No Farters Please: Classified Ad Seeking Eligible Groom Goes Viral

A classified ad seeking "a non-farting, non-burping, handsome, rich feminist" groom for an “opinionated feminist” launched a flurry of heated online debates in India where matrimonial ads seeking the perfect bride regularly appear on newspapers and matchmaking sites.

The advertisement was later revealed to be a prank pulled by a brother on his sister’s 30th birthday, but not before drawing a barrage of angry tirades from offended men who accused the wannabe bride of being a “gold digger” among other things.

As per the ad, a 30-year-old opinionated feminist with short hair and piercing is looking for a “handsome, well built” husband strictly in the age range of 25 to 28 years. Anyone who meets the criteria is asked to write to curbyourpatriarchy@gmail.com.

"Turning 30 is a milestone, especially because of all the conversation in our society around marriage. As you turn 30, your family and society start putting pressure on you to get married and settle down," the prankster told BBC.

“We had a good laugh. It was a fun prank,” said his sister, who got the “opinionated” email id and password as a birthday gift. “When I unrolled it, it had the email address - curbyourpatriarchy@gmail.com - and the password. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with that,” she said. The next morning, the brother gave her a copy of the newspaper with the page opened to the matrimonial classified ad section.

The email address has allegedly received more than 60 emails. In India, feminism is still a misunderstood concept and often perceived negatively, reported the Free Press Journal. This point was illustrated by the abusive messages the woman received in response to the advertisement. The woman was branded a “gold digger,” “hypocrite” and “cougar” and received sweeping statements like “all feminists are idiots.” Someone said she “sounded fat”.

However, not all comments were bad. One man wrote to her that he is the man she is looking for since he was “docile and not opinionated at all.” She also received notes from other women thanking her for posting the ad.

The woman’s best friend who planned the prank told BBC, “everyone wants a well-settled groom. But to see it laid out clearly triggered so many people. They were enraged.”

Similar-sounding matrimonial ads from men seeking “slim,” “fair,” “single child” and “working” women are quite common in India.

"Do you send such triggered emails to all the sexist, casteist 'bride wanted' adverts that appear in the papers everyday? If not, then you need to curb your patriarchy," said the woman to people triggered by the satire.