Nottingham students have voted to boycott The Sun newspaper over its topless images of women, joining nearly 30 other universities across the country.
The move is part of the No More Page 3 campaign and sees The Sun and Daily Star removed from Students’ Union shops.
Students backed a boycott after a university feminist group argued that Page 3 “endorses a culture of sexual objectification of women”.
Demeans
Francesca Garforth and Jo Estrin, who helped lead the student campaign, said: “For us, the tradition of Page 3 promotes a culture which demeans women and represents them as voiceless.”
“We do not believe our Students’ Union should promote and endorse this culture”, they added.
The move was finally decided by a panel of students voting 15-3 in favour of a boycott.
Campaign
Mike Dore, equal opportunities and welfare officer at the Students’ Union, said: “The decision for the SU shop to stop selling these publications was not made overnight.
“It involved months and months of consultation with students, campaigning, community organising and discussions.
“UoN Feminists and the Women’s Network supported students in pushing the issue and helping the Union make a stand against images that perpetuate lad culture, rape culture and the objectification of women.”
Solidarity
He added that the “randomly selected panel of students voted for the Union to make a stand” last week.
“Of course the intention is not censorship; the fact is that this issue was felt extremely strongly and passionately by a host of campaigners, which led the SU to take a stand in solidarity with these students”, he concluded.
Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Cardiff and the London School of Economics are among 28 other universities that have also lent their support to the campaign.
Earlier this month Christian group the Evangelical Alliance backed the No More Page 3 campaign.
Design
The general director of the Alliance, Steve Clifford, said: “There is no way having naked women featured in a ‘family’ newspaper can be seen as good for society”.
He added: “As evangelical Christians we believe that we are all made in the image of God and that our bodies are a product of God’s amazing design, not to be ogled at or objectified”.