Disgusted at this advertisement on a bus (photo included)

[Kerry71]

Does anyone else find this imagery completely inappropriate in this day and age, or am I a prude as my husband so kindly put it? It unnecessarily objectifies women and I thought we’d moved on from this sort of thing.

If you have a normal pencil skirt sitting down it can go above the knees, it doesnt look to me like it has to be a mini skirt. The advert reminds me of a professional female worker.

Honestly, as a woman, i dont see a problem with this/does not cause me any offence

I know which bus you’ve seen this on. It is a really old safety poster not an advert. It is basically suggesting that if you stand up before your stop (in high heels!) you might fall and get hurt. Yes, it’s very old fashioned. Just write to or message the company and say ‘do you know you still have these old signs up, and don’t you think it’s time to take them down or swap for something else.’

At least they have a policy of not moving until people have sat down/waiting until people get off. I’ve been in some parts of the country where you can’t struggle down the isle with a toddler before they zoom off without letting you off because they don’t want to wait.

🤣 no that's not the message.

Im the strictest Mormon you'll come across and im very prudish. Even i dont find it offensive 😅 just legs

its just a pair of legs

That's precisely the issue. It's part of the same old 'headless women' phenomenon.

https://www.collectiveshout.org/headless_women_corporates_who_profit_from_dehumanisation

My mood probably isn’t helped by the fact that when I posted this on my towns Facebook group asking what on earth the bus company were thinking with this, the replies were mainly from men. One charmer replied ‘they are probably thinking cracking legs, I wonder what her t**ts look like’ 🙄

I don't agree with that man's particular reply but I can see why people took the piss of your complaint about this poster.

I’m thinking Jackie Collins. If she ever wrote about Double-Deckers in Doncaster that is.

I agree OP - it’s a surprising choice.

What are they selling? To sit down?

It is not tho!! That's a real problem in advertising.. but there are legitimate reason for the headlessness in this poster. It's depicting the danger of not staying seated.. you've got to deliver the message via the poster in an efficient way. Having a full body shot would be irrelevant to the message and distracting. This is a simple way to get the message across. Legs show the person is seated.. shoes pose a danger to someone who is standing when the bus is moving. Message covered!!
It's not trying to sexualise anything. Women on the bus are sometimes wearing heels.
However it does look dated as those shoes are quite out of fashion now days!

No, we've not moved on and no, you're not being unreasonable.

It's a stereotype image.

Why not contact the bus company?

Really. Would you. 🙄

I hate to break it to you, OP
But companies use attractive people in their adverts to sell stuff ALL OF THE TIME. Had you not noticed?

That's a shit, outdated image. It belongs in the 1980s.

It's the type of sexism and objectification that used to be seen regularly.

Looks like an archive find!

It's dated, but it's not sexy. Not by today's beauty standards IMO..

Well, yes. Why else would they use an image of a woman in high heels, when so comparatively few women now wear those on a day to day basis. Unless they're being sexist, of course.

😂😂😂 I know I should be offended but I think that's quite funny.

Honestly OP, it's just some legs.

I thought the new series of Rivals was being advertised

Can someone please explain to me why in 2025 women are persuaded to hobble about on high heels. This picture promotes that imo.

Does it promote it or does it just depicting reality because it's trying to get a safety message across to real people?

So you genuinely think this poster is solely there to send a message to only women I'm high heels? And only women in heels have to follow the safety instructions?

That style of heels in 2025 maybe.. but there's still tonnes of women in heels on the bus every day. Where do you live where there aren't?
Granted no stilettos as they aren't currently fashionable.. but certainly some absolute ankle breaker platforms and chunky heels about

That would be my first thought. No doubt in part because I really struggle to walk in heels even half that height, and can see why wearing heels that high standing up on a bus would be risky.

I work in an office with women of all ages and hardly anyone wears heels. It's a tad old fashioned looking when someone does.