Male Models Unite To Fight Page 3 Inequality

Male models from across the country gathered in Trafalgar Square yesterday to protest against what they consider to be a grossly unfair gender bias in the glamour model industry. 

Matthew Carson, spokesperson for the group known as ‘PECS’ (Page 3 Equality Coming Soon), calls this bias a ‘travesty’. “98% of page three models are women,” says Carson. “It’s time to redress this inequality, it’s not right that just because I’m a man that I should be denied the chance to appear on page three, it’s sexist and it’s time for the discrimination to end.”

Historically, women have always dominated the glamour model industry. According to gender theorist Dr. Leslie Williamson, this is not simply due to the fact that women have breasts and men don’t. “Page three has always been about the cultural juxtaposition of the softness of the female form against the rigid and angular pages of the newspaper. Aesthetically speaking, this struggle, or dialogue, if you will, mirrors the internal struggle within the self that is the human condition. This is what the readers want from page three and this is why men do not have a place there.”

However, all this may be about to change. PECS is calling for new anti-discrimination legislation which will make it a legal requirement for newspapers to feature men as well as women on the highly coveted page three spot. They have already collected 10,000 signatures on their petition from both men and women. Ken Hughes, a plumber from Newcastle-under-Lyme supports the cause, “I think it’s great,” says Ken. “One for the blokes, I think it’s top… or topless rather,” he laughs, largely alone.

Some newspaper editors are reluctant to accept the proposed changes. Alan Peebles, editor of the Harlow Sporting Gazette, is sceptical: “The whole bloody point of page bloody three is that men want to see pictures of naked women not naked men, this is all bloody nonsense.” 

Peebles’ remarks have been viewed as sexist by both the men who wish to appear on the third page and the women who already do. 20 year-old Kimberley Buttonless has been a glamour model for 6 years, “I don’t take my top off so that old men can drool over pictures of me,” argues Kim, “I just want to share my beauty and talents with the world.” Peebles’ comments have also alienated gay and lesbian communities, and sales of the Gazette have hit an all-time low.