So the Sun has pulled the plug. No More Page 3 has won the day. It sure wasn't "creeping sharia" as some people seem to seriously think.
But what has really been won??
1) Any bloke will tell you that a bikini or lingerie picture can be just as erotic and objectifying as a topless shot. The problem is not simply the toplessness (though progress is welcome!) but the use of sexually titillating images of women as a form of acceptable ultra-soft-core porn. Other papers, including The Mail, are just as bad as the Sun, though some make more attempt to disguise the cheesecake as news.
2) It is necessary to define the porn as "ultra-soft core" because of the real reason that Page 3 has stopped. I think it is because of the availability of porn. For most of its 44 years, Page 3 was the sexiest thing most blokes could see without having to resort to some potential embarrassment at the newsagents - The Sun being "acceptable". Over the last 20 years it has become easier and easier to access ever harder-core porn at no expense and low risk of discovery - Page 3 thus became anodyne and unnecessary. That is what Murdoch's "old fashioned" really means - in a world where ten year olds regularly watch film of people actually doing it, who needs Page 3?
Battle still on!
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