No More Page 3
Founded22 August 2012 (2012-08-22)[1]
FounderLucy-Anne Holmes
Location

No More Page 3 was a campaign that ran in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2015, aimed at convincing the owners and editors of The Sun to cease publishing images of topless glamour models on Page 3, which it had done since 1970. Started by Lucy-Anne Holmes in August 2012,[3][4] the campaign represented Page 3 as an outdated, sexist tradition that demeaned girls and women. The campaign collected over 240,000 signatures on an online petition and gained support from over 140 MPs, a number of trade unions, over 30 universities, and many charities and advocacy groups.

The Sun ceased publishing topless Page 3 images in its Republic of Ireland edition in 2013, in its UK editions in 2015, and on its Page3.com website in 2017. The Daily Star also ceased publishing images of topless glamour models in 2019.

History

Since November 1970, The Sun tabloid newspaper had published images of topless glamour models on its third page. Although many feminists had criticized the feature, the tabloid had always vigorously defended Page 3. In 1986, after Labour MP Clare Short tried to introduce legislation banning topless images from national newspapers, The Sun ran a "Stop Crazy Clare" campaign to discredit her.[5][6] Under the editorship of Rebekah Brooks, The Sun renewed its attacks on Short in 2004, calling her a "killjoy" and "fat and jealous" after the MP reiterated her criticisms of Page 3.[7]

Lucy-Anne Holmes, who stated that Page 3 had affected her body image when she was 11 years old,[8] began campaigning against the feature when she noticed during the London Olympics that the most prominent woman in The Sun was its Page 3 model, despite the achievements of Britain's female athletes.[3] She launched an online petition in August 2012, which asked Sun editor Dominic Mohan to remove topless models from Page 3, on the basis that they demeaned women, perpetuated sexism, and damaged girls' and women's body image. The petition eventually gathered over 240,000 signatures.[9][10] The campaign gained significant support from politicians, trade unions, universities, and advocacy groups. It sponsored two women's soccer teams, Nottingham Forest Women F.C. and Cheltenham Town L.F.C., whose players wore the "No More Page 3" logo on their shirts.[11] It also tried to persuade Lego to stop running promotions in The Sun. Lego confirmed in March 2013 that its tie-in with the newspaper would end, but denied that the move was due to the campaign.[4]

In April 2013, No More Page 3 activist Lisa Clarke authored a Huffington Post article that highlighted misogynistic and degrading remarks about topless models contained in the comments section of the Daily Star's website.[12] After her article, the newspaper deleted and permanently disabled comments regarding its models.

In August 2013, Paul Clarkson, editor of The Sun's Republic of Ireland edition, replaced topless models with images of women in swimwear. The No More Page 3 campaign thanked Clarkson "for taking the lead in the dismantling of a sexist institution" and called on The Sun to make the same change in the UK.[13][14] However, newly appointed Sun editor David Dinsmore stated that British editions would continue to carry Page 3, pointing to survey data showing that two-thirds of the tabloid's readers wished to retain the feature.[15]

A joint campaign by No More Page 3 and Child Eyes called on supermarkets to redesign their newspaper displays to prevent children from seeing sexual content on front pages, which the Bailey Review had also recommended in 2011. In 2014, Tesco and Waitrose announced that they would implement these recommendations.[16]

For her work on the No More Page 3 campaign, the BBC included Lucy-Anne Holmes on its 100 Women list for 2014.[17]

In January 2015, The Sun replaced topless Page 3 images with clothed glamour photographs across all its editions.[18] A spokeswoman for No More Page 3 called the decision "truly historic news" and "a huge step for challenging media sexism”.[9] Penguin Books published Holmes's book about the campaign, How to Start a Revolution, two months later.[19] In 2016, the No More Page 3 campaign redirected its efforts into a short-lived project called Sexist News, aimed at highlighting misogynistic media coverage in The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Sun.[20]

The Daily Star ceased its topless glamour feature in April 2019, becoming the last mainstream daily tabloid to do so.[21]

