What have these bloody feminists ever done for us blokes?

A small group of blokes sitting in the pub having a chat....

...I'm sick to death of these bloody feminists. Its all you bloody hear about now. We don't like this, we don't like that. I'm up to here with it. Now they want rid of bloomin Page 3!! Page 3 I ask you?! What is the world coming to when a bloke can't even have a cheeky look at a nice pair of a morning in his paper. Well they're bleeding us dry these wimmin. They want to take everything we have, not just from us, from our fathers and from our fathers' fathers.

                  

.....And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.        

 ......Yes.        

  ......And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.        

......All right, lets not labour the point. but what have they ever given us in return?

...More time with the kids?

Wha....Oh yeah, yeah they gave us that. Yeah. That's true.

And the birth control.

Oh yes... birth control mate, remember what it used to be like used to be like. Always thinking she might get pregnant. All those kids.

All right,  granted you got more time with the kids and the birth control are two things that the feminist movement have done...

And not being expected to go to war...

Well yes obviously its better that that its not assumed all men or not just men for that matter would have to defend their country at the drop of a hat... that goes without saying. But apart from more time with the kids, the contraception and not going to war...

Not being the main and only provider?...

...erm  Job choices? You know...I'm  a nurse, that wouldn't have been allowed.

...talking about our feelings,

What?!

Well...... you know, we can talk..... we can think about getting counselling or support...


Hmmmm...

....having sex without being expected to marry the woman!!

Oooooo Yes, all the sex is certainly one of the best bits... (general nodding)... let's face it, we're not the only ones after a bloomin good time.... know what I mean hahahhahaha

Ha ha ha yep that's true... I've had some great.....

Alright, alright I get it.

...being able to report abuse, assault or rape?

 Yeah and no fault divorce  - we don't have to have a reason to call it quits on an unhappy marriage now do we.

Yes that's true plus you know your girlfriend or wife is with you because she wants to be not because you own her or because she can't have her own income and property and stuff ya know...manage on her own and that.

All right... all right... but apart from birth control and time with the kids, not being the only provider,  getting support and not going to war and talking about how we feel, reporting abuse, easier divorce, women being with us because they want to be and all the sex outside of marriage... what has feminism ever done for us blokes?

Erm....made it clear that women are valued?       

         

What?

You know, your Mum, your wife, your sister - showing they are people too?!

Oh...you...you know what lets change the subject.

1. It seems it is somewhat of a shame that Paul Connew has never been given the honour of being editor of The Sun as if he had we would not be having to talk about page 3 in the present tense, or so he tells us in his guardian piece today http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/13/page-3-internet-porn-damages-young-minds. Paul would have got rid of the "Page 3 girls" because they are an "anachronism" long past their sell by date. He would not however have wasted precious time and energy campaigning against it as that would be "tedious" and "disproportionate" as "The problem with is not that they are a corrupting influence on young minds, or that they turn men into rapists; it is simply that they are past their sell-by date".
   
   In short Mr Connew is of the opinion that if we all just kept quiet the really not very important problem of page 3 girls would just go away.
   
   I'm always made to feel immediately uncomfortable when any issue around page 3 is discussed by referring to the "Page 3 girls". I think the term in itself is problematic. It may have been appropriate at one time when indeed some of them were in fact under 18 but given that they are all of age they are in fact all now "women" and professionally speaking they are "models".
   
   There is a very good reason why the current campaign for an end to page 3 doesn't focus on the models and that is because it is not a campaign aimed at or against glamour models, glamour modelling or pornography. What No More Page 3 aims itself at is the bizarre editorial decision made in the 1970's, to make a feature of the breasts of very young women in a daily Newspaper. Paul no doubt has a problem accepting any socially sweeping consequences of this decision, not really surprising given his career choices and gender. Why would he be aware? In contrast as a 39 year old woman who grew up with a Sun newspaper in the house daily, as a mother of a teenage boy and girl and a now insider of the NMP3 campaign it wouldn't surprise you to hear that I do have quite a different slant. My experience of the effect on personal body image and understanding of my own sexuality has been reinforced numerous times in the words of supporters. The incidence I would struggle to remember or list (as they are so numerous) of sexual harassment and common sexual assault on the street, at work and in bars is not unusual either. Mine is of course anecdotal evidence and although I see it mirrored time and time again it could be easily dismissed as invalid were it not for the fact it is backed up by evidence presented in numerous studies and government commissioned reports. These reports obviously don't point specifically to page 3, but refer to all sexualised and pornographic images and the effects of exposure. Given the accessibility of The Sun's iconic page however it could very much be used to argue that page 3 is more than an out of date, harmless embarrassment. The effects on female mental health and young women's aspirations is well documented along with the evidence of a reinforcement for boys and men of a sexist and derogatory view of women which in tern makes harmful behaviour towards the opposite sex more likely. The reason no doubt that the campaign enjoys the support of so many charities and groups fighting domestic and sexual violence against women.
   Page 3 we hope may soon be consigned to the same, "did we really once think that was ok" archive to which we consigned Golly Wogs. It may, with time join  the other unhelpful symbols which were once supposed harmless until we realised they undermined and misrepresented an entire section of society. It does seem massively naive however to assume that any of these changes would have occurred because people quietly waited for something to go away. Change happens because people start to speak up and ask for it. Awareness is raised, blinkers removed. Generation on generation in its own way has chipped away at the status quo of female objectification in the media and on Page 3. More recently this shift in the moral zeitgeist has gained momentum but make no mistake Mr Connew we have reached where we are today not because people were quiet but because they spoke up, they found allies and the whispers grew to shouts. No More Page 3 has never asked for parliamentary time or legislation, it does not affiliate itself to a particular party, it enjoys the support to those with the common sense and insight to realise the time has come for change. We love Caroline Lucas for having the gall to stand up and speak out about media sexism, of course we do, but we love her no more or less than any of the other brilliant people who have added their voice to ours. It's getting quite difficult to ignore isn't it, but be warned - we will not be quiet any time soon.