So, what do you think? Is this sexist airline ad from Sweden an example of conservatism? Or is it a clear case of liberal sexism? Or does it depend on what country you are in?
And what exactly does it take to get a "prominent feminist politician" in this country to object to the rampant sexism?!!???
Birgitta Ohlsson, one of Sweden’s most prominent feminist politicians, has called for a consumer boycott of Ryanair in response to the discount airline’s attitudes about an ad deemed sexist by a Swedish advertising trade group.
“Consumers should vote with their money,” Ohlsson told The Local.
“It’s my duty as a feminist politician to name and shame companies like this.”
Ohlsson felt it was “very sad” that Ryanair chose to run the controversial advert, adding she was disappointed at the company’s cavalier attitude toward a recent finding by Sweden's Trade Ethical Council against Sexism in Advertising (ERK) that the ad was sexist.
“Ryanair is relying on old fashioned, outdated values and they’re proud of it,” she said. Earlier in the week, Ryanair dismissed the ERK ruling as coming from a group of “old farts” and suggested that ERK’s attitudes aren’t in line with the “famously liberal and easy going Swedes”.
The controversial ad, which ran in 2007 to coincide with a back to school airfare sale, depicts a woman in a skimpy school girl’s outfit, which ERK found “offensive to women in general”.
Ohlsson is particularly irked by Ryanair’s claim that the ad was in line with “liberal” values. “The ad isn’t funny and liberal, it’s old-fashioned and conservative,” she said
Feminist Politics Gender News Equality Patriarchy Women's Rights Sexism
