This 'Sexist' Photo Of A Young Girl And Boy Has Gone Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

Gender stereotypes are slowly but surely being demolished. And never has this been more so the case than in the last decade or so. There's no denying that much of this has been helped by the increase in trans and non-binary visibility. It is also, however, down to our society simply realising that confining our impressionable little ones into roles they don't necessarily resonate with can be pretty damaging.

As a result, there has, in recent years, been more of a cultural shift toward dismantling widely-held beliefs about which genders have which traits or perform which functions in society.

This includes beliefs about the link between profession and gender. Whether done consciously or otherwise, professions are often thought of as being either masculine or feminine.

And some people are claiming this was the case when a photo of two toddlers was shared in a now-viral tweet by Medical Shots, a page which - you guessed it - shares medical-based content.

Credit: Twitter / Medical Shots

As of this writing, the tweet been retweeted 4.5k times and received 19k likes. However, it has angered many people because the girl in the photo is clad in pink scrubs with "Nurse In Training" written on the back while the boy's scrubs feature the words "Doctor in Training".

Some people even went as far as to brand the photo "sexist". They believe that photo only serves to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes about medical professionals.

"Ah yes," one Twitter user responded. "Programming children into rigid gender roles that grant men superior status by default of their gender and irrespective of the considerable skill sets of women is just the cutest thing ever."

"My brother is a 'murse' and he's the absolute best! PS: The doctors in our family are women," another remarked.

"No, it's not [cute]. Why always a guy shown as [a] future doctor and a girl as a nurse? [sic]" a third user complained.

And there was a lot more criticism where these came from:

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Some people even responded to the post with their own edited versions of it:

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

However, considering this is the internet we are dealing with, there were plenty of opposing opinions on the subject.

"Has anyone asked the kids?" one person asked on Facebook. "Maybe her dream is being a nurse and his is being a doctor, and that's why they dressed like that... jeez!! People should stop jumping to conclusions and see what you want to see everywhere!"

"I find it funny that those kids in the picture are probably more mature than adults crying about the picture," another agreed.

"Just because men can be nurses and women can be doctors doesn't mean that every single picture needs to depict that because hey guess what it can be the traditional way too just fine," argued a third.

The Medical Shots Twitter page did not reply to the complaints from followers, but we can only assume they will start treading a little more carefully around gender-related issues in the future.