Page 3 Girls

The Sun has dropped topless Page 3 pictures in Ireland because of supposed cultural differences between that country and Britain. The editor of the paper's Irish edition, Paul Clarkson, is quoted in the Irish Times as saying :

Page 3 is a hugely popular pillar of the Sun in the UK...

In the Irish Sun we strive to share the qualities that make the newspaper great in print and digital, but we also strive to cater for our own readers' needs and reflect the cultural differences in Ireland.

Roy Greenslade of the Guardian notes that this is a remarkable decision given that the paper has been running pictures of topless women for many years without apparently being aware of the cultural differences .

Daily Mail Dave delivered a speech promising to censor more or less anything on the internet but has drawn the line at banning sexy pictures in newspapers.

Cameron said he would never support a ban on topless images on page 3 of the Sun newspaper. Pressed to explain the distinction between his censorial position on online pornographic images and his laissez-faire stance on topless images in newspapers, he said that it was up to consumers whether or not they wanted to buy the Sun [or Daily Mail].

Asked by Woman's Hour presenter Jane Garvey whether he was worried that his daughters could be confronted by Page 3, he said:

This is an area where we should leave it to consumers to decide, rather than to regulators ... As politicians we have to decide where is the right place for regulation, where is the right place for legislation, where is the right place for consumers to decide.

The founder of the No More Page 3 campaign, Lucy Holmes, said she thought Cameron's willingness to acknowledge the dangers of online pornography while ignoring the parallel dangers of topless images on page 3 of Britain's best-read newspaper was peculiar :

David Cameron must see that these pictures are damaging for women. Is he afraid of upsetting the Sun?

Apparently responding to PC protest, The Sun's new editor, David Dinsmore, has asked a group of female executives to reinvent Page 3 to supposedly make it more relevant to the 21st century.

Jules Stenson, the ex-features editor of the News of the World, tweeted: I am told The Sun is planning to 'reinvent' Page 3. No love for it among bosses, but it is a sales fix they cannot live without.

The changes will mean, says one former News International executive, more celeb pictures, more up-market shoots and less nipples . It is thought the changes are the idea of Dinsmore, who took over as editor last month, rather than an instruction from Rupert Murdoch.

Lisa Clarke of No More Page 3 said the changes were proof that they were being listened to. She said Dinsmore had been engaging with the group, which by last night had secured more than 108,000 signatures:

We have some fantastic ideas ... about putting female athletes, artists, people who represent women as we actually are, rather than just standing there in our pants for the entertainment of men. There is a huge moral shift in the zeitgeist and we are very happy to talk to these executives about making Page 3 a more female-positive space.

The issue of the Sun's Page 3 has been debated in the Welsh Assembly.

Labour member Rebecca Evans bizarrely claimed during the debate that The Sun is one of the only places left where soft pornography is accepted. She said that she supports the anti Page 3 campaign and called upon the Sun newspaper to drop the feature and emphasised that half naked women just aren't news.

Labour member Joyce Watson said that being opposed to page three is a no-brainer . She added that women are seen as desirable or maternal and still judged by appearances instead of achievements.

Plaid Cymru member Lindsay Whittle asked menacingly : is page three suitable for families to see in their own homes?

However Janet Finch-Saunders of the Conservative party said that there must be a demand for page three as it still exists and some women feel proud to show their bodies.

  David Dinsmore , the new Sun editor, has vowed to continue printing pictures of topless women on Page 3 as it is a good way of selling newspapers .

Speaking on the radio station LBC 97.3 on Wednesday morning, Dinsmore said that Page 3 would remain in the paper despite growing criticism from campaigners. He was speaking of a new exhibition of erotic Japanese paintings at the British Museum in London and said:

This is Japanese art -- Spring Pictures as it's euphemistically called. It's given the editor of the Times the opportunity to put a naked Japanese lady on page 3, which as we know is a good way of selling newspapers.

Asked whether Page 3 was safe under the Sun s new editorship, Dinsmore said:

It is, it is, yes I can tell you that.

