The Internet is not cool with this game show that asked whether women were pregnant, and neither are we

Prepare yourself ladies, this one is NOT cool. There is a game show that focuses on women being fat or pregnant and the Internet is pissed about it…as they should be.

Yes, we all know that sexism alive and well, and SO not cool, but this game show takes it up a notch. In today’s “can you believe this?” news, the Netherlands has a show that really raises all our hackles about body shaming, pregnancy shaming, and misogyny. That’s quite a trifecta.

Okay, enough about our anger, let’s focus on what the show actually does:

According to DutchNews.nl, people are offended by a Dutch game show called Neem Je Zwemspullen Mee (or Bring Your Bathing Suit). Its new season premiered on Sunday, and has caused a lot of controversy for its treatment of women.

On the show, male contestants are asked to look at women — who are displayed on a platform — and decide if they are fat or just pregnant.

We will give you a minute to let this set in.

We’re not the only ones appalled by the show. People have taken to Twitter to share their anger over the show.

Check out some of the tweets below:

Welcome to the Netherlands, where we apparently have a tv show where men guess if a woman's fat or pregnant. I fucking can't 😷 https://t.co/j2mLLp5KxN

— 🪴 sharon 🪴 (@xSharonVictoria) April 10, 2017

For everyone thinking The Netherlands is great. We reached a new low yesterday night. National TV game show: "is she pregnant or just fat?" pic.twitter.com/HlNiBGYeJ4

— Tandpasta [NSFW] (@TandpastaCB) April 10, 2017

Since the public outrage, KRO-NCRV has scrapped the segment. According to DutchNews.nl there was also a statement released by the station’s director.

"The section Fat or Pregnant? was meant to show appearances can deceive. In this round we feature lots of prejudices based on what people look like," Yvonne de Haan said in his statement via DutchNews.nl. "Is he a criminal or a business man?, or is he Dutch or German? Putting things in a satirical setting is a way of laughing at prejudice. But we did it in a way that hurt people. That was never the intention and we regret it."

You can see a clip of the show here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSD4cY68gIU?feature=oembed

We hope the station and the show’s producers have learned a lesson, because this matters. Of course, we need to find ways to examine prejudice that are effective and get the concept through to people. But using outdated standards of body image to publicly mock women is simply not okay.