Should we back the No More Page 3 campaign? Please let us know what you think...

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello all,

As some of you will know, there have been a few on-board debates about the No More Page 3 nomorepage3.org/ campaign, and whether or not Mumsnet should 'officially' join up as a supporter.

Previous threads here here here and here have been on balance supportive but not of a sufficient consensus for us to feel comfortable putting our full weight behind the cause.

With our most recent blog post on the issue, however, support seemed a bit more clear cut and there were lots of calls for us to back the campaign.

So we thought we'd canvass support more officially and widely. Do please use this thread to let us know whether you think we should sign up.

Obviously this is by no means a precise science, but in order to try to get a representative Mumsnet view, we will be placing a bit less weight on the views of those who have signed up to Mumsnet very recently.

Yes please support this!

Yes! I fully support this campaign and would love to see the might of Mumsnet behind it too. No parent should have to explain to their child why there is a 'lady with her boobies showing' in a 'family' newspaper.

I think it is important, by signing this petition we can start to stop women's bodies being used to sell stuff, newspapers, cars, holidays etc,
it is degrading.Perhaps in the future our children can live in a society with more positive female representation.

Yes yes yes! We should definitely be supporting this

Yes, please support. I've signed the NMP3 petition and strongly object to this kind of image in a newspaper.

How can anyone read that brilliant post by drwhom and still not get it?

I have just joined mumsnet because I'm pregnant. I know my new membership might mean my contribution is weighted less than longer term contributors but, like I say, I am just starting out here.

I would love to see mumsnet join the 'ban page 3' campaign because I am obliged to take public transport, be in a workplace, visit endless public spaces and be exposed to other people's reading habits. Visual culture is permeated with sexualised images that, for the most part, involve women being stripped consensually or not for public consumption. Increasingly, this is being done to men too and it's not a positive situation for anyone.

If mumsnet got behind 'Ban Page 3' and it did eventually get banned this would be an important strike for reclaiming visual culture and making media rethink who the audience for their products are- when we are made to consume them whether we agree with them or not. This will acknowledge that imagery has to be packaged for those who have a sophisticated grasp of our sexualities (adults) and those who do not (our children). Banning page 3 is a first step towards getting a choice about how we conduct ourselves in the glorious jungles of desire which are increasingly commodified.

Definitely not! There's bigger issues.

Yes we should.

Please back this campaign. I'm a mum of two girls, I work in a very male dominated environment and even though they could they have said we wouldn't bring the sun in it off respect for me. That says everything about the intent of page 3. Page 3 makes me feel uncomfortable, it doesn't seem appropriate today for goodness sake Australia removed their page 3 twenty years ago!

There may be bigger issues, but they are not mutually exclusive! Why wouldn't MN do this?

I feel so strongly about this that if mumsnet dont support this - I shall withdraw my insightful presence and witty banter from mumsnet. If you're not against it, you're for it.

Surely a no brainer?! NO MORE PAGE 3!!!

Yes, please back it. I was mocked as a prude when I objected to lads in my halls setting up a "page 3 wall" in a communal study room. Porn in private isn't the same as a newspaper which is considered socially acceptable to have in a public space.

Absolutely. No question. Let's support it 100%. I signed the NMP3 campaign right at the beginning. DD is 14. Yes they're scarily sexualised these days. I blame the media, the celebs, blah blah. And of course The Sun's Page 3 is only one of many obscenities against women. But, hey, one step at a time, ok?

I remember being embarrassed in the top year at juniors PintOfTea when a mixed group of us (girls and boys) were helping set up for an art lesson, covering the tables in newspaper. Some of the pages - page 3's from The Sun - had these topless women on show.

This was 30+ years ago but I still remember it well
Shocking really that they're still in it today
(though hopefully schools are more aware these days)

I was really disappointed that you didn't sign up to this campaign earlier. I found it really depressing that you didn't and it stopped me coming on the site for a while. Please do the right thing, for us and for our children.

Yes, yes and thrice yes. Please back the campaign. Aside from the sexualisation of breasts, objectification of women, and just plain "ick" factor, it makes the UK the subject of ridicule in the eyes of other, more progressive nations.

And what BIWI said.

Yes, Please support this campaign. I have signed up. Mumsnet is the sort of organisation that really should sign up to this: it is so important that another generation of girls and boys do not grow up being exposed to this outdated, insulting, image of women.

Well, have you made your mind up yet Justine?

I'm not very good at percentages however I think it is fair to say the OVERWHELMING majority say that Mumsnet should officially back the No More pornography in a daily newspaper Page 3 Campaign.

Please do.

Yes, please support the campaign.

These women are yet another false representation of what women look like and the nudity is dated and completely out of place in a daily newspaper.

I think having naked pictures of women casually available in a national newspaper undermines our status in society and reinforces the idea that we exist simply to serve and titilate men. I think it is bad for mothers and for children, I don't want my sons to be influenced in this way. I think it is in the interest of mothers that this relic is done away with, so yes, mumsnet should support it.

YES. Please.

yes please