Tesco Under Fire For 'Sexist' Instructions On Shopping Trolleys

By now you would think most people would have got the message that gender stereotyping just isn't cool.

It seems fairly backwards to us now that anyone would even think that women can't do what men can do, or that women should do things that men shouldn't, and vice versa.

But it would appear that some still seem to believe this to be the case.

Well one of the country's major supermarket chains has become embroiled in a sexism row after one customer called them out online for its trolleys.

Tesco has been called out for the safety instructions on their shopping trolleys, which depict several images of a woman pushing a cart with children sat inside.

There is also a drawing of a man pushing a trolley but rather than it being laden with children it is filled with a 100kg weight, you know, because men just carry heavy shit, they don't look after kids. Duh.

One woman from Manchester wasn't having any of it and posted a complaint on social media, claiming the safety instructions used an outdated depiction of women's roles.

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She wrote: "Tesco, is it only women who do the food shopping and look after the kids?"

According to reports in The Sun, it was then followed by the hashtag 'everyday sexism'.

Samantha Rennie, from equality group the Rosa UK Fund for Women and Girls, said: "The idea that shopping trolleys should be gendered in any way seems ridiculous.

"It's a seemingly small factor that plays a role in reinforcing stereotypical ideas of the woman being responsible for the weekly food shop."

Matt O'Connor, of campaign group Fathers4Justice, said: "Tesco needs to stop this gender apartheid."

Not everyone agreed with the outrage the safety instructions have caused, however.

One person wrote on Twitter: "These PC Brigade ponces are off their bleedin' trolley. I know that much."

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Another added: "Oh my God. At this rate Tesco are going to have to put 100 different stickers on their trolley to make sure they don't single people out or leave people out"

According to Tesco, they have already begun the process of overhauling their trolleys, replacing the controversial pictures with gender neutral designs. They say some 20,000 trolleys have already been changed.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "Everyone's welcome at Tesco, which is why we've been changing the icons on our trolleys to use a new, gender-neutral design.

"The new design is already on over 20,000 trolleys and will feature on all new trolleys in the future."

Topics: UK News, Interesting

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom