Today is exactly 42 years since topless women first appeared in The Sun. To mark the occasion campaigners have organised protests around the UK and hope to gather support for a No More Page 3 petition
Demonstrations taking place today include a British Institutions Fancy Dress Tea Party outside Sun HQ in London and a musical protest in Birmingham. No More Page 3 campaigners will also be collecting signatures for an ongoing petition, also available to sign online at change.org.
The petition calls upon the Sun’s editor, Dominic Mohan to “take the bare boobs out of The Sun,” and aims to get the backing of one million people. At the time of writing, more than 56,000 people have signed up to support the campaign.
Campaign founder Lucy Holmes, believes that the naked breasts of young women shouldn’t be shown in a widely read ‘family’ newspaper. In a YouTube video promoting the campaign, she explains how Page 3 contributed to her body insecurities while growing up.
“I’d look at these pictures of breasts and I just felt so ashamed of my own breasts and I thought, ‘I don’t look like these women, I’m a freak’,” she said.
The petition, addressed directly to Mr Mohan, states: “George Alagiah doesn’t say, ‘And now let’s look at Courtney, 21, from Warrington’s bare breasts,’ in the middle of the 6 o’Clock News’ does he Dominic? There would be an outcry. Consider this a long overdue outcry. Dominic, stop showing topless pictures of young women in Britain’s most widely read newspaper, stop conditioning your readers to view women as sex objects.”
Gary Miller from Faversham commented on the petition website: “This is the 21st century. We don’t need an easy route into pornography for our kids. How are women meant to be taken seriously in the workplace when this is how they are seen? It’s degrading to them.”
The Page 3 feature first appeared in The Sun in 1970 and has run regularly ever since.
The petition is supported by several well-known celebrities including comedian Jennifer Saunders, presenter Lauren Laverne and former Labour politician Alastair Campbell.
