Shoppers brand Tesco as 'sexist' over trolley safety instructions - but not everyone agrees

Shoppers have accused Tesco of sexism over their trolleys which depict a woman shopping with her children.
Tesco - Chris Radburn/PA WireTesco - Chris Radburn/PA Wire
Tesco - Chris Radburn/PA Wire

The Sun have reported that the supermarket giant is facing a backlash over the safety instructions which only show women shopping with their child.

The trolleys show two graphics of a silhouette figure wearing a dress while two younger children are in an 'unsafe' position.

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While the final graphic shows the 'correct' way for a child to be positioned on the trolley, again with the silhouetted figure wearing a dress included.

One woman from Manchester raised the complaint on Twitter claiming it was an example of 'everyday sexism'.

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

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

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

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

However, the complaint has divided opinion with many Twitter users arguing against the accusation.

One user wrote: "Anyone offended by the gendering on a #Tesco trolley needs to have a long hard look at themselves and stop being offended by absolutely everything."

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Another tweeted: "Seriously people are complaining about a shopping trolley cause it shows a image of a woman pushing a baby in it?? Some people need to grow up there's more important things going on in the world #Tesco #TrolleyGate"

Tesco has said that they are planning on introducing trolleys featuring gender neutral images with more than 20,000 trolleys already 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."