Why there's no place for such overt sexism in today's media
WHEN I was young I remember being quite bemused by Page 3.
It never made much sense to me that a national "newspaper" would carry a picture of a half-naked women, every day, for no particular reason other than to titivate.
-
Melanie Jeffs, centre manager of the Nottingham Women's Centre in Chaucer Street in the city centre
As I got older, I not only realised that it didn't make any sense but I also began to feel really angry at the injustice of it all.
The problem I have with Page 3 is simple really. It's about women being seen as objects or ornaments.
Cheap Motor Insurance for Over 70's with Free Legal Expenses...
View detailsCheap Motor Insurance for Over 70's with Free Legal Expenses Cover - Call 01782 898188
Terms: 1 Voucher Per Customer
Contact: 01782 898188
Valid until: Saturday, June 22 2013
I've used this column in the past to talk about the lack of women in positions of power, in government, in public life and even in sport.
Things like Page 3 give a message that women are predominately valued for their looks rather than their achievements.
Remember, the more time we spend worrying about the way we look, the less time we have to change the world around us!
I know that I'm not alone in feeling like this.
From conversations that I've had with women using the Women's Centre there seems to be a clear feeling that Page 3 has had its day and that women are no longer prepared to put up with such overt sexism in the media.
Campaigns like No More Page 3 and EverydaySexism shows the depth of feeling that women have on these issues and the impact that sexism has on women on a daily basis.
Page 3, for me, is just the thin end of a very long wedge. Nottingham Women's Centre's strapline is "Helping women achieving amazing things" – it's what we do.
We do it in many different ways, from supporting women to access crisis support to turn their lives around, enabling women to access training and education and supporting women to help others.
One way in which we do this is by offering support to women who want to come together to change things in society so with this in mind I want to offer my support to the No More Page 3 campaign and wish them every success in what they are trying to achieve.
6 Comments
by soraya
Friday, March 01 2013, 10:15PM
“Ironic that this article is on a page with a half naked hunk.
There are worse things about the red tops than a photo of a model posing nude.”
by oxyuris
Friday, March 01 2013, 9:57PM
“I feel one of the biggest problems is the bundling together of all these issues as 'women's issues' violence is abhorrent it doesn't matter whether it's against a partner or a complete stranger. Males and Females are not equal, we should be spending more time celebrating and understanding the differences not continually comparing one to the other.
Anyway the Page 3 issue... the attitude towards pornography and nudity etc in the uk is simply not heathy. We are a bunch of complete prudes so it's no wonder that people have a negative body image when the only body images people see are glossy magazines, page 3, etc. Campaigns like this, and the recent suggestion about the closure of sex shops, are completely the opposite of what we need to do to improve the situation.
We simply need to be more liberal, tolerant and accepting that people have different sexes, religions, cultures, lifestyles, body shapes, tastes, needs, diets... We are not going to achieve this through prohibition.”
by mel_j79
Thursday, February 28 2013, 7:38PM
“oxyuris - yes I did mean titillate, rather than titivate so thanks for spotting. Although perhaps they see it as titivating too?
But I have to disagree with you in regards to women not being seen as ornaments/objects. I think we have a massive problem in society at the moment with women and girls being viewed in this way. Look at the way girls attainment in school initially exceeds boys but when they reach puberty, and begin to worry about their bodies, this drops off. Look at the publication of the Counting Women In report at the begining of the week showing how Britain is falling behind the rest of the world in terms of the number of women in positions of power and in public life. Look at the way that women who attack Page 3, such as Claire Short, are often branded ugly or jealous. Look at the 20,000 entries on the EverydaySexism Project.
Page 3 on it's own is only a small part of a much bigger issue - but it's very symbolic. It is deeply unhealthy, and I do think it's an injustice (whether that's the right word or not) that we live in a society with such a high level of domestic and sexual assaults on women (globally) but we still think it's ok to demean women in this way - just because we always have.”
by oxyuris
Thursday, February 28 2013, 4:11PM
“Titivate... I don't think so, she must mean Titilate surely?
Injustice, erm again I'm not sure that's the right expression either it's really just very silly.
As for the whole "It's about women being seen as objects or ornaments" thing. I do so hate it when people generalise about sections of society, it shows a massive lack of understanding and education. We are born as individuals and act throughout our lives as individuals. If a female decides she wants go appear on page three she knows she will be seen as an object or ornament, however it really doesn't mean all females will be seen as objects or ornaments.”
by SuperGerrard
Thursday, February 28 2013, 10:25AM
“I think that we're discriminating against pages 4, 5 & 6 and the decent men and women out there that want more titillation on their weekday.
I'm walking straight down to the Nottingham men's centre!”
by andyjsy
Thursday, February 28 2013, 9:33AM
“I agree whole heartedly. No more page 3.
Lets have full page centre spreads instead!”