No More Page 3

No More Page 3 was a campaign that ran in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2015, aimed at convincing the owners and editors of '' The Sun'' to cease publishing images of topless glamour models on Page 3, which it had done since 1970. Started by Lucy-Anne Holmes in August 2012, the campaign represented Page 3 as an outdated, sexist tradition that demeaned girls and women. The campaign collected over 240,000 signatures on an online petition and gained support from over 140 MPs, a number of trade unions, over 30 universities, and many charities and advocacy groups.

''The Sun'' ceased publishing topless Page 3 images in its Republic of Ireland edition in 2013, in its UK editions in 2015, and on its Page3.com website in 2017. ''The Daily Star'' also ceased publishing images of topless glamour models in 2019.

History

Since November 1970, ''The Sun'' tabloid newspaper had published images of topless glamour models on its third page. Although many feminists had criticized the feature, the tabloid had always vigorously defended Page 3. In 1986, after Labour MP Clare Short tried to introduce legislation banning topless images from national newspapers, ''The Sun'' ran a "Stop Crazy Clare" campaign to discredit her. Under the editorship of Rebekah Brooks, ''The Sun'' renewed its attacks on Short in 2004, calling her a "killjoy" and "fat and jealous" after the MP reiterated her criticisms of Page 3.

Lucy-Anne Holmes, who stated that Page 3 had affected her body image when she was 11 years old, began campaigning against the feature when she noticed during the London Olympics that the most prominent woman in '' The Sun'' was its Page 3 model, despite the achievements of Britain's female athletes. She launched an online petition in August 2012, which asked ''Sun'' editor Dominic Mohan to remove topless models from Page 3, on the basis that they demeaned women, perpetuated sexism, and damaged girls' and women's body image. The petition eventually gathered over 240,000 signatures. The campaign gained significant support from politicians, trade unions, universities, and advocacy groups. It sponsored two women's soccer teams, Nottingham Forest Women F.C. and Cheltenham Town L.F.C., whose players wore the "No More Page 3" logo on their shirts. It also tried to persuade Lego to stop running promotions in ''The Sun''. Lego confirmed in March 2013 that its tie-in with the newspaper would end, but denied that the move was due to the campaign.

In April 2013, No More Page 3 activist Lisa Clarke authored a ''Huffington Post'' article that highlighted misogynistic and degrading remarks about topless models contained in the comments section of the '' Daily Star''s website. After her article, the newspaper deleted and permanently disabled comments regarding its models.

In August 2013, Paul Clarkson, editor of ''The Sun'''s Republic of Ireland edition, replaced topless models with images of women in swimwear. The No More Page 3 campaign thanked Clarkson "for taking the lead in the dismantling of a sexist institution" and called on The Sun to make the same change in the UK. However, newly appointed ''Sun'' editor David Dinsmore had also recommended in 2011. In 2014, Tesco and Waitrose announced that they would implement these recommendations.

For her work on the No More Page 3 campaign, the BBC included Lucy-Anne Holmes on its 100 Women list for 2014.

In January 2015, ''The Sun'' replaced topless Page 3 images with clothed glamour photographs across all its editions. A spokeswoman for No More Page 3 called the decision "truly historic news" and "a huge step for challenging media sexism”. Penguin Books

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