He later told BBC Radio 5 Live:

Page 3 stays. We did a survey last year and found that two thirds of our readers wanted to keep Page 3. What you find is people who are against Page 3 have never read the Sun and would never read the Sun.

As far as the exposure goes, it's on Page 3, it's not on the cover. I was flicking through a copy of this month's Vogue and there's Kate Moss topless. I suspect the editor of Vogue won't be questioned on whether topless pictures are on its pages. I think we've got to keep a sense of proportionality about this.

Green MP Caroline Lucas has written to the House of Commons authorities asking for The Sun newspaper to be banned from the palace of Westminster. Lucas demanded that it be removed from shops in parliament until it bins its Page Three section which features half naked women:

I do not think that a newspaper that persists in carrying images which are degrading to women should be widely available across the parliamentary estate

I am sure you will be aware that there is a strong link between the portrayal of women as sexual objects with attitudes that underpin violence and discrimination against women and girls.

Page Three should be consigned to the rubbish bin where it belongs.

Update: Early Day Motion

23rd June 2013. See  EDM from  parliament.uk

In fact Caroline Lucas went on to table an Early Day Motion:

EDM 253: No More Page 3 Campaign

That this House is concerned about the strong link between the portrayal of women as sexual objects and attitudes that underpin violence and discrimination against women and girls;

• notes that this has been demonstrated by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and in a Government-commissioned Sexualisation of Young People Review;
• applauds the work of the No More Page 3 campaign;observes that The Sun newspaper is available across the parliamentary estate in at least eight locations;
• further notes that if someone is looking at page 3 of The Sun others can be subjected to it whether they like it or not; and
• calls on the House of Commons Administration Committee to take the necessary steps to prevent the House stocking The Sun newspaper until it removes the Page 3 feature.

The motion has received 13 signatures so far

Name	Party	Constituency
Campbell, Ronnie	Labour Party	Blyth Valley
Caton, Martin	Labour Party	Gower
Champion, Sarah	Labour Party	Rotherham
Clark, Katy	Labour Party	North Ayrshire and Arran
Corbyn, Jeremy	Labour Party	Islington North
Dobbin, Jim	Labour Party	Heywood and Middleton
Flynn, Paul	Labour Party	Newport West
Lucas, Caroline	Green Party	Brighton Pavilion
McDonnell, John	Labour Party	Hayes and Harlington
Meale, Alan	Labour Party	Mansfield
Riordan, Linda	Labour Party	Halifax
Sanders, Adrian	Liberal Democrats	Torbay
Vaz, Valerie	Labour Party	Walsall South

Women from the No More Page 3 campaign have staged a 1970s inspired flash mob outside The Sun headquarters in an attempt to get the tabloid to remove images of topless women from its Page 3.

The protesters danced and sang in front of the Wapping office block to the 1970s tune Y.M.C.A --- using their own lyrics and choreography.

They sang:

Page 3 puts porn on the bottom shelf.
It's not 1970 anymore, there's no place for this sexism today.
We're here to say we want No More Page 3!

Saturday's demonstration was organised by the No More Page 3 campaign, which was kicked off by writer and actress Lucy Holmes during last summer's London Olympics. The campaign has grown into a full-time operation staffed by a team of 12 volunteers.

Nutters opposed to the Sun's topless Page 3 have targeted supermarkets across Britain as they stepped up their campaign for an advertising boycott of the tabloid.

Members of the campaign group No More Page 3 claimed Page 3 was a sexist relic of an unhealthy 1970s culture that was at odds with the family values promoted by supermarkets. Founder Lucy-Anne Holmes said:

Supermarkets are selling family values and yet they are advertising with a newspaper that encourages people to see women not as a human but as an object. We are calling for them to stop advertising with the Sun and send out a really positive message that they value their female customers.

No More Page 3 has written to four supermarkets, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Asda, asking for a meeting to discuss the issue of advertising in the paper. Tesco and Morrisons said that they would meet campaigners, Sainsbury's and Asda have refused.

