Sexist Or Just For Laughs? Internet Divided Over Wife Jokes After Nykaa IPO

"Nykaa's IPO helped me recover all the money I had lost to my wife's spends on the website," said one Twitter user.

"Nykaa's IPO helped me recover all the money I had lost to my wife's spends on the website," and other sexist jokes.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

There is no denying that the Nykaa IPO was historic. It was the first-ever woman-led unicorn in India to go public – and it happened in under 10 years since its inception.

While there were posts online celebrating the company and Founder-CEO Falguni Nayar, there has also been a sprout of 'wife jokes' on social media platforms – especially after the Vijay Sharma-led Paytm IPO tanked earlier this week.

"Nykaa's IPO helped me recover all the money I had lost to my wife's spends on the Nykaa website," shared one user on Twitter, crediting the lines to a WhatsApp message.

Another person said that while Nykaa gave back to investors what "their wives had spent", Paytm "took back from investors all the cashback" it had given out.

LinkedIn Ashish Chugh said that while Nykaa IPO may have been Nayar's dream, the 'credit' must go to WFH men who opened the doors to collect deliveries.

'Jokes Casually Sexist'

In a viral post on LinkedIn, liked more than 8,200 times, Producat manager Sugandha wrote:

"The business world has long known that women make for a significant target demographic for most consumer businesses. Many if not most men in the business world have been trying to figure out how to access and resonate with this demographic. Here's the thing — you can't access the female demographic unless you let go of this small-mindedness," she wrote.

Many like her added that the reason why women entrepreneurs such as Falguni Nayar build women-first solutions is because they are not 'judging' the needs of their female audience.

Others called out the casual sexism as 'mockery' that needed to end.

'Take Joke For a Joke'

However, some men asked for a 'joke to be taken as a joke.' A few also pointed that many men are in beauty business, and they do understand the pulse of women.

Nykaa Vs Paytm: The Tale of Two IPOs

The much-awaited IPOs of Paytm and Nykaa, came to an end on 11 November, with the latter having a blockbuster start on listing day with its valuation crossing Rs 1 lakh crore.

The issue price for Nykaa was Rs 2,018 apiece, with a premium of 79 percent over its issue price. The IPO also resulted in the investment banker-turned entrepreneur Falguni Nayar's net worth touching $7 billion – making her India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire.

Meanwhile, Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications, struggled to garner a full subscription, with less than 50 percent of the stock being subscribed even on the second day of listing.

According to multiple experts, the massive size of the issue itself could be one of the many reasons for this.