#sexualobjectification

It’s more than ‘Page 3’ of the Sun

The Sun has ended ‘page 3’ but there is still chronic misrepresentation of women and girls in the print media and the ‘page 3’ tabloids continue to  normalise and mainstream the sex and porn industries.

‘They’re sexist and they know it’ is published today.  Written and researched by media sexism campaign OBJECT, it assesses whether there has been any improvement in the way the ‘page 3’ redtops represent women since the  Leveson Inquiry and the formation of the new press regulator, IPSO.

The report ‘They are Sexist and They Know It’  focuses on the Sun, the Daily Sport and the Daily Star.

The report highlights that sexual objectification of women goes beyond the topless ‘Page 3’ of the Sun’s print edition, it finds extreme examples of reports of sexual objectification.  For example:

A case of two women, from Nigeria, being trafficked into the UK and forced into prostitution was covered by ‘The Sport’, but the focus, as the headline shows was on rituals and black magic the women allegedly practiced, “VOODOO Sex Ring made me eat COCK” (The Sport, October 8, 2014). article was further juxtaposed next to porn ads such as an image of a naked woman bound and gagged.

The Sport covered a report on Jimmy Savile’s abuse of young women and girls next to upskirt pictures and porn ads. The porn ads featured were entitled “Tight teens”,

In  ‘The Daily Star’, a  story about Gary Glitter’s  historical abuses against girls was placed next to a story of Prince Harry’s girlfriend’s sex life “romps”

The Sun covered the story of Lee Travis being charged with sexually assaulting a woman by groping her with the headline “Hairy Cornflake Faces Porridge”.

Further, it highlights that:

Women are not only reduced to their body parts but often violence against women is trivialised or glamorised to the extent that stories of sexual violence are juxtaposed with topless images and/or porn and escort ads and crimes committed  against women are reported in a titillating manner.

Derogatory and hateful language against women is widespread and that women’s lack of consent is often presented as entertainment rather than as sexual harassment or worse.

Sexualisation of children is common, as well as racist, ageist representations of women.

The report finds that women’s sexuality, including lesbian sexuality, is often reduced to just a performance for men.

Finally, the report finds that actual news of women is absent; women’s contribution to society is often not recognised.

 Beti  Baraki, Object Campaigns Officer, said:

“The ending of the Sun’s Page 3, in the printed edition, was a great victory after years of campaigning and helps draw attention to the broader issue of media sexism on our press.  However, the ritual and persistent sexual objectification of women in the press is a serious problem and a common theme . In fact we see that apart from reduction of women to the sum of their body parts, the presence of adverts for porn and the sex industries with hateful and derogatory language for women is widespread. This often particularly extreme in the racist portrayal of black and minority ethnic women. Crimes committed against women such as trafficking, rape and murder are trivialised or eroticised and actual news of women is largely absent in thesetabloids.

Reducing women to sex objects or body parts rather than whole person normalises the treatment of women as objects, and underpins discrimination and violence against women and girls. Women have had enough of limiting stereotypes, which harm us all, constantly peddled by national newspapers.

The press has a responsibility to be a non-discriminatory and ethical- the press should be governed by some basic ethical standards and practicing a fair representation of women and girls in the media is one standard that needs to be met- yet it seems that the press are failing half the population at every turn.

This is a form of gross discrimination and runs contrary to the public interest. There needs to be a national enquiry to address the chronic misrepresentation of women in our print media. OBJECT supports a free press, which is why we are advocating for a common-sense and consistent approach to bring regulation of print based media in line with other forms of media regulation that balances equality legislation with free speech principles”.

ENDS

For more information or press requests, please contact OBJECT on 07538 221874 or [email protected]

 Notes to editors

1) OBJECT is an award-winning organisation that campaigns to end the sexual objectification of women in the media and popular culture, the mainstreaming of the sex industries and all forms of commercial sexual exploitation by combining high- end lobbying and grassroots activism.