Local groups, organised via Facebook, have petitioned shoppers outside stores in about five different locations. While

The campaign has attracted 51,000 signatures of support on a change.org petition.

In the past week the group confronted Lego with a spoof figure of a topless girl after the toy company ran a joint promotion with the Sun.

Update: Authoritarian Feminists

7th November 2012. From Dan

Regarding the anti page 3 campaign. It seems now the Conservative Left and authoritarian feminists have adopted the tactics of Right wing moralists, harassing advertisers in order to stop them sponsoring things they object to.

The middle class Conservative feminists and middle class Right wing puritans have found common ground in their censorious crusade to ban anything to do with sex and have found common ground in the tactics they adopt in an attempt to achieve this.

Also left wing newspapers like The Guardian have adopted a Daily Mail outlook towards the sex industry but cover it up with faux concern over the objectification of women.

Nick Clegg has declined to back the campaign to ban page 3 girls from the Sun, on the grounds that the state should not dictate the content of newspapers.

In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, the deputy prime minister said it would be deeply illiberal for the state to dictate what appears in newspapers.

Mediawatch-UK write on their blog:

The Sun introduced a topless girl on page 3 in November 1970; it was the first time a British newspaper had run a nude photograph and, although controversial, it boosted circulation so from 1975 it became a daily feature.

From our perspective in 2012, with hard-core pornography available to all at the click of a mouse, it can seem so innocent. However page 3 lead the way and has contributed to the objectification and commodification of women and their bodies in our society. It paved the way for much stronger images becoming mainstream in newspapers, magazines and on screen.

As such it has impacted all of us whether or not we buy or read the paper. Parents report that their children are being prematurely sexualised and forced to grow up too fast, cosmetic surgery rates have increased by nearly 20% in the last four years and an unrealistic body ideal is damaging our society by wreaking havoc with self esteem and affecting health and relationships.

We are delighted that this issue is once again in the news and we hope the petition continues to grow and shows that the picture of women presented by The Sun is unacceptable. But let's not just tinker around the edges; there is an even greater menace freely available to all.

It is to be hoped that all those who sign this petition also consider the effect that online pornography is having. It's effect on our society - not just those who use it but all of us -- is potentially even more devastating.

...Read the full rant

Comment: Biting the hand that provides them with so many sound bite opportunities

From Dan

This is odd because usually they won't have a go at the tabloid press for sexual content as they do not want to put the backs up of of one of their main supporters and mouthpieces.

Could it be they have broken with this in order to court the anti-sex feminists?

Lynne Featherstone, the international development minister, said she would sign a petition to ban Page 3 because it had a deleterious effect on women.

The petition, set up by Lucy Holmes and entitled Take the bare boobs out of The Sun , had more than 30,000 signatures last night.

Admitting she would be called mean and sour-faced by some people, Featherstone said:

There is a real argument about what is OK in the public space. If you are on the Tube you may find Page 3 is facing you and your young daughter and you may not want that to be a role model for her.

There is an army on the other side hurtling abuse. It's not simply about equal pay. It's about the constant drip, drip of women being sexualised in the public space [which] has a great bearing on attitudes and domestic violence.

When you know that one in four women experience domestic violence in their life, two women are killed each week by their partner or husband, there is a very long way to go. While a lot of blokes say 'You are mean, sour-faced, whatever -- it's harmless', actually it's not harmless at all.

Platform 51 is a women's group that was once the YWCA. They write:

Platform 51 poll reveals significant support for ban

A new poll, commissioned by women's charity, Platform 51, reveals that over two fifths of women in the UK would support a ban on the use of topless images in daily newspapers.

• Almost double the proportion of women (42%) would support a move to ban topless models as oppose it (24%)
• Amongst men and women, younger people aged 18-24 (41%) and Londoners (43%) would be most supportive of a ban

Commenting on these latest figures, Rebecca Gill, Platform 51's Director of Policy, Communications and Campaign, said:

Today's figures reveal that many more women are in favour of a ban on Page 3 than against it. Everyday we help girls and women across the country to build up their confidence and self-esteem and we see how they are affected by such photos, both in how they feel about themselves and how men see them.

