Melon Farmers Original Version

Page 3 Girls


Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun


 

Update: Miserable Sells...

Sales of the Sun have not apparently been harmed by the loss of Page 3


Link Here15th April 2015
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
The latest newspaper sales figures reveal that the Sun's dropping of Page 3 at the end of January does not appear to have made any discernible difference to its circulation.

In the month of March, the sales audit shows that it sold an average of 1,858,067 copies. That was a slight improvement on the month of February.

 

 

Offsite Article: The Sun suffers big sales fall without Page 3...


Link Here 7th March 2015
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
last page 3But don't rush to conclusions yet. By Roy Greenslade

See article from theguardian.com

 

 

Updated: More 3...

PC lynch mob puts an end to Sun's Page 3. Who will be next?


Link Here22nd January 2015
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
Topless women have been a fixture on Page 3 of the Sun for more than four decades, but the popular feature has now been killed off.

Executives at the Sun have decided to quietly shelve the tradition after a baying lynch mob of critics branded it sexist.

Instead of bare breasts, the pictures will now show scantily-clad women wearing bras and pants.

The move was confirmed by The Times, a fellow News UK paper. It is understood that the parent company's chairman Rupert Murdoch signed off on the decision.

Topless models were first introduced by the Sun in 1970, less than a year after Rupert Murdoch bought the title. In recent years, the paper has faced growing criticism from miserable campaigners who claimed the feature was out of date.

According to the Guardian , executives had planned to drop Page 3 quietly, without fanfare. It is understood the change may be reversed if it causes a dramatic drop in sales.

The Sun newspaper's decision has inevitably been welcomed by miserable MPs particularly from the Labour Party.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan, who also holds the women and equalities brief, said the move was long overdue . The Conservative cabinet minister crowed:

This is a long overdue decision and marks a small but significant step towards improving media portrayal of women and girls. I very much hope it remains permanent.

Downing Street refused to be drawn on the issue. A spokesman said it was a matter for the Sun .

The move also received the backing of Liberal Democrat women's and equalities minister Jo Swinson - although she criticised the alternative content in Tuesday's edition.

I am delighted that the old fashioned sexism of Page 3 could soon be a thing of the past. I welcome this apparent step forward from the Sun, but I would encourage its editors to consider whether parading women in bikinis is really a modern reflection of the contribution women make to society.

Labour frontbenchers including the shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan, the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and the former culture secretary Dame Tessa Jowell all tweeted support for the No More Page 3 campaign.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour party, who has long spoken out against the Page 3, said she would ensure that the Sun would not be able to make the announcement quietly. Speaking on her LBC phone-in on Monday evening, Harman bayed:

It will be the Sun moving into the 21st century, if that is the case. Because actually we do think in a newspaper, which is about news, the idea of girls standing there in their knickers with some sort of pseudo-political quote, I mean it really is not the representation of women's role in this country that I want to see.

I've always been against Page 3. But bearing in mind that we've had a lot of discussion about freedom of speech and what people can report, it's my right to say I don't think it's right, I think they should get rid of it. But it is absolutely not the role of any government to ban it. But if they've seen sense, so much the better.

Update: Next!

21st January 2015. See  article from  twitter.com

Well it didn't take long. The man hate group Object seem raring to go against the Daily Star for its topless Star Birds.

Update: Clarifications and Corrections

22nd January 2015. See article from theguardian.com

The Sun has been having fun with the campaigners who seized upon 3rd party reports of the demise of Page 3.

The paper ahas again featured a photograph of a topless model, which appears under a Clarifications and Corrections header and comes after a front-page panel announces: We've had a mammary lapse.

PC campaigners were a bit taken aback with the most notable comment being from Julia Churchill, a No More Page 3 supporter who tweeted:

After #NoMorePage3 it felt like we were taking a good deep breath after being held under water, and now, a punch in the face.

Nevertheless, commentators were confident that the days of Page 3 are ultimately numbered. Sources told the Guardian that the Sun had planned for the demise of Page 3 to pass under the radar. When the Guardian revealed plans to scrap it on Monday, a senior editor quipped privately: If I were the boss, I'd put in a topless pic just to spite everybody.

 

 

Update: Page 3 Champion...

End Violence Against Women (EVAW) honours David Dinsmore with an award for opposing political correctness


Link Here18th December 2014
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

David Dinsmore, the editor of the Sun, has been named as 2014's sexist of the year after a poll run by the feminist campaigning coalition, End Violence Against Women (EVAW). He will be sent a No More Page 3 t-shirt as a prize for what EVAW calls its prestigious annual award.

It calls Dinsmore a worthy winner because he has:

Dug his heels in over the daily circulation of pornography in a freely available bottom shelf newspaper despite a powerful national campaign led by young women against Page 3.

The runner-up in the poll is Rockstar Games for its Grand Theft Auto 5 game, in which players are able to murder a woman in prostitution.

Honourable mentions go to Ukip's leader Nigel Farage for being a breast-feeding supporter.

 

 

Extract: No More Page 3's Christmas single...

