Page 3 of the Sun newspaper - in which, for those unfamiliar with that fine newspaper, a young woman poses in her knickers and nothing else (except maybe a jaunty hat) - has been called many things over the years: sleazy, cheeky, empowering, degrading, a bit of harmless fun and a symbol of general misogyny. But it's never been described as "life saving" - until now.
On Tuesday, the Sun put a topless woman on the front cover, and it was all in a good cause. Rosie Jones appeared on page one rather than three to launch the paper's new 'Check 'Em Tuesday' campaign. Every week on that day from now on, Page 3 will be devoted to breast cancer awareness, urging what I suspect are the comparatively few women who pay a huge amount of attention to that page to conduct breast exams and go to their GP if they notice anything unusual.
On the other days, of course, it'll be business as usual, and the Page 3 "girls" will simply be there to give the page's fans a quick thrill.
Of course, no one would deny that the Sun are supporting a good cause. The paper is working with the breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel!, which was founded by Kris Hallenga after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, aged just 23. CoppaFeel! aims to make younger women more aware of the need for breast exams. When the Sun launched the campaign, Kris (whose cancer has sadly spread and is now incurable) said that the paper was
a brilliant platform to get across a life-saving message. They are the most famous boobs in Britain. And for us to be hopping on the back of that page and The Sun as a whole is a huge opportunity.
It's true that the Sun is still Britain's most widely read paper, so this campaign will reach thousands of people.
But unsurprisingly, many are uncomfortable with the whole campaign's sexy tone. Not only is the paper using highly sexualised images, but readers are encouraged to take photos of themselves basically grabbing their boobs and tag them #checkemtuesday, which looks a lot more cheeky and alluring than an actual breast exam.
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Kris HallengaIt may seem like an unnatural match, given that Page 3 is really all about male titillation. And these words from Sun editor David Dinsmore suggested that he thinks of his actual readers as male not female.
Twelve thousand women die of breast cancer every year — mothers, sisters and daughters — which makes it a big issue for our readers, and The Sun is all about big issues.
No More Page Three, which has been urging the paper to get rid of the slot, issued a statement in which they said they were glad that the paper was trying to promote women's health and applauded CoppaFeel!, adding that "it would be wrong to wish this campaign anything other than success." But they also said,
They will say that they want to use the power of page 3 as a force for good – we say that a society in which sexualised images of young women are seen as that powerful has to change.
Of course, not everyone agrees with No More Page Three's general campaign - there are many feminists who think their desire to get rid of Page 3 is actually quite patronising. But I think there's a big difference between sexy photos of women taking their clothes off in a magazine aimed at adults and similar photos appearing in something that is, whatever you might think of it, a newspaper aimed at a general audience.
And while my parents never bought the Sun when I was a kid, my uncle did, and so did the parents of some of my schoolfriends. Seeing that page as a child made me feel uncomfortable and weird, and I still think it sends a very dodgy message to kids who grow up with it, both boys and girls. But is it okay if it uses its saucy shots to try and improve women's health? I'm not sure.
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So what do you think of the Sun's campaign? Is it an inappropriate, sleazy way to tackle a serious illness? Or is it a clever way to get attention for an important cause? And do you actually check your boobs yourself?
