Wednesday 20 February 2013

Page 3 Girls would you take them home to meet your mother?

There is a big campaign against page 3 saying about how it objectifies women and how this leads to violence against women. I think that this is confusing cause and effect but I have other concerns about the campaign.

For me another question is which is a bigger danger to women page 3 or the idea of "that's not the type of woman you would bring home to meet you mother"?

For me it seems that the second is the real danger to women. This is the kind of social stigma that is for me much more dangerous. That is saying that that kind of woman is beneath your level, that they are not fit to be part of the family. Once you think they are worth less than you then abuse suddenly is not abuse, because they are not really a full person. Why should they have the same respect? This is when men are encouraged to think in negative terms about women.

What is important is respect for others and how they live their lives, but this is difficult in this tabloid world. For me the Mail with its shaming campaigns is much more dangerous than Page 3. Why do I care that a woman goes into the Royal Enclosure at Ascot with a tattoo or nose piercing? People should be allowed to live their lives as they wish and that means allowing women to express themselves as they wish, if that means not being a "lady" (as defined by certain journalists) then that is how it should be.

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