The campaign to end bare boobs in national newspapers has received fresh support with OBJECT’s recent petition against the Daily Star’s inclusion of Page 3.
The petition asks Richard Desmond, owner of Northern and Shell media group which also includes titles New! And The Express, to end the Daily Star’s Page 3 which features topless women.
The news comes after The Sun stopped their Page 3 feature, apparently in response to the No More Page 3, only for the newspaper to bring it back a few days later wryly claiming a ‘mammary lapse’.
OBJECT, who campaign against against the objectification of women in media and popular culture have adopted the slogan ‘Page 3 is not OK’ and their petition states that it is not OK to ‘pornify’ the media.
“Object believes the presence of the Daily Star on newsstands helps normalise pornographic consumption.”
Beti Baraki, OBJECT’s campaigns and outreach officer, said: “Topless, objectifying images of women persist in the Daily Star.
“There are widespread public concerns over porn and the ritual sexual objectification of women across all media platforms.
“We know that the mainstreaming of porn, which commonly depicts acts of aggression towards women both physical and verbal, plays a huge role in portraying women as sex objects and also making violence against women seem normal.”
The petition also objects to other aspects of the media including the juxtaposition of images of naked woman with stories about sexual violence.
It also calls for the end of TV programmes called ‘Teen Castings’ on porn channels also owned by Northern and Shell.
The petition states: “ We are asking Richard Desmond to get rid of the Page 3 in the Daily Star.
“Richard Desmond and Northern and Shell – It’s not OK to ‘pornify’ our media.
“It’s not OK because women and girls are more than their breasts and bottoms;
It’s not OK to have Page 3 of the Daily Star;
It’s not OK to juxtapose images of naked or partially clad women with stories about sexual violence;
It’s not OK to have to have a TV programme called Teen Castings on your porn channel Television X.”
OBJECT claim that Northern and Shell, which also owns OK! Magazine and the Health Lottery, is normalising sexism and pornography in the media.
“Object believes the presence of the Daily Star on newsstands helps normalise pornographic consumption, contributes to a culture which trivialises objectification and violence against women, and is at odds with the Bailey Review recommendations on the sexualisation of children,” Beti Baraki said.
The petition is still open and can be found here.
Featured picture courtesy of Niccolò Caranti, with thanks
