been removed following backlash over its depiction of women doing household chores.

The poster, which urged the public to stay at home during lockdown, featured four different illustrations - a family sat on a sofa, a woman cleaning with a young girl, a mother home-schooling two children and a woman holding a baby.

Notice a pattern there?

PA)

Unsurprisingly, it caused a huge backlash online, with many accusing the ad of being "sexist" for disproportionately representing women as taking on the household chores and childcare - at a time when lockdown is already threatening to send gender equality back by a decade.

In fact, the only image of a man in the campaign ad featured a dad relaxing while sitting on the sofa.

Following the criticism, Downing Street has today confirmed the ad has been removed, stating it "does not reflect the Government's view on women".

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "It has been withdrawn and removed from the campaign. I will make clear that it does not reflect the Government's view on women, which is why it has been withdrawn.

PA)

"We have provided and have produced information for the public throughout the pandemic to try and ensure we can communicate our key messages, particularly around the importance of staying at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

"This does not reflect our view on women and we have removed it."

Social media users were horrified at the ad, with one person writing on Twitter: "OMG - who on earth produced that?! #backto1950."

While another said: "For goodness sake! I don't know if I'm exasperated to the extreme by this or depressingly unsurprised."

"No excuse for this idiotic reversion to gender stereotypes," added another.

Another tweeted: "Seriously, who pulls these together and who then signs them off. It is so obviously wrong!"

The ad comes just months after a report was released by the Fawcett Society - a charity campaigning for equal rights - found the Covid-19 pandemic was having a "devastating" effect on gender equality, revealing women were more likely to lose their jobs or be left to manage childcare.

Topics: government, lockdown, News

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine