The 'No More Page 3' campaign

[Second Summer]

I heard about this campaign on the radio today. Some random bloke called in to say stuff like "it was just a little bit of fun", "I've been reading this newspaper my whole life and it hasn't had any ill effects on me" etc.

Lucy Holmes set up the No More Page 3 campaign last year. Writing for Telegraph Wonder Women she said of her work: “I felt strongly that when the largest female image in the most widely read newspaper in the country is a young woman in her knickers, there for men to look at, it doesn’t send out a respectful message about a woman’s place in society. It says ‘what society values about you first and foremost is how sexy men find you in your pants when you’re about 20’.”

Full article: Girl guides sign 'No More Page 3' campaign (The Telegraph, 9 April 2013)

Earlier this summer, Lucy-Anne Holmes was in a hurry, off on a short train journey, when she picked up a copy of The Sun. The country was gripped by Olympic fever, and as Holmes opened the paper, she was glad to see there was no topless woman on page 3, just stories of victorious athletes, such as Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Ennis. She leafed through the sports coverage contentedly, until she reached page 13. There she found "a massive picture of a girl in her pants", she says. The typical image had just been moved back. "It made me really sad. It was the biggest female image in that issue, and I think pretty much every issue of [The Sun] for 42 years." At a time when women's strength was being celebrated with medals, on podiums, this image, in the country's biggest-selling daily newspaper, seemed starker than ever. Since Page 3 began, in November 1970, the most prominent daily newspaper image of a woman has been smiling, and topless.

Full article: Could this campaign to stop Page 3 succeed? (11 September 2012)

You can sign the petition on Change.org here.

 

[Freesia]

Yes the page 3 displays are ridiculous, I hope the campaign succeeds, either that or introduce a Page 4 male who is in his underwear.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I used to have a collection of page three pages, when I was a teenager.

I got them from other people's recycling.


I tired to read a bit from The Sun, in the 90s; I didn't enjoy the experience.

 

[Second Summer]

From the perspective of a foreigner, let me just add that this "page 3" phenomenon is pretty horrible. Of course it's bad enough with all the near-nude models in ads, but this takes it to a whole new level. Except it's not new since it's been going on since 1970. I will theorize that this sort of thing has contributed to making Britain the kind of society that turned a blind eye to the actions of the likes of Jimmy Savile.

 

[Second Summer]

Also saw a story on this on Yahoo! today:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/is-page-3-...-builds-on-43-year-institution-153732973.html

Opponents to Page 3 have long been derided by editors of The Sun.

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, for example, has been branded a 'feminist fanatic' by the paper.

And Labour firebrand Clare Short, who attempted to introduce a ban in 2005, was accused of being 'fat and jealous'.

Apparently Linda Lusardi, Samantha Fox and Katie Price have all been on "page 3" and used it as "launching pads" for their careers.

Also, it wasn't until a 2003 law that the models had to be 18 before they could pose topless; before that models as young as 16 could also be found on "Page 3".

 

[Moll Flanders]

I didn't even realise Page 3 models were in The Sun anymore as it's not the type of "newspaper" I would read. I remember the earlier campaign and I thought they got rid of it then. It's completely inappropriate to have scantily clad women in a publication like that.

I will theorize that this sort of thing has contributed to making Britain the kind of society that turned a blind eye to the actions of the likes of Jimmy Saville.

I was shocked about the Savile scandal and I think most British people were. Child sexual abuse tends to be covered up in general as children aren't believed even when they come forward as adults and his celebrity status and contacts obviously helped him to remain protected while he was alive. I don't believe child sexual abuse or rape is specifically a British problem either if that is what you meant as I'm sure it exists in most human societies.

 

[ledboots]

Americans are so freaked out by nipples that we were spared the Page 3 phenomenon.

 

[Amy SF]

Americans are so freaked out by nipples that we were spared the Page 3 phenomenon.

It's a double-edged sword. I've often derided my own countrymen and women as being insufferable prudes, but then you don't really want to see a constant parade of topless women in the tabs.

In fact, we Yanks are such prudes that for the first couple decades we had television we couldn't even see live models wearing bras in TV ads. They had to be featured on a plastic mannequin.

 

[Second Summer]

I was shocked about the Savile scandal and I think most British people were. Child sexual abuse tends to be covered up in general as children aren't believed even when they come forward as adults and his celebrity status and contacts obviously helped him to remain protected while he was alive. I don't believe child sexual abuse or rape is specifically a British problem either if that is what you meant as I'm sure it exists in most human societies.

Savile didn't restrict himself to children though. But you're probably right that he wasn't the best example. I'm of course not saying rape or unwanted sexual advances are a uniquely British problem, but I have read that conviction rates are deplorable in this country. Less than 1 in 100 reported attacks lead to a conviction apparently.

