Sunday 30 September 2012

Respect for Women

Has anyone been following The Sun, Page 3 debate which has been playing in the national media this week?

I watched Harriet Harman on BBC Newsnight arguing the case for finally ending page 3 topless women in The Sun newspaper and felt moved by her sheer tenacity.  Did she really say she has been fighting for an end to Page 3 for 20 years! The ex-editor they had arguing the case for the boobs to stay wasn't very impressive but then what possible intelligent reason could he give. 

A day later I went into Peacocks clothes store with my 11 year old daughter and while waiting to pay was confronted with a pile of boxed 'Stress Boobs' on the counter by the till.  Each box carried a scary looking man eagerly squeezing two skin coloured balls with nipples! And sure enough viewed voyeuristically through the plastic display window were two sad looking stress boobs, staring weirdly out at us.

I mentioned to the saleswoman that I wasn't impressed by the 'boobs' and the queue of people behind me looked away in embarrassment.  Why did they do that?  Were they embarrassed by me complaining? By me saying boobs? By me raising the issue? It would have been nice to be supported. I continued anyway and  tried to explain that at exactly child height they were inappropriate and could she please pass this on as a complaint from a customer.  I asked her what she felt. She said children saw 'much worse all the time, out there'. Is that true? Does that make us too accepting and perhaps lazy, happy to just let these things go, and in so doing help perpetuate this terrible disrespect for women?  Does that make us complicit? And is that why we still have a Page 3?

So let's have a mini campaign.  If you go into Peacocks and the boobs are there, complain. 

Janet Wise

2 comments:

  1. oood for you, Janet. I encourage you to always complain when you're offended and/or see something you think is inappropriate. Too many people stay silent.
    As for those people who looked embarrassed, I think people are just too afraid/embarrassed to complain. Everyone wants to be liked. If you complain, you won't be liked. People are not afraid, though, to complain to someone else rather than to the cause of the concern. Another reason people don't complain is that they don't feel what they say is important, that no one will listen, that they are powerless to change anything I've heard people say that many times. I tell them that they DO have power, that people do listen. By your action that day in the store, you have raised awareness.

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  2. Thanks for your encouragement Valerie! I must say it felt empowering to complain.

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