A pub has been forced to apologise after being branded 'sexist' for issuing permission slips for 'girlfriends, wives and fiancees' to sign off their blokes so they can go and watch the rugby.
Town Square Belfast shared the cheeky form on Instagram last week, in which women are requested to give their husbands or boyfriends written permission to watch the Six Nations games 'with the lads'.
But the tongue-in-cheek post didn't go down well with some social media users, who took to Twitter to blast it for 'alienating and disparaging half the population', as many deemed it an example of 'everyday sexism'.
However, some users sought to defend the joke by claiming some people will be 'offended by everything these days' and pointing out not everyone finds the same things funny.
The 'permission slip' reads: "Dear Girlfriend/Fiance/Wife, Your Boyfriend/Fiance/Husband has been invited to watch the rugby with the lads at Town Square Belfast on the following dates: [Five dates listed.]
"These outings obviously require your permission. Kind regards, The Lads."
After receiving a backlash, the bar took the image down, before re-uploading a modified permission slip in which the gender terms were changed in a bid to incorporate women.
The remodified image had #notjustformen #politicalcorrectness #girlslikerugbytoo written in the description, but it was taken down shortly after.
A spokesperson for Town Square Belfast said: "We don't usually mind ruffling a few feathers with our social media, but in this instance, we're genuinely sorry for any offence caused. The post was removed shortly after it was published."
Over on Twitter, the original permission slip - addressed to 'Girlfriend/Fiance/Wife' - was being slammed as 'cringe' and an example of 'Everyday Sexism'.
Kat Freeman was one user who disagreed with the messaging, as she tweeted: "You know what's such a good business decision by Town Square? Alienating and disparaging literally half the population!"
Kat, from Belfast, said: "Mostly it was just cringe to be honest, it's kind of sad that they thought this is what peak humour looks like.
"When I saw they deleted and reposted it to be 'gender neutral' but still had to get a dig in with further sexist 'snowflake' hashtags, before then deleting it entirely, I really had to laugh.
"Absolutely embarrassing to think that joke was ever worth fixing and reposting to be honest.
"I mean this 50s 'My wife doesn't let me do XYZ' thing is so outdated.
"It's so apparent to everyone else with a brain in this day and age that women are disadvantaged in society, that to frame men as being victims under their own partners is so tone deaf and embarrassing."
The 25-year-old software engineer isn't surprised that the post has generated a backlash online.
Kat said: "I think it's made such a response because it's rare to see a business making such a stupid, thoughtless post, and even rarer to see them back it up when called out on it.
"Like this is your business dude not your personal page, if customers are calling you out, probably best to just delete it and retreat to the shadows with your tail between your legs, or better yet, apologise and don't try to pretend it didn't happen after you didn't get enough backup from the anti-political-correctness defenders."