These figures are particularly timely with Dominic Mohan being recalled in front of the Leveson inquiry on this issue. We hope that the inquiry will listen to women's views.

Surely readers have the right to know the full results of the poll including the views of men, older people, and those outside London. The results selected have obviously been cherry picked, and one assumes that the full results simply do not support Platform 51's views.

And then Rebecca Gill, CEO of Platform 51, cheekily uses these bollox half survey results to sort of call on Leveson to ban page 3. See article from huffingtonpost.co.uk by Rebecca Gill:

On Monday Dominic Mohan was recalled to the Leveson inquiry where he defended Page 3 as a British institution . Unfortunately he missed the all important word was'- it was a British institution - and not a particularly good one at that.

Platform 51 commissioned a nationally representative poll over the weekend which showed that almost twice as many women would support a ban on topless pictures of female models appearing in daily newspapers as would oppose it. In a country where many people feel uneasy with the word 'ban , these results are certainly striking.

...

These serious objections to Page 3 are perhaps well rehearsed. But what our polling shows is that many people, far from viewing institutions like Page 3 as harmless fun, in fact see Page 3 as an outdated institution which is, frankly, a bit embarrassing and needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

I wonder if Leveson appreciates the irony of being asked to make recommendations based on the very sort  of unethical bollox that he is supposed to be sorting out.

Harriet Harman has had a whinge against Page 3 girls, telling Sky Newsthat tabloid pictures of topless females are not the right thing for women in the 21st century .

Labour's deputy leader said:

I'm not saying that we should ban it. ..BUT.. .I think that women in the 21st century who are going out to work, who are bringing up their children, who are playing a full role in public life, I think that the idea that women are sex objects to be posing in their knickers to be leered at by men in a national newspaper - I don't think that that's the right thing for women in the 21st century.

Perhaps the 21st century will one day become known as the Miserable Century. When for one reason or another, all pleasures in life were frowned upon. And when everything ended up banned, nobody could make any money, and the western world went down the pan.

Thanks to Melon Farming readers who have identified a new brand of nutters not previously noticed.

Turn Your Back on Page 3 introduce themselves thus:

The Prime Minister has responded to the scandal and corruption exposed at News International by launching an inquiry into the culture and ethics of the UK press.

The Turn Your Back On Page 3 campaign demands that The Sun's Page 3 is acknowledged in this inquiry and removed from our most popular newspaper immediately.

As a cultural icon, Page 3 symbolises the acceptance and normalisation of the sexual objectification/pornographic imagery of women and girls that pervades our daily newspapers and popular culture -- and thus, ultimately, symbolises and contributes to our unequal status.

We demand that the government addresses the subject of Page 3 today and by doing so demonstrates to society that it is serious about stamping out sexism once and for all. We cannot waste any more time and we will not wait any longer. The government either values and respects the female half of humanity or it doesn't, and the removal of Page 3 would be a momentous step in the right direction in proving to society that is does.

Amongst the motions passed at the Liberal Democrat's 2011 conference is a call to restrict sexualised images in newspapers.

A plan by former MP Evan Harris aims to tackle the projection of women as sex objects to children and adolescents by restricting sexualised images in newspapers and general circulation magazines to the same rules that apply to pre-watershed broadcast media.

The Sun reports that Evan Harris held up photos of page 3 girls during a debate in Birmingham, and argued they - and the Sun newspaper - should only be on the top shelf at newsagents. He said:

OK, these images can be available for adults if they want to access them, but they should have to reach up to a higher shelf than what is at the general view for young people.

Offsite Comment: Taking the liberal out of the Lib Dems

22nd September 2011. From  spiked-online.com by Patrick Hayes

The Liberal Democrats persist in calling themselves Liberals , while at the same time announcing a range of policies that could deal a bodyblow to individual freedom. From plans to introduce parenting classes, to proposals to ban Page 3 girls and give the state powers to put investigative journalists behind bars, a rebranding as the Illiberal Democrats must surely be in the pipeline.