Even worse than it sounds.


Link Here12th December 2014
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

Sometimes, the world looks like a bleak place: the Middle East is still rocked by bloody violence, endangering thousands of innocent lives; millions around the world are still dying from poverty and preventable diseases. And yet, No More Page 3 (NMP3) campaigners are still convinced that the real crisis facing humanity today is the influence of boobs on working-class men.

...Read the full article

 

 

Commented: Tesco Declines into Censorship...

Now tabloid newspaper covers will be censored


Link Here25th November 2014
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
Supermarket Tesco will no longer show the front covers of tabloid newspapers to avoid children seeing sexualised pictures of young women .

After months of lobbying by campaign groups No More Page 3 and Child Eyes, the largest supermarket chain in the UK said it would change the design of its news cube stands so newspapers will not be displayed vertically.

Tesco will now only show the names and logos of newspapers on the sides of the display stands. Customers will now have to walk right up to the display in order to see what's on the front of the newspapers. The policy will affect how all tabloid papers are displayed, from the red tops to mid-market titles like The Daily Mail and The Express.

Representatives from No More Page 3 and Child Eyes, which campaigns against sexual imagery met with Tesco at its head office in September to convey their ideas for censorship.

Tracey Clements, customer experience and insight director for Tesco, said:

We are first and foremost a family retailer and it's important we do everything we can to promote the right environment in store. We've asked our customers what they think about the issue and we have spoken to campaigners. The change we're making will strike the right balance for everyone.

It seems that the word 'balance' has now adopted the new meaning of censorship being imposed and/or rights being taken away.

Update: Waitrose follows the leader

24th November 2014. See  article from  gloucestershireecho.co.uk

Waitrose followed has followed Tesco's lead in censoring newspaper covers, saying it had been working on it for some time and would be changing their newspaper fixtures to display covers out of children's eyelines.

Offsite Comment: Modern Mary Whitehouses Want to Censor Newspapers, Magazines, Clothes and even Mugs

25th November 2014.

Right wing US commentators have fun watching Tesco censoring newspaper covers:

See  article from  breitbart.com

Update: M&S

2nd December 2014. See  article from  nomorepage3.org

M&S followed suit telling a supporter they had recently taken the decision to display these particular newspapers on the higher shelves so they were out of the eye line of children.

 

 

Update: Commendably Uncooperative...

The Co-op declines to censor the Sun as demanded by PC extremists


Link Here13th August 2014
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
The Co-op has refused to bow to demands from anti-Page 3 campaigners to withdraw advertising from the Sun newspaper and to banish its sales to the top shelf.

The No More Page 3 campaign had targeted local Coop regional meetings and had won votes to censor the Sun in three southern regions.

The board of Co-operative Food told campaigners that it entirely respects the views of those campaigning to have 'Page 3 ' type images dropped from the Sun and the Star , but said:

We are mindful, in consideration of these motions, of the need to balance the following: our commercial need to market effectively to our customers; our commitment to create a family-friendly shopping environment and the problems associated with using corporate influence via sales, promotions or advertising to seek to influence editorial decisions.

With over 18 million customers using the Co-operative every week and a significant proportion of our target audience, including members, reading the Sun it is vital that our media choices continue to reach this large audience cost effectively.

Removing advertising from the Sun based on what the paper chooses to publish runs the risk of being seen as trying to directly influence editorial decisions and sets a precedent for all publications and media channels in the future.

There is a need to balance, in a free society, press freedom alongside newspapers ' responsibility to deliver accurate, fair and appropriate content.

For these reason we do not use advertising to influence editorial decisions and currently have no plans to change this policy.

The Co-op sells half a million copies of the Sun each week.

 

 

Update: Green Light for The Sun...

Lincoln University students vote down proposed campus ban on Page 3


Link Here22nd December 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
University of Lincoln students have voted to allow The Sun to remain on sale on campus following a referendum of the student body.

A motion had been proposed following objections to the newspaper's regular page 3 feature. Proposers claimed that the topless model shots printed by the tabloid were objectifying women and undermining equality. Others argued that it was a woman's choice to take part in glamour modelling.

Several other British universities have banned the red-top from campus shops, including Leeds, Birmingham City, Bradford, Essex, Kingston, Manchester and East Anglia.

A total of 1,310 students cast their vote and 52% supported the sale of The Sun at the University of Lincoln.

 

 

Update: Causing offence, humiliation, embarrassment or distress...

Nurses come out against Page 3


Link Here 17th December 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
The Royal College of Nursing has issued a statement in support of a ban on the Sun's topless Page 3 glamour feature saying:

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) supports the No More Page three campaign because we believe that the humiliation and exploitation of women is something that should not be acceptable.

Gender stereotyping and the sexualisation of women can have detrimental effects on the safety of women in our society. The RCN promotes a working environment where our members and staff can work with dignity and not be placed in compromising situations that cause offence, humiliation, embarrassment or distress.

All nursing staff should be seen as respected professionals with no sexualised stereotypes attached.

