Hi DadDancer
Now I come at this with the utmost of respect for you and your views. We live in a free society and open discussion is always really important. That's why I find people like you really interesting.
I am a feminist, I am also an attractive women who loves my husband. I am not jealous of page 3 models. Let's get that out there first because a lot of people seem to think that being anti-page 3 or being feminist goes hand in hand with being jealous of page 3 types. Right that's that out of the way!!
So, on the one hand, you can argue that we live in a free society and we are free to express ourselves as we see fit and that page 3 models are just filling a role and being paid to get their boobs out for The Sun. Eveything is commercialised these days: men will always want to look at hot young ladies. Their brains are programmed to like looking at hot young ladies. So there is a business opportunity to exploit this. People like looking at porn, so there is a business opportunity to exploit this. People like eating chocolate, buying stuff, looking nice...we live in a capitatalist society where all of our needs can be sated commercially. So page 3 is just exploiting a business opportunity. If you believe in a free market or if indeed you are a libertarian perhaps you believe that this is acceptable simply because there are so many people that want to consume these images.
I thought I would fill you in about how I feel, I appreciate that you will probably never change your views on this but here we go anyway.
The issue I have about page 3 is not about hot naked young women having fun and doing as they please. But I don't think they are doing women kind any good and as other eminent feminists have written, these girls are female chauvinist pigs. They are letting other women, like me, down. I'm sorry but it's true. I didn't ask to live in a world where it's ok for women to be subjugated and viewed as sex objects. They are not doing this for themselves, they are doing this for men to fulfill a male 'want'. This industry was invented by men, for men. I work in a male dominated industry and I have been privy to enough conversations about so and so on page 3, so and so in Zoo or Nuts, what happened at that strip club over the weekend, who they would 'do' from the admin department, how female directors must have got there by chowing down on some big wig cock - charming. As a women, it's intimidating and makes you want to be swallowed up. I just want to work hard, earn a decent living and be respected by my peers. I don't think I'm superior (I have better qualifications but that's another matter) I would just like to be respected and not viewed as a piece of meat. In these environments I find it very difficult to interact with colleagues who view women this way. I've walked into an all male office where you are looked up and down and called 'poppet' or 'sweetheart' by your colleges. Male collegues do not call each other poppet or sweetheart or darling, so they shouldn't refer to me as that either. My name is fine. Over time I've learnt to ignore and sometimes challenge this kind of behavior, which is typically met with eye rolling and 'calm down dear' or 'she must be on the blob' kind of attitude. I don't find this acceptable behaviour. But the media normalises this sort of behavior and the way women are portrayed in the media especially Page 3 continues to fuel this. It doesn't help us to be respected as intelligent individuals. Now I appreciate that not all men think like this. My husband for one doesn't. And neither do my friends. But I feel they are sadly in the minority. So this is why I don't like page 3. But that's not the issue we're really discussing.
The biggest problem I have is the context in which page 3 is printed. And that's what this campaign is driving at. It wouldn't be appropriate to put page 3 type images in children's films or on telly before the water shed so why is it ok to put them in a family newspaper? If it's not appropriate for children, then it shouldn't be readily available for children to see. Papers that want to print sexually charged images such as the Sun and the Star should be on a different shelf.
But then DadDancer maybe you thinks it's ok for children to privy to these images? Maybe you want your boys to grow up to be blokey blokes who love page 3 and strip clubs and do man things and your girls to be page 3 models / strippers who have no other purpose in life other than to be a sex toy for their man and to one day pop out some kids oh and wash and iron his shirts? If that's your view, and I'm not insulting you if it it is, I may have a better understanding of your stance. For me, I'm merely trying to understand where you are coming from?
So, in summary, for me I don't think sexy posed ladies is appropriate for kids. Or for a newspaper.
My final point, again for me , pictures of 16 and 17 year old girls for older men to assess, leer at, joke about, put up on their wall or wank over is just creepy. Simple as.
I have signed the petition because this is something I feel strongly about. I appreciate that you have your views. I would be interested to learn why you feel the way you do about this and I hope I have explained my feelings for you to deliberate.