I support Page 3, who's with me?

[Beth9009]

This might not go down well, but I cannot accept the campaign to ban Page 3. Here's why:

There is nothing wrong with the naked female body. A woman posing with her breasts on show is not lewd nor is it harmful to children.

Hypocrisy - Page 3 is no different to male models posing shirtless in women's magazines.

Prudishness - People who claim that newspapers should be banned from showing topless women are no different to the Victorians or to people in conservative parts of the world who don't allow women to show bare legs. It's the same principle.

Market mechanisms - if there is a demand for something and a consenting adult willing to supply it, then who is the government to get in the way?

Freedom of choice - if you don't like it, don't buy the Sun!

Exactly.

A woman in 1870 might have believed but I'm sure they

Are no longer alive
Didn't have Internet / time machine.

Ergo, man.

You know, they might have a young family and breastfeed at home!

Hi all,

Many thanks for the reports we have had about this thread.

Can we take a moment to remind you of our #Webelieveyou campaign and remind you of the common rape myths that discourage women from coming forward when they've been raped. Please do take a look and think before posting rape myths.

We also have a blog here that discusses several of the issues raised on this thread if you'd like to take a look.

What rape myths have been posted?

You ARE joking Beth?

Please quote the rape myth, in full context please.

Not just your interpretation/paraphrasing of it.

BuffytheReasonableFeminist Fri 17-Jan-14 20:36:40
Well perhaps in your world they aren't myths
___

It would help if someone could quote the apparent myth.

Still holding out for the MSE brick wall emoticon.

One example is because men rape because there sexuality is repressed by not seeing enough tits. Can't control em selves ya see.

Beth, does your fiancée hold similar views on feminism as you? Is his ex-wife the type of feminist you deride?

Too many becauses and too much wine.

Their not there .

lol at you now requiring evidence to back up our statements.
You think we're saying stuff that is unsubstantiated - well we've said that about you all along.

But I'm guessing you will choose to ignore that, as you chose to ignore my last post.
Lol at you goading MNHQ. When they've come on because of the 'goady' reports.

Clue: Beth have a little look at what you posted.

anyway night night. Come back when you've grown up a bit. I can conclusively say that you are thinking like this because you are young and so desperate to impress the menz.
My evidence? Oh well I say so, ergo it must be true.

I'm with you, Beth. Ignore the meanies on here who disagree with you.

Of course there's nothing wrong with men looking at the boobs of pretty young girls. In fact, if they allowed it in all those foreign countries then obviously there'd be less rape because those men, you know the Islamic ones, could just look at the boobs, jerk off and get rid of their sexual frustration.

And I'd hate for anyone to deny me the right to put up my calendar at work of the handsome, naked young men from my local firestation. It absolutely serves a purpose - admittedly it's one I can't think of right now but I really, really don't want it banned.

Are you for real ? Seriously ?

I absolutely place all personal responsibility for rape on the men who commit rape.

But it is absurd, irrational (and quite disgusting) to suggest that there are no factors that might increase the prevalence of sexual violence and rape within society.

Buffy, how do you explains differences in levels of sexual violence from society to society if social factors don't influence the prevalence of rape?

All I've done is listed a social factor that I think increases its prevalence.

No I'm not pedaling rape myths. As an intelligent feminist I would expect better of you than to fall back on the reductive term 'rape myth'.

Can anyone tell me why this thread is at 400 + comments when some really interesting stuff fails to go beyond about 10 posts? OP clearly isn't interested in a debate, just wants to spout crap and fail to engage with anyone's arguments, twisting them into his/her own straw-man versions instead.

There have been some excellent rebuttals of her "argument" (if one can dignify it with that word) posted, I might add, but it's really been a case of pearls before swine.

Women in Saudi wear the same clothes as "us" when at home, you know Beth. Heck I bet they have thongs and wonder bras and everything. They are only required to cover up when outside a family scenario. As are non-saudi women who live and work there. There is a whole other thread there really, and one that has been done many times already. The clothing has NOWT to do with their likelihood to be assaulted or raped though. Anymore than it does in the UK.

You're getting your 'social factors' wrong.

If one country punishes rape severely, you might get less rape.
If one country values women more, you might get less rape

Social factors are not :-

What she was wearing
Whether she was a virgin
Whether she was drunk
Whether she was sexually active

And would you like to explain what different levels of sexual assault you've been able to discover in various different countries and then there could be a meaningful discussion ?

PortofinoRevisited Fri 17-Jan-14 21:08:43
Women in Saudi wear the same clothes as "us" when at home, you know Beth. Heck I bet they have thongs and wonder bras and everything. They are only required to cover up when outside a family scenario. As are non-saudi women who live and work there. There is a whole other thread there really, and one that has been done many times already. The clothing has NOWT to do with their likelihood to be assaulted or raped though. Anymore than it does in the UK.

Let me ask you a question. Do you think a Western woman wearing a skirt and blouse is more likely to be groped or raped in rural Afghanistan than if she were wearing a Burkha?