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.
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