No one was ever forced to read Page 3
Yesterday's execution of Page 3 by the management of The Sun is a victory for the militant feminists and a defeat for the right to individual choice and expression.
News of the decision was met with fervent jubilation from the usual suspects. Diane Abbott instantly took to Twitter to proclaim her delight, heralding Clare Short as some sort of Boudicca of the moment, having fought a long war of attrition against the evil mega corporation that is News UK.
Page 3 has long been seen by feminist campaigners as part of a broader campaign to objectify women and to satisfy the primeval instincts of their arch enemy: the heterosexual man. Worse still are the attitudes they harbour towards the glamour models themselves. Billed as traitors to the cause, they're almost treated with the same disdain as collaborators under Vichy France.
The reality though is very different. Page 3 is no more objectifying of women than, say, the nauseating sight of Daniel Craig emerging from the crystal clear ocean and stepping on to marble white sand wearing an uncomfortably tight pair of turquoise speedos. Despite this, you don't hear the inane droning of faux outrage from leftie blogger Owen Jones, as he burns copies of Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' single on Parliament Green.
Another point of disagreement is the baseless assertion that by looking at a woman's boobs men are more likely to perceive them as just that – a pair of breasts. Astonishingly, it is possible for members of both sexes to derive pleasure from the sight of the human form and all its attributes without forgetting that they are more than just objects of desire or sexual gratification.
Page 3 is a choice. It's a choice for those reading The Sun and a choice for those women seeking to model for it. No one is forced to look at the pictures or to pose for them. By turning over the front cover the reader is making a conscious decision.
Many brave and honourable people fought hard to ensure women were afforded the same rights and privileges as their male counterparts. It is saddening to see a misguided group of both men and women naively acting to curb those freedoms.