Supporters

The campaign received support from Green MP Caroline Lucas[22] along with cross party support from over 140 other MPs.[23] Thirty universities supported the campaign by voting to boycott The Sun until topless images were dropped from Page 3.[9][24] The campaign also had the support of many groups and organizations including the National Assembly for Wales, Girlguiding UK, National Union of Teachers, National Association of Head Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, UNISON, the British Youth Council, The Girls' Brigade, Rape Crisis, Women's Aid, End Violence Against Women Coalition, The Everyday Sexism Project, White Ribbon Campaign, The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, UK Feminista, and Population Matters.[25]

Criticism

The feminist columnist Rowan Pelling said in April 2013 she was less concerned with the depiction of women on Page 3 than she was with that in lad mags and on the Internet.[26] The then official photographer for Page 3, Alison Webster, also criticised the campaign, saying "people should be able to make their own choices"[26] and "If you have a problem with your body, if as a child you grew up with certain body issues, then I can see how Page Three could affect you. But if you are comfortable with yourself then it will have no effect on you at all".[27]

When asked whether he would be supporting the campaign, Prime Minister David Cameron replied, "I think on this one I think it is probably better to leave it to the consumer."[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ Davies-Arai, Stephanie (22 August 2013). "An open letter to David Dinsmore on the first birthday of No More Page 3". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Lucy Ann Holmes". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b Lucy-Anne, Holmes (20 September 2012). "Exclusive: We've seen enough breasts - why I started the No More Page 3 campaign". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b Cochrane, Kira (10 March 2013). "No More Page 3 campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes on her battle with the Sun". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Profile of Clare Short". 12 May 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Murdoch's power: how it works and how it debases Australia". Crikey. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Brooks regrets 'cruel and harsh' attack on Clare Short over Sun Page 3". the Guardian. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  8. ^ "No More Page 3 campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes on her battle with the Sun". the Guardian. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Lisa O'Carroll, Mark Sweney and Roy Greenslade "The Sun calls time on topless Page 3 models after 44 years", The Guardian, 19 January 2015
  10. ^ "Lucy-Anne Holmes On Burnout, Being Skint And Life After No More Page 3". HuffPost UK. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  11. ^ "No More Page 3 campaigners sponsor another women's football team". the Guardian. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  12. ^ Clarke, Lisa (8 April 2013). "Mostly Harmless? I Beg to Differ". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  13. ^ Peacock, Louisa (8 August 2013). "The Sun drops Page 3 from Irish edition". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  14. ^ Reynolds, John (8 August 2013). "The Sun's Page 3 under renewed pressure after Irish cover up". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Sun's Page 3 photos of topless women will stay, says new editor". the Guardian. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Supermarkets to hide tabloid front pages because of sexual content concerns". BBC News. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Who are the 100 Women 2014?". BBC News. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  18. ^ Greenslade, Roy (6 March 2015). "The Sun suffers big sales fall without Page 3 - but don't rush to conclusions". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  19. ^ Holmes, Lucy-Anne. How to Start a Revolution. Retrieved 2 June 2022. ((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
  20. ^ "No More Page 3 Is Back With A Hilarious Takedown Of Newspaper Sexism". HuffPost UK. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Daily Star covers up its Page 3 girls, signalling end of tabloid tradition". the Guardian. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Caroline Lucas in Page Three T-shirt protest during debate". BBC news. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  23. ^ "Letter to the Editor signed by MPs". No More Page 3. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  24. ^ An article of this aspect of the campaign can be found at: "Students! No More Page 3 Needs You!". No More Page 3. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  25. ^ "We support the No More Page 3 campaign and give our reasons". No More Page 3. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  26. ^ a b Jukes, Peter (22 April 2013). "The End of Rupert Murdoch's Page 3 Girl?". Newsweek. in The Daily Beast. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  27. ^ Rehman, Najeeb (17 September 2012). "Should Page Three be banned?". Body Confidential. Confidential Publishing. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  28. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (22 July 2013). "Cameron refuses to back ban on Sun's Page 3 topless images". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

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