Switzerland’s Defence Minister has denied accusations of sexism after comparing women to kitchen equipment.
Ueli Maurer apparently asked how many utensils do you have at home that are more than 30 years old …. except of course for the woman who takes care of the household chores.
The remarks were made when he came to defend the acquisition of 22 Swedish Gripen fighter planes to replace Switzerland’s Tiger jets which have been in service for 30 years.
However what he claimed had been a joke has backfired and sparked a Twitter campaign against him.
Women lawyers, engineers and doctors have all posted photos of themselves saying they are not kitchen items and are demanding an apology.
The sale of the Gripen aircraft was approved by the Swiss parliament last year, but is still pending a May 18 referendum on financing.
