A recent ad campaign from the United Nation’s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women reveals some of the realities of sexism in our world today.

The campaign shows photos of women whose mouths are covered by Google search boxes. Each box has a different phrase typed, such as “women shouldn’t,” “women should,” “women cannot,” and “women need to.” Below each box is a list of the common searches following the respective phrase. For example “women shouldn’t” is followed by “have rights” and “work. “Women should” is followed by “be in the kitchen” and “be slaves.” There are four sets of these photographs, each with a woman of a different ethnicity, suggesting the universal nature of these searches.

To check the accuracy of these ads, I searched the same phrases. Although they did not match precisely with what the UN Women’s ads provided, many were still sexist in nature. For example, my search “women should not” was followed by “be in combat,” “preach,” “speak in church,” and “teach.” While I understand women in combat is a heated issue that involves looking at the anatomy of women, the other results imply there are particular things women are incapable of solely because of their gender.

One of my searches, however, was particularly different from the ad. The phrases following “women need to” in the UN Women’s campaign stated things such as “be put in their place,” “be controlled” and “be disciplined.” In contrast, the common searches I found were “women need to be wanted,” “held,” “cherished,” and “loved.”

These results are equally disturbing.

On the surface they seem kind and affectionate. Yet the romantic notion of a woman as something as delicate as a rose plagues our society today. I may enjoy a good cuddle session and I certainly wouldn’t complain about receiving a compliment, but these are not things that I need.

Women need respect. Women need self-fulfilment. Women need acceptance as equals.

For the sake of well-rounded research, I searched “men need to be,” hoping I would find similar results to women. Instead, common searches were, “men need to be men,” “loved,” and “respected.” The implication of these results is focused more on praising men as independent beings.

What Internet users think men need is what women need as well.

It is important to put the searches into context. We do not know why an individual searched the particular phrase. Perhaps he or she is a sexist pig who wants to read more about why women should be in the kitchen. Maybe he or she believes the opposite and is merely doing research on counter arguments. The context of the searches is unknown and, therefore, we must take caution in assuming that every person who searched “women need to be put in their place” believes it to be true.

Regardless of context, the campaign calls attention to continued sexism in our world. The needs of men and women are already the same. One day, they will also be perceived that way. Today, women face the additional need of striving for equality.