This article is from the August 2013 issue of Total Politics
You’d think in the No More Page Three debate, clothing isn’t exactly the problem. It’s more about the lack of it. But not so in the case of former Green Party leader and the first and only Green MP Caroline Lucas, who caused “offence” in a Westminster Hall debate on media sexism in June by wearing a ‘No More Page Three’ slogan t-shirt. This act of defiance and her campaign against sexism has won her this issue’s MP of the Month accolade.
Chairing the debate, Labour MP Jimmy Hood told the MP for Brighton Pavilion that her attire was “not in line with regulations" and, somewhat ironically, "may cause offence”. And later, when she asked David Cameron in PMQs about removing The Sun from the parliamentary estate, he replied: “I’m glad you got your question asked after the dazzling t-shirt you were wearing last week failed to catch [Speaker John Bercow’s] eye.”
Her choice of clothing caused quite a stir for just one part of her wider campaign against sexism in the media. She tells Total Politics: “There is evidence of a link between consumption of sexualised images and the tendency to view women as objects, and the acceptance then of more aggressive attitudes and links to discrimination, and ultimately violence… In a culture where the objectification of women is very common, those kinds of attitudes are more likely.”
Lucas set up a ‘Spot the Sexism’ month in her Brighton constituency in June, with the aim of participants collecting and sharing examples of media sexism. The notorious section of the tabloid is just one example of a whole culture she is fighting against. She explains that her aim to have copies of The Sun removed from parliament is “a symbolic thing, to send a message to the editor,” who has yet to back down on the offending feature.
“The purpose of the debate was to ask the minister if they would look more seriously at this as an issue,” she remarks, “to look at whether or not we need to revisit the retail code. For example, lads’ mags are meant to be on the top shelf, but, all too often, they aren’t.”
She is “rather disappointed” with the letter she has received from the administration committee regarding the removal of the newspaper from the Commons.
Over the phone, she reads this controversial correspondence out to me: “This is from Alan Haselhurst, chair of the administration committee: ‘To do so would be an act of censorship.’ And crucially he says, ‘It is easy to avoid the Page Three feature, as it is clearly identifiable which page it will appear on’.”
Her reaction to the final sentence rings with hollow laughter: “This whole point about choice – ‘you can choose not to look at it’ – is a misrepresentation, because lots of criticism about Page Three from people is because it’s in their workplace, cafes, on the Tube; they don’t want their kids to have to see it.
“Page Three is ubiquitous. You might see it on the Tube, someone sitting next to you with it wide open, or a father takes his three-year-old daughter to have her haircut and the person next to her has Page Three out or a teacher asks the class to bring in newspapers for papier-mâché, and has to explain why there are naked women on these newspapers. I say that you can’t choose not to look at it in many of these places because it is so present, and it shouldn’t be.”
And what of the counterarguments, citing freedom of the press and crying censorship? “It’s not about censorship, it’s just about saying to people ‘come on, move on, it’s the 21st century, we don’t need this stuff’. It’s not in anybody’s interests really.”
Lucas is clearly determined to continue campaigning for this cause, buoyed by the support she’s received – “I’ve been so struck by how resonant this campaign is now. There’s a renewed determination” – and recounting how she received “overwhelmingly positive” reactions to her t-shirt from other MPs, across parties.
“There’s so much support. All sorts of people who might not support the Green Party or anything else I do call across the street and say ‘well done for taking on Page Three’... And in the House, masses of people were saying ‘good on you for doing that’. I really view this as a cross-party issue.”
The fight will continue with Lucas now putting down an Early Day Motion on the subject, meeting with female MPs from other parties, and talking about the next step of the campaign.
“We’re not going to let this drop,” she asserts, and hurtles back to work.