Why I Signed the #nomorepage3 Petition

Before anyone asks - yes this is relevant to this blog. The newspapers are part of the media, and not wanting to see breasts in a widely available paper has everything to do with my faith. I know lots of people have done a brilliant job at arguing the cause but I wanted to add my voice from a Christian perspective. There's so many reasons why this page shouldn't exist and why it's a tragedy we still have to discuss it in 2014, they're not all written here because it would be such a long post, and I want to keep this to what I think I can add to the debate, but that doesn't mean I'm not behind those arguments too.

For anyone not in the UK, or who (until now) is lucky enough to be unaware of what 'Page 3' denotes over here, it's really quite simple. There's this tabloid called 'The Sun', and every day on the third page, it has a massive picture of a fully naked women. Let me reiterate - this isn't an 'adult' mag, you don't need ID to buy it, it's not covered in a special modesty bag in the Co-Op, it's a newspaper. Not a very good one, but it is an easily accessible piece of so-called news available pretty much everywhere.

I don't have much time for The Sun anyway, it indulges in scaremongering, smearing anyone who dares stand against it, promoting self-interest above responsibility, and all too often downright lying. I wouldn't be sorry to see the whole thing go, but getting rid of this archaic page would be a start.

Whatever your views on 'adult entertainment', placing bare breasts in a paper anyone can buy sends out a strong message: 'This is ok, no question. Nothing needs to be argued here.' I can't stand the idea of sex and nudity being a commercial venture to be exploited full stop, however at least when it's 'lads mags' and dodgy websites, people are forced to actually spend a few seconds thinking about what they're about to look at, rather than just having unquestioned access amongst the day's news, and at least it's only the people looking for it who see it.

There are plenty of brilliantly put arguments outlining the dangers of children spotting page three, so I won't delve too deep into it again here- but I will say this: when a child is dedicated in a Baptist church, the whole congregation stand and make a pledge before God that they will aide the parents in providing a Christian, loving environment for the child to grow up in. I'm sure similar covenants are made by other denominations during infant baptisms and christenings. If we've taken that vow seriously, we have to question where page three fits in.

Sadly abolishing this page still wouldn't get close to solving everything. I think there is a culture emerging (from both genders) of sexual objectification being the norm - we see it in music videos, advertising, online, and even in one of my favourite things ever - television drama. Why wait until you're in a stable relationship with someone you love to see a naked body when you can just turn on the television, boot up a laptop - or open a newspaper. The Sun may not be the only offender but it is feeding the problem and profiting from it. 'Page 3' is a huge cultural thorn in the nation's side, and getting rid of that would be an excellent start for the bigger picture. We can either sit there and moan about how difficult and ingrained the issue is, or we can take on the problem, one battle at a time.

There's lots of debates and disagreements within Christianity, but this is a rare instance in which I simply can't see any way in which you can be a Christian and not take issue with this. We're not being snooty, holier-than-thou, complain-about-everything-that-isn't-Songs-of-Praise Christians by standing against it. This isn't saying 'I was offended by', this is saying 'this is deeply damaging, it needs to stop'.

You can sign the petition here.

Faith and... Technical Operating!

For those who haven't heard, my working life has changed somewhat recently. This post is a little overdue, so serial television style, let's have a quick recap:

On 19th August 2013, I started work as a runner at post production company in London. One house move, one name change (the company's, not mine), three pairs of shoes (they wear down fast when you're on your feet all day), countless flat whites, even more cups of tea and almost six months to the day later, and I was offered a job as a technical operator! 

Yes - I sort of skipped an 'episode' - the one where I actually applied for the job. Just imagine me bumbling my way through an interview, whilst trying to recall anything vaguely useful that my brain had to offer. Then my surprise when despite this not only did they refrain from questioning my career choice, but they actually offered me the position. All caught up?

In a blog post that I never finished, I talked about how starting as a runner was keeping me humble, and I do believe that from a Christian perspective it was an important way to learn how to quite literally serve, but now I'm learning humility from a different perspective. Being the one with the most to learn. Ravensbourne seems like a another life ago, I feel like I've forgotten everything I learned there and that everything wasn't anywhere near enough in the first place.

Before I started this role I was absolutely freaking terrified. I feel a lot better now I've got started but I haven't been anywhere near the deep end yet. I don't feel as if I could never be good at this job like I did when I started as a runner, but, if you forgive the cliché, there's a mountain to climb. Tape decks have manuals that are two hundred pages long. Timecode comes in more forms then most sane people would care to know about. There's a monitor we use that flickers on and off so you can only see what you're doing about 50% of the time. As for being the only female tech-op, I think I'll leave that for a whole other blog post at some stage.

It's going to take some time to readjust my mindset from running to technical operating, get used to a new environment and start to really hit my stride - but I know I can. Not out of any inflated opinion of myself, but because of one simple fact. If God got me to a stage where I was, dare I say it, good at being a runner, something that is so far away from my natural skill-set that you'd have to catch a plane to commute between the two, then He's more than capable of reigniting a flair for something I spent three years studying. It's still going to take a lot of hard work on my part, but I'm not alone. I've had lots of people tell me that they're there if I ever get stuck on something, which is a real blessing, one of many I'm sure God has up His sleeve.

I appreciate that this post is in a very similar mood to my first 'Faith and Running' post. That's because in many ways it feels like starting again, but that's in no sense a bad thing. By starting as a runner I got to see just how far beyond our established abilities God can take us (without there being a master tape or a whole production's rushes at stake). Once again I find myself outside my comfort zone. I have an awful lot to learn, but I'm very grateful for the opportunity to learn it.