I was sitting in my favourite coffee shop this morning killing time till my dentist appointment when i heard a conversation between 2 women beside me.

They were discussing the "scandal" about the Sun still publishing topless women on page 3.

One of the girls, was very adamant in claiming that the very fact they published these pictures "degraded women" and that they were "sexualising us".

To be honest i almost choked on my white mocha.
Why? Cause the girl in question was wearing a rather reveling vest top and i could tell she was wearing a pink thong as her jeans were half way down her backside. Yes everyone is entitled to dress how they want but surly you cant say that a picture sexualises women when your dressed so we can all see your lace underwear. (though kudos to her for having the time to match her underwear).

I have a passive view to the whole page 3 thing and this post will no doubt put me on a hit list somewhere but i genuinely don't care if they publish topless pictures.

I'm sorry but it makes no difference to me.

"But it degrades women" ... Does it? I mean really?

I went into a newsagents today to get a knitting magazine and along the women's section was magazine after magazine telling me which celebrity has bounced back to a certain weight after having a baby, how to get that beach body in time for summer, how to please your man in bed, around the home or where ever he may be, how to make yourself look x years younger.

These i find more degrading. 

I hate the magazines that criticize a celebrity for loosing too much weight while 4 pages later it tells you about how "fat" a celebrity has got.
Magazines that tell you how to keep your man happy by greeting him with a beer and a blowjob when he walks through the door. This is the stuff that sexualises women.

These magazines have more weight with women than the Sun and probably do alot more damage to their self esteem than seeing a pair of photogenic boobs in a newspaper.

"What kind of example does it set to little girls?" Well i'm sorry but if your kid only has aspirations to get her boobs out in public, then chances are you have messed up somewhere down the line. Why are you not encouraging her to become something else.

Agent M wanted to be a Dinosaur for a few months but giving him toys like Lego has made him want to be an engineer. Even then that could all change by the time they are adults. I wanted to be an Interior designer as a teen and now i'm training to be a hairdresser.

"It teaches boys to objectify women" Surely how your raising your sons will have a bigger impact on their views on women than something they see in a newspaper. If your son thinks a woman is purely a sexual 'thing', then i'm sorry but you're just as much to blame as the media for supposedly portraying that stereotype.

But if all these women really have a problem with seeing topless women then why stop there?

The porn industry has full on nudity along with alot more graphic images. Where is the outrage there?

And what about the celebs with their beach bodies? Why is no-one kicking up a shit storm cause someone snapped Kate Moss topless?

And the fashion industry? ... Why is no-one losing their minds over the nipples on the catwalks?

It doesn't make sense!

And just so we are clear, the women who have been "exploited" have chose to celebrate their bodies. The pictures haven't been leaked out or stolen from a laptop. These are women who have posed for the paper. Not exactly exploitation.

But lets look at that for a second.
I am all for equal rights. I think everyone should be treated the same regardless on what their fun parts look like so if showing topless women objectify's them... What does the Naked Butler service do for men? And calenders showing Hunks in Trunks? Some of those poses are a hell of a lot more sexualised than standing in knickers with your boobs out.

If we do away with one, its only fair to do away with the other.

Nudity is a part of life people. We need to stop this selective prudishness and get a grip.

Men and women like to look at the opposite (or same) sex naked or in provocative poses. Its how its always been and probably will continue to be. It doesn't even have to be about getting sexual gratification from it. I don't get turned on by women but i can appreciate the beauty of a naked women. Just like an Artist sculpture or painting, I look for the beauty, not for the titillation (no pun intended).

If you have a genuine distaste for it, then don't buy the paper, don't watch the programme, don't go see the play etc. If the sight of someone naked bothers you than much then by all means be outraged. But your gonna have a very hard time of it.

Just remember that outrage next time you look at someone and think they are sexy, You've technically just objectified them! And if your going for a night out, be careful how you dress, You might just put out a sexualised image of women!

And stop blaming the media just cause you cant be bothered to teach your kids to look beyond boobs and bums! How your kids think is more to do with you than you realise so rather than get angry at something you cant control, why not show them than everyone is beautiful no matter what sex they are or what they are wearing and stop making mountains out of someone else's mole hills.

They wouldn't think twice about seeing boobs if folk stopped making such a fuss!

But then maybe i'm just a liberal thinker.