The British Museum has been accused of sharing a sexist video suggesting single women should look 'confused' to appeal to men at its new exhibition on the Romans.
The TikTok video, shared on the museum’s official account to promote its new exhibition, Legion: Life in the Roman Army, said: 'Girlies, if you're single and looking for a man, this is your sign to go to the British Museum's new exhibition, Life in the Roman Army, and walk around looking confused. You're welcome x.'
A caption below reads: “Come for the Romans, stay for some romance.”
The British Museum defended the video sating it was intended to be a joke.
A spokesperson said: “We reposted a viral video from a female influencer on TikTok and Instagram to our own account.
“It was meant to be a playful joke linked to the 'Roman Empire' trend and apologise to anyone who was offended which was never our intention.”
However, some did not see the funny side.
Lucia Nixon, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford, expressed her shock that it had come from the public museum posting online: “This is an official post from @britishmuseum?!?!?.”
Dr Claire Millington, a visiting research Fellow at King's College London, wrote on X: “Unrelenting fascist imagery and sexism dolloped on top. This is the BM's insta today.”
Alexandra Wilson, a professor of music and cultural history at Oxford Brookes University, wrote on X: “Really misguided marketing approach,@britishmuseum - really alienating to your (very broad) audience to presume they would 'get' the intertextual reference to something on TikTok.
“This 'irony' was bound to go wrong. So boring when social media accounts try to be 'down with the kids'”
The museum replied to one comment saying: “Hello - it's actually poking fun at a TikTok meme called 'Roman Empire', where mansplaining is the butt of the joke.
“We can assure you that we are *not* actually suggesting that women need to look for dates or pretend to be stupid!
“Apologies to anyone who wasn't aware of the wider context who felt offended by this meme!'
