HOUSEHOLD chores should be divided equally: that is what a Croatian company said it is promoting by adding job titles to the name of a popular biscuit. Instead, it sparked outrage among women.

Zagreb-based Kras has been producing the biscuit with a chocolate topping since 1957. Popular in the Balkans, its name never upset anyone – until now.

Shoppers discovered the cookie, known as Domacica (housewife in Croatian), on supermarket shelves with a longer name last week – including job titles such as “Housewife and programmer”.

Others are “Housewife and manager” or “Housewife and lawyer”.

The company yesterday said it wants to highlight that “women, in addition to their work… are most often also the ones who take care of the household on a daily basis”.

It argued that it is a campaign designed to encourage all “to take over their share of obligations and responsibilities in the home to ensure an equal distribution of household chores”.

But women’s rights activists said the change suggests a woman’s place is in the home, and that women can only be whatever they want as long as they are also housewives.

“Reinforcement of stereotypes and sexism is the worst thing that can happen in advertising,” said prominent women’s rights activist Sanja Sarnavka, calling for a boycott of the biscuit.

The campaign did nothing but spark a “new wave of misogyny”, said actress and columnist Jelena Veljaca.

Social media users criticised what they called “New Age Feminism”.

“What nonsense! Not every woman is a housewife alongside her job, nor is it shameful to be only a housewife,” commented one user.

Others said they believe the biscuit’s name is a reference only to a “homemade cookie” rather than a “housewife”. – AFP, May 6, 2022.