First off….this is 100% a real thing.
The above below is an online poster that was put out by Malaysia’s Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development – advising women working at home to wear makeup and office clothes so as not to offend their husbands. The poster has since been taken down.
Seriously? What century are we living in here?
Malaysia has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia with more than 2,900 and counting. This week, Malaysia’s government also had a serious public relations issue after an ill-conceived plan went online.
Malaysia’s Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development issued a series of online posters on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #WomenPreventCOVID19. It advised the nation’s women to help with the country’s partial lockdown by not nagging their husbands.
Wait….what???
The Ministry asked that woman not be ‘sarcastic’ when asking for help with household chores and that they should dress up and wear makeup for their husband.
Needless to say, the posters didn’t go over so well online with the public.
“How did we go from preventing baby dumping, fighting domestic violence to some variant of the Obedient Wives Club?” wrote @yinshaoloong.
“Avoid wearing home clothes. Dress up as usual, put on make-up and dress neatly. OMG! This is what Rina, our Minister of Women, Family & Community Development thinks is important during the #COVID19 lockdown?” tweeted @honeyean.
After receiving a slew of backlash, the Ministry decided to stop moving forward with the campaign. Although they stated they were simply trying to portray that families should maintain a positive attitude while all stuck home together during lock down.
The Ministry also acknowledged that their online campaign no doubt offended people and promised to be more cautious in the future.