No More Page 3 and Child Eyes supporters are at present joined together in relentless discussion with the supermarkets in which we spend our money.
Following the success of the "Lose the Lads Mags" campaign, action was taken across most, if not all major stores, to top-shelf, or in some cases stop sale of these adult magazines. Why then is there such an on-going reluctance from the same stores to treat the overt sexualisation and sexism of the page 3 tabloids in the same manor and place them accordingly?
Supporter Cheryl Galbraith replies to another stock response from Tesco....
There is indeed a difference between the type of content in "Lads' Mags" and that of the Sun.
While Page 3 regularly contains partial nudity, this is fundamentally different in tone and style to the highly sexualised content often found in magazines such as "Zoo" and "Nuts". I agree.
The tone, style and content of such magazines is aimed at grown up men. It is deemed inappropriate viewing for boys and girls and is displayed accordingly.
The tone and style of The Sun, and other tabloids, is family friendly. They attract the attention of parents and children with holiday giveaways, Disney and theme-park promotions, etc on their covers. They are aimed at the man/woman in the street, light in tone and "matey" in style.
This is what makes the problem so insidious.
To place sexualised images of women in amongst the family competitions/giveaways, news, gossip and sport, gives our children a "family friendly" introduction to pornography and objectification. It is not just on page 3, but often on the cover and within the rest of the newspaper.
Tesco's description of page 3 etc. as "partial nudity" is a clever use of language to downplay the sexual aspect of the imagery.
If you are still not quite getting it, though, allow me to defer to the experts. Tesco is a huge, successful, multinational business. Within your advertising departments, I am sure you have access to international experts in the field. They will do a much better job of this than I can, so please ask them to explain to you about the huge subliminal power of imagery, repetition and neuro-linguistic programming.
In the meantime, I will summarise it for in words you may understand. In the desensitisation of young girls and boys to sexual objectification - every little helps.
The tabloids are doing their bit to introduce our children to pornography and normalise sexual objectification. The damage it is doing has been researched, observed and documented.
The editorial content of the Sun is clearly a matter for their senior team rather than for Tesco. Of course but placement - is that not a matter for Tesco?
The large corporations who own the Tabloids have huge influence and there are large amounts of money riding on decisions about how products are displayed. Tesco is in business to make money, after all.
Do your customers not matter? Do your children not matter? Do principals, and good practice, and morals, and international research and opinion not matter? Do women not matter?
Your customers need better answers as to why you refuse to move the images. The research into the damage it does should be enough in itself to prompt a decision at the highest level. The only possible reason for not moving them, is money. Simple. So admit it openly and unashamedly, or, please, move the papers.
We agree with Cheryl, what about you? #topshelfpornpapers