Sexism is everywhere. A seemingly harmless WhatsApp forward making fun of girlfriends, a male colleague receiving a promotion over a more hardworking female employee, a snide remark from your boss, to a relative making unsolicited comments on your outfit – if you look closely enough, you will find it and if you are a woman, it will make your blood boil.
Which is why, when Harsh Goenka recently took to Twitter to share a sexist ‘joke’, people online wouldn’t have it. In his tweet, he compared wives to ‘wildlife’. Have a look:
I asked Swami Harshanand, “Where did the word ‘wife’ come from?”
He replied, “It is derived by taking the first two and last two alphabets from ‘WILDLIFE’.#gurupoornima advice— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 23, 2021
The business tycoon went on to face strong criticism by people online. While some called his tweet “disgusting”, others shared similar jokes on men and asked him if it was funny.
I asked a different swami where the word “hag” (to poop) came from. He replied, “It is derived by taking the first two letters from Harsh and the first letter from Goenka.” Not so funny now, is it? #Sexist
— Neal Grover (@juchkuduk) July 23, 2021
You are receiving very bad WhatsApp forward these days. Thou shall change your source.
— Vikrant ~ विक्रांत (@vikrantkumar) July 24, 2021
Then what about your mother’s ( Your father’s wife)?
That’s means your mother or MAA also come from WILDLIFE?
And what is your EXISTANCE on this earth?
Are you wild?— उतपल दास (@DasUtpal72) July 23, 2021
Why are Indian men so full of shit? #genuinequestion https://t.co/pE75MfyZW7
— Varna|ورنہ|বর্ণ|வர்ணா (@Varna) July 24, 2021
Such sexist Gurus need to be dumped forthwith. Guru Poornima is the right occasion. https://t.co/Ia4CRQFIm4
— ABDULLA MADUMOOLE ಅಬ್ದುಲ್ಲ ಮಾದುಮೂಲೆ (@AMadumool) July 24, 2021
You really lucked out that you inherited a business, else, I wonder how you would have survived in this world https://t.co/xrFC5Wbrl1
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) July 23, 2021
please, someone take away this man's internet connection https://t.co/RyBQJ2Sujh
— कृष्णकर्णामृतम् (@brownianeffect) July 23, 2021
Something I observed in middle class households: Wife is shown to be very dominating, agressive and all, as per all the uncle-jokes/whatsapp forwards etc and Husband is so docile, so harmless. Still, we all know what the actual case is. Am I wrong in making this observation? https://t.co/9hcluA7Gcy
— Akshay Chauhan (@grumpy_molecule) July 23, 2021
Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/LkpndnAdZK
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) July 24, 2021
Every time you think he can’t get worse, he does. Ugh.
— Calmpanthi (@jomama_india) July 24, 2021
What do you think about his tweet? Tell us.