SEX SELLS
“Flesh Sells. People don't want to see pictures of churches. They want to see naked bodies” Helen Mirren
Today is the 40th Anniversary of something the British Public hold dear. Almost 8 million Brits start their day by opening their tabloid newspaper and being greeted by a naked young pair of breasts. Yes, today is the 40thAnniversary of the Page Three Girl.
For my readers not based on in the UK, let me explain.
The Sun newspaper started life in the early 1960's as a broadsheet newspaper. It struggled with sales until finally it was sold for less than a million pounds to an Australian publisher- Rupert Murdoch. The newspaper quickly turned into a tabloid newspaper aimed at the 'common-man' and carried an uplifting 'Glamorous picture' every day, which would greet the reader every time the newspaper was opened. In it's new tabloid format the newspaper was averaging around a million and a half readers. The world at that time was going through many political and social changes... most notably Germaine Greer published 'The Female Eunuch' in the October of 1969. Women were becoming enpowered. On 17th November 1969, the then Editor of The Sun published as the days 'Glamorous picture' a German model called Stephanie. Stephanie was glamorous of course... but she was also topless. The newspaper repeated the stunt with various other 'glamour girls' for the next four days before changing the name of the slot to Page Three Girls. In the year that followed the readership of the paper soared to over two million and in the twelve months to end of March 2008, The Sun had a readership of 7,897,000.
Although the girls are quite decidedly topless and often completely nude, the style of the photography is very neutered. Somehow the Sun have managed to present pert nakedness without sexual over tones. Such is the strength of the affection the British public have for these images that many of the girls who have appeared on page three have gone on to become national treasures and an attempt by parliament to outlaw the images was thwarted.
The original Page Three photographer was Beverley Goodway. He remained the main photographer until his retirement in 2003. I asked Mr Goodway what the photographs were supposed to convey and he told me it was a cross between a saucy British seaside postcard and accidentally getting a glimpse of a young girl undressing.
However there have been many over the years who have called the images published on Page Three sexist, demeaning and exploitative.
Being a national Newspaper means the Sun is a 'low shelf' product and can be sold to any body any age. The Sun has often been accused of pushing soft-porn by featuring the images. This claim is supported by the fact that the Page Three feature has gone interactive... you may now make the girls rotate for 360 views of their bodies by downloading an app to your i-phone. The girls will pirouette to your command. The newspaper has been accused of drifting a long way from Beverley's 'accidental glimpse'.
When Rebekah Wade became the Sun's first woman editor in 2003, many expected her to either to terminate Page Three or to modify it so that the models would no longer appear topless. Instead, she retained it unchanged and later wrote an editorial defending Page Three against its critics.
Many have found it hard to understand how a newspaper which campaigns for stricter laws on the sexual abuse of minors, including the public identification of released paedophiles, while publishing topless photographs of girls whom many other jurisdictions would legally classify as under age minors. In the past young girls have been featured clothed with a count down until their 16th birthday which will be the magic date when it will be legal to expose their breasts in print. Debate withstanding many thousands of girls as young as 13 site being a Page Three girl as their ideal career choice.
I'm not sure where I stand on this particular issue. Regarding Page Three I cannot take it seriously as pornography, I have to go with Mr Goodway's original vision there. In the days before the internet when getting your hand on images of naked women was a more complicated issue, for many young boys page three was their first glimpse of naked breast. Because the images were de-sexualised it simply answered the question “What is inside a girls bra?” I am yet to meet a man who has become depraved as consequence of exposure to page three.
However the concentration on youth in these images strides very close to a line that should never be approached let alone crossed. I recall the count down to Linsey Dawn Mckenzie's 16th birthday and the whole thing still leaves me rather sick.
Then we have the use of the girls images in other ways. Back in 1980's The Sun had 16 year old Samantha Fox had her head and torso printed on pillow cases...so their readers could 'nod off with Sammie'. Then of course the Sun ran a poll for the readers to vote whether or not the then teenage 'Jordan' should have surgery to increase her natural breasts to the size of improbable beach balls. (Yes she did the latter). It's hard to square any of that with a cheeky seaside postcard or harmless 'fun'.
BUT it also has to be considered that although the UK were the first,they certainly are not the only country to have national newspapers that regularly feature scantly clad or topless girls within them. Of the top of my head, I recall similar features in newspapers in the following countries... Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile,Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Romania, and South Africa. As for the very moral USA... they were lead astray by a Brit who started a publication in North Carolina called FOCUS...which features... Page Three! However is that a good excuse... everyone else is doing it?
And what of the girls who feature on those pages? For every one that achieve fame, discovers a talent for business or acting or marrying footballers ... is there really one addicted to drugs and involved in abusive relationships as shown by Julian Jones documentary The Curse of Page Three? Do these girls have what it takes to be a suitable aspirational role model for young girls? If you are asking me.. I really don't know. I know ex page three models who fall in either camp...but most slip quietly into obscurity after their moment in the Sun. I suppose the question is..would I want my daughter if I had one to do it... and I'm afraid my answer is a wishy washy I should hope it would never be something I would have to deal with! Because really... I don't know. Do you?
But all these things are side issues. We ALL know what the big issue is:
The big issue is … does a feature of no news worth designed blatanly to do nothing other than titillate (excuse the pun!) belong in a national newspaper?
It is something that should be addressed.
The Sun newspaper for one was very much looking forward to the free publicity that goes with such a debate. They were poised... they were ready.
In the other corner, physiologists, criminologists, feminists and social historians were very much looking forward to demonising a publication that aims and scores so effortlessly at the lowest end of aspiration.
Today the nation is much distracted by it's other great passion... the Royal Family, so the 40th Anniversary of boobs on parade is passing quietly. Debate has not roared as loudly as maybe interested parties may have wished. Love it or loath it , it is an indisputable fact that The Sun newspaper remains the newspaper that access to the vast majority of homes in this country. In fact The Sun is, by circulation, the 10th biggest newspaper in ANY language in the world.
Maybe this is a debate that needs to be had.
One thing for sure... from a failing newspaper to top ten global success The Sun's phoenix rose from the ashes of a fire sparked by the appeal of naked young flesh. As they say... sex sells.
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. Interesting article.
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