The Sun: Do We Love It?

On March 14, the Facebook group No More Page 3 for NUSU was formed.

The group information reads “Should Newcastle Students Union stop selling The Sun and make a stand against the objectification of women in ther[sic] Page 3? Join if you agree and help us make this policy!”

You’ll have to look for these somewhere else like the internet or something.

There has been a nationwide move to ban Page 3 and the organisers have now targeted Universities.

Though some Universities have voted in favour of removing The Sun already I was hoping Newcastle would be too sensible for this.

Sun free zone?

I will point out now that I am not trying to say The Sun is a good paper, nor that I even read it. However, in the words of a wise Facebooker:

“Might I assume NUSU will follow through by banning every lads’ mag, fitness mag, and celebrity and lifestyle mag with shirtless men/female weight gain or loss pictures? Or its own newspaper’s ‘hottie of the week’ and a fair amount of the rest of the lifestyle section? Or any publication with pictures in it at all since they always have an agenda and a heavy photoshopping?

“Just sell crosswords and Private Eye. Think of our impressionable young minds.”

There are probably many good reasons to ban The Sun, but page three is not one of them. It’s a slippery slope to try and stop degradation of women. As another Facebook user pointed out “What’s the difference between Page 3 and scantily clad CCTV girls actively being used to promote union club nights?”

Can the Union really be this selective about what degrades women and what doesn’t? Who decides what women should and shouldn’t be able to do? Is it not restrictive in itself to tell a women what she can do with her body lest she ‘degrades’ herself by making a choice?

Banning The Sun does not stop men or women looking at each other as sexual objects. If someone’s going to look at a girl and see a pair of tits then they will, Sun or not. Even if it’s not sold in the shops they can no doubt sit in the Union and access it on their phone.

What do you think? Does banning The Sun stop women being viewed as a sexual commodity? Will it have any affect at all? What should or shouldn’t be banned?