 

 

Offsite Article: Finding the Balance between Censorship and Political Correctness...


Link Here23rd November 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
David Cameron explains that he is not in favour of banning Page 3. He says there is a distinction between images online that will be blocked, and those in a newspaper

See article from theguardian.com

 

 

Offsite Article: Getting it off their chests...


Link Here7th November 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
Scottish MPs line up to have a whinge about the Sun's Page 3

See article from scottish.parliament.uk

 

 

Update: Essex Objects Against Sex Objects...

Essex University Student Union bans the Sun


Link Here13th October 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
The Sun and Star newspapers have been removed from the University of Essex student union store, as the University becomes the twentieth to ban the papers as part of the No More Page 3 campaign.

Chantel Le Carpentier, Essex union's vice-president for welfare , who made the final decision, has been covering the papers with anti-page 3 stickers all week. She claimed:

Newspapers should show a balanced representation of society, but what we are seeing is men being represented in the business, politics and sport sections, and women represented on the third page, half naked.

Other universities to ban the papers over the page 3 row include Sheffield, Manchester and the London School of Economics.

 

 

Update: That Oh So Rare Idea of Considering What the Readers Think...

The Sun says that its readers strongly support Page 3


Link Here 14th September 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
Male and female readers of the Sun strongly support Page 3 topless models, according to the chief executive of the paper's publisher News UK.

Mike Darcey said that ultimately any decision on the future of the Page 3 models is up to the Sun's editor, David Dinsmore, but that he believed customers are very happy with the Sun's editorial offering.

Darcey said that focus groups with those readers showed that both male and female Sun readers are happy to continue to see Page 3 in the UK's best selling daily.

There are around 12 million people a week who read the Sun and they are very happy with the package that is the Sun. And so they continue to buy it. We ask them, we have focus groups with them, ask what they think and they very strongly continue to support that. That's true across male readers, female readers. And in the end this is a product people can choose to buy or not to buy.

Meanwhile miserable campaigners push for their own selfish ends and continue to lobby for the banning of Page 3. Mediasnoops reports:  No More Page 3 Wants Co-Op To Ban The Sun Too .

 

 

Update: Irish Sun Dresses Its Sex Objects in Bikinis...

Page 3 goes clothed in the Irish edition of The Sun


Link Here 9th August 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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 .

 

 

Update: Banning Everything Except Page 3...

David Cameron draws the censorship line at banning Page 3


Link Here23rd July 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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?

 

 

Update: Reinventing the Sun as a Women's Magazine...

Sun said to be re-inventing page 3 with less nipples


Link Here 21st July 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

 

Update: Labour 'no brainers' have a good whinge...

The Sun's Page 3 is debated in the Welsh Assembly


Link Here 11th July 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

 

Update: Grinning and Baring It...

Sun's Page 3 set to continue under the new editor


Link Here27th June 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

  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.

 

 

Updated: Rubbish Politics...

Pro-censorship Green MP, Caroline Lucas, calls for the Sun to be banned from parliament


Link Here23rd June 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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

 

 

Update: A Blast from the Past...

Modern miserablists symbolically condemn the fun times of the 70's when people enjoyed Village People and Page 3


Link Here21st May 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

 

Offsite Article: Girl Guides urge the Sun to end Page 3...


Link Here 10th April 2013
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun
Indeed, it's better to be a factory or a dole object rather than a sex object

See article from guardian.co.uk

 

 

Comment: No More Fun...

Miserable campaigners ask supermarkets to stop advertising in the Sun


Link Here7th November 2012
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

 

Update: Limey, There's a Liberal Bone in His Body After All...

Nick Clegg declines to support the campaign to ban Page 3


Link Here 13th October 2012
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

 

Comment: Biting the Tits that Feed Them...

Mediawatch-UK join the miserable rant against Page 3


Link Here29th September 2012
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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?

 

 

Update: Mean Minded...

Lynne Featherstone speaks out against Page 3


Link Here23rd September 2012
Full story: Page 3 Girls...Miserable campaigners whinge about page 3 fun

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.

 

10th February
2012
  

Update: Supremely Unethical...

Nutter group use half the truth to call on Leveson (of all people) to ban Page 3 girls

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.

 

24th October
2011
  

Update: The Miserable 21st Century...

Harriet Hatemen whinges about Page 3

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.

 

2nd October
2011
  

Update: Unequal Nutters...

Turn Your Back on Page 3

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.

 

22nd September
2011
  

Not So Liberal Democrats...

LibDems pass motion to restrict the Sun to the top shelf because of Page 3 girls

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.




 

melonfarmers icon

Home

Top

Index

Links

Search
 

UK

World

Media

Liberty

Info
 

Film Index

Film Cuts

Film Shop

Sex News

Sex Sells
 


Adult Store Reviews

Adult DVD & VoD

Adult Online Stores

New Releases/Offers

Latest Reviews

FAQ: Porn Legality
 

Sex Shops List

Lap Dancing List

Satellite X List

Sex Machines List

John Thomas Toys