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Newspaper publishes pics of women in skirts, sparks outrage: 'This is harassment, not journalism'
Protests erupted in Hungary against Metropol newspaper for publishing photos of women in short skirts.
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A newspaper in Hungary asked its readers to submit photographs of women in short skirts, sparking protests and condemnation from women’s rights groups. According to a report in Hungarian news website Telex, Metropol newspaper published a photo spread of women in shorts skirts in its June 4 issue.
The photographs appeared to have been taken without the knowledge or consent of the subjects.
‘The shorter, the better’
The photo spread appeared in Metropol’s infamous ‘Take a photo and send it in!’ column which has previously faced scrutiny for targeting vulnerable groups.
“The shorter, the better” declared the provocative headline accompanying the pictures. The article below the headline read, “this statement is certainly true for fashion, if not for life-span. But in the case of skirts and dresses worn by girls, it is certainly true with the beginning of summer.”
The photo spread included pictures of women in skirts, taken on subways and on the road.
Protests over provocative spread
The strange feature drew condemnation in Hungary and on social media.
According to a report in local news website HVG.hu, around 50 to 60 people staged a protest outside the office of Mediaworks, which publishes Metropol, on Wednesday afternoon. They raised slogans like “Harassment is not journalism” and “My body is not an object” to express their anger against the offensive piece.
Some protestors also demanded a public apology from Metropol, which is a free newspaper with ties to the ruling government.
Reactions on social media were similarly critical.
“So is the purpose to titillate the paper's (presumably straight male) readers, or to shame women wearing short skirts? Both?” asked one person on Reddit.
Another called it “State sponsored harassment of young women.”
“Traditionalism. They want women to be domestic servants with ‘modest dress’ outside the bedroom. This type of harassment is meant to herd women into that direction,” a user opined.
