An Indonesian sports apparel company apologised Sunday after being widely criticized for using labels deemed sexist for calling washing a woman’s job. But the damage control exercise also backfired.

“Give this jersey to your woman. IT’S HER JOB,” read one of labels inside shirts designed by Salvo Sports for local football club Pusamania Borneo.

After images of the labels appeared online, they provoked a torrent of criticism on social media.

The company eventually issued an apology on Twitter, saying it only wanted to convey that women are better than men at the task of washing.

3. Pesan sederhananya “drpd repot2 dan salah nyucinya, lebih baik serahkan ke wanita aja, karena mereka memang lebih paham masalah itu” — Salvo Sports Apparel (@SALVO_ID) March 8, 2015

“The message is simply ‘rather than fussing and washing wrongly, it is better to let the women do it as they understand the problem better’.”

4. Tidak ada sama sekali maksud untuk merendahkan wanita. Justru sebaliknya, belajarlah merawat pakaian dari wanita krn mereka lebih telaten — Salvo Sports Apparel (@SALVO_ID) March 8, 2015

(“There is no intention at all to insult women. In fact it’s the contrary, it’s (telling men to) learn how to take care of their clothing from women as they are more thorough.” )

5. Karena memang tidak semua pria paham/becus bagaimana cara merawat sendiri pakaiannya, wanita lebih paham/expert untuk masalah itu. — Salvo Sports Apparel (@SALVO_ID) March 8, 2015

(“Not all men understand or know how to take care of their clothing, women better understand / are experts in such matters.”)

But that line of reasoning was not well received either.

@SALVO_ID wanita lebih paham??? Pola pikir macam apa itu? — Wulan K. Wardhani (@csi_wulan) March 8, 2015

(“Women understand better? What kind of mindset is that?”)

Unfortunately, it’s a mindset all too common in Indonesia. Perhaps all of the attention being paid to these ridiculous labels can help change that a bit.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Story: AFP/Coconuts Jakarta

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