The Advertising Standards Authority said sexist ads limits women's aspirations

Traditional portrayals of housewives are to be banned from advertisements in a crackdown on sexist stereotypes by watchdogs.

Depictions of women being solely responsible for cooking, cleaning and childcare in commercials will disappear.

But at the same time, it will become wrong to suggest only men are capable of doing DIY or are useless when it comes to chores and caring for babies.

The changes come from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which argues that these stereotypes are limiting the aspirations of both women and men.

The ASA will also crack down on images that appear to sexualise women or suggest it is acceptable for them to be unhealthily thin. The watchdog said: ‘A tougher line is needed on ads that feature stereotypical gender roles or characteristics which can potentially cause harm.’

The new regime will not stop the use of all images of housewives, but it will mean ‘banning gender stereotypes that are most likely to reinforce assumptions that adversely limit how people see themselves and how others see them’.

Women will no longer be shown as being solely responsible for cooking and cleaning

Just last week, Mothercare was criticised for using images of little girls dressed as 1950s housewives to sell toy irons and vacuum cleaners on its ELC website. And in 2012, a Christmas TV ad by Asda drew more than 600 complaints of sexism when it showed an exhausted mum struggling to buy the presents and tree, decorating the home, wrapping the gifts, writing cards and cooking the festive feast, while the rest of the family had their feet up having fun. It ended with the line: ‘Behind every great Christmas there’s mum.’ But the ASA rejected the complaints on the basis the commercial accurately represented the experience of ‘a significant number’ of families.

However, most mainstream advertisers have already turned their back of this type of marketing.

Consumer goods giant Unilever has already blocked the depiction of women as sex objects or stereotypical mums under a policy it calls ‘Unstereotype’. In the past, its Knorr TV adverts used to show a mother and daughter in the kitchen, but they now feature a father and son. It has also dropped its Lynx commercials which featured women in bikinis hunting down young men.

Many mainstream advertising agencies have turned their back on this sort of campaign over recent years

Guy Parker, the ASA’s chief executive, said: ‘Portrayals which reinforce outdated and stereotypical views on gender roles in society can play their part in driving unfair outcomes.

‘Tougher advertising standards can play an important role in tackling inequalities and improving outcomes for individuals, the economy and society as a whole.’