Earlier this week the Page 3 debate rose up again after the Sun temporarily removed it from it’s paper. Although the great sigh of relief that went through all of my friends was short lived it did at least raise awareness for the issue itself. Watching the news and listening to the Page 3 debate it seems to me that a National newspaper should not be printing nude images of young women. It is dated idiotic & not remotely empowering. Listening to former page 3 models saying that it was their choice and just a bit of fun is almost like when you hear porn stars saying that they love it and it is empowering that they are in control blah blah blah. I’m not saying their opinion is irrelevant as it’s definitely not and everyone is entitled to hold an opinion. Quotes from women in favour of Page 3 ranged from “Soon everything we do will be dictated by bra-wearing man-haters” to “I would much rather my future daughter see Page 3 models than an article of how to lose 10lbs in a week”. Germaine Greer made an interesting point that this is an issue mostly to do with inequality & that the balance is totally off with how women are portrayed in the media and the importance placed only on young & beautiful rather than this being an issue around pornography or censorship. I quote directly from this week’s Independent “Page 3 is placing sexual imagery where it doesn’t belong, smack in the middle of the most widely read and arguably most influential newspaper in Britain, creating a landscape of objectification so ingrained we have almost ceased to notice it.” In fact we have become immune to it because we have grown up with Page 3 gals & they have become an ironic joke that people get nostalgic over Sam Fox! Linda Lusardi! Mega Lolz! For all those that think this is a British institution surely it is time to eliminate sexism, ageism & promote equality, that would be a good start to 2015. Sme people argue that fashion advertising contains nudity as well and is often placed within mainstream magazines & newspapers however I think that Page 3 & fashion & advertising is not the same debate. There are many points to discuss in regard to advertising and also in fashion especially to do with the objectification of women, the importance placed on age & using sex to sell. It is complicated but at least advertising does have regulation. Page 3 is random nudity placed in between news pages therefore objectifying women and placing an importance on youth/beauty. Its saying “now a diversion from the important stuff let’s look at a pretty little young thing with nice tits” This does not seem remotely appropriate for 2015. To me there is a huge difference between glamour & fashion modelling even if some fashion images have nudity. It is not a criticism of the models per se this is a criticism of the context, the placement, the lack of equality, ageism, editors & a public that think it is an issue to not bother with because it’s an institution and it seems harmless. This is something that all women need to feel strongly about. One of my favourite quotes is from Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth – “Men are visually aroused by women’s bodies and less sensitive to their arousal by women’s personalities because they are trained early into that response, while women are less visually aroused and more emotionally aroused because that is their training. This asymmetry in sexual education maintains men’s power in the myth: They look at women’s bodies, evaluate, move on; their own bodies are not looked at, evaluated, and taken or passed over. But there is no “rock called gender” responsible for that; it can change so that real mutuality–an equal gaze, equal vulnerability, equal desire–brings heterosexual men and women together.”
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