 

[Moll Flanders]

It's a disgrace that so few reported rapes end up in a conviction here. I don't know which countries have a good record when it comes to rape and sexual violence and prosecution of offenders, if any? I have had many female and male friends raped and so many of them were reluctant to even go to the police to report the sexual attack. Certain people in society still have some very worrying attitudes to rape and I can understand why rape victims don't want to end up feeling like they are on trial. So many friends of mine were raped by their "friends" or acquaintances or their dates and it is difficult to prove as it ends up as one word against another.

 

[Ansciess]

Well, since the women who are posing are doing so freely, I don't know how anyone who believes that feminism is all about making free choices can have an issue with the practice. It would be like saying the women who are in it are doing something "wrong" (same as any criticism of the sex industry brings about those accusations).

 

[das_nut]

I checked out the Sun to see what type of newspaper it was.

The stories in the headlines are "Munchkin fury at maggie ding dong song", "Simon is not gay... he is a sex atom who has to dip in and out", "Woman gets vaginal 'facial' on This Morning", "Sykes just about avoids an awkward bikini mel-function", "Has Sarah gone commando at showbiz party"...

Their problem seems to go a lot deeper than just a woman on page three.

 

[SummerRain]

I checked out the Sun to see what type of newspaper it was.

The stories in the headlines are "Munchkin fury at maggie ding dong song", "Simon is not gay... he is a sex atom who has to dip in and out", "Woman gets vaginal 'facial' on This Morning", "Sykes just about avoids an awkward bikini mel-function", "Has Sarah gone commando at showbiz party"...

Their problem seems to go a lot deeper than just a woman on page three.

Most read newspaper in the UK. Breaks your heart doesn't it?

I think the real issue is that it is a family newspaper, that is often lying around houses and public areas for children to read ("will somebody PLEASE think of the children!?"). It's certainly tasteless and crass, but so are a lot of popular reads in the UK (I'm thinking newspapers and magazines here), and I think the real answer to that is just "don't read it". But when something is aimed at children or families, I think higher standards need to be imposed.

 

[yally]

I've never met a pleasant Sun reader.

Actually reminds me of an incident on the tube where a man completely lost it at a woman who may or may not have pushed past him. He just ended up screaming down the carriage that she was a *****, *****, tease, little **** etc. really unpleasant. Ive never seen anything like it. Of course he was clutching a copy of the Sun.

A few weeks later a friend mentioned she'd had a similar though not as openly aggressive encounter on the tube with a man reading the bloody Sun.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I think the real issue is that it is a family newspaper, that is often lying around houses and public areas for children to read ("will somebody PLEASE think of the children!?"). It's certainly tasteless and crass, but so is a lot of popular reads in the UK (I'm thinking newspapers and magazines here), and I think the real answer to that is just "don't read it". But when something is aimed at children or families, I think higher standards need to be imposed.

Yes, that is exactly the issue as it is inappropriate because of who will see the photos. I have to say I have worked with people who read The Sun and they are not all awful people, it's usually working class people and I'm sure some people just read it as a silly paper. My female friend used to buy it to get vouchers for £10 holidays for her and her family. I have worked with people who bought The Daily Mail and seriously quote parts of it as gospel which is maybe more alarming!

 

[yally]

Daily Mail is terrifying also. I know people who use it for their 'facts' and I just laugh in their faces

 

[Amy SF]

Daily Mail is terrifying also. I know people who use it for their 'facts' and I just laugh in their faces

Does Rupert Murdoch own The Daily Mail? It sounds as if The DM is the UK version of the Fox News Channel. A lot of people over here watch FNC religiously and actually believe everything they see on it.

http://www.newshounds.us/

 

[das_nut]

Daily Mail is terrifying also. I know people who use it for their 'facts' and I just laugh in their faces

ITYM: Daily Fail.

 

[Muggle]

Does Rupert Murdoch own The Daily Mail? It sounds as if The DM is the UK version of the Fox News Channel. A lot of people over here watch FNC religiously and actually believe everything they see on it.

http://www.newshounds.us/

He owns The Times (which is the Tory arse kissing paper) and The Sun. Used to have the News of the World but it no longer exists because of the phone hacking scandal.

According to wiki, DM is owned by Daily Mail and General Trust whatever that is.

This is possibly the scariest thing from the Daily Mail's wiki page:

"It was, from the outset, a newspaper for women, being the first to provide features especially for them,[7] and is the only British newspaper whose readership is more than 50 percent female, at 53 percent"

The Daily Mail hates women!

 

[Alice-Bee]

The Daily Mail hates women!

...and homosexuals...and ethnic groups...and immagints...and everything gives you teh cancerz.