The UK paper the Sun, home of the famous NSFW Page 3 girls, has asked its readers to save the Page 3 girls from the dole queue. As they write (NSFW link at the bottom):
Page 3 Girls in all their glory represent the very image of freedom in this country. But if Labour or the Lib Dems win the election, this could be the last time they are allowed to pose together. MPs Harriet Harman and Lynne Featherstone will move swiftly to change the law and ban Page 3 forever.
Rallying people around liberty is always more difficult than you’d think (or hope). Most people will fight vehemently for the liberty to do the things they want to do but ignore the fight over a liberty to do something in which they have no interest. Thus, liberties distressingly ebb and flow with majoritarian rule and conformity (think smoking). But, as Justice Brennan put it in Michael H. v. Gerald D., “‘liberty’ must include the freedom not to conform.”
Not to get all weepy and philosophical about a bunch of women bearing their chests, but fighting for liberty is also a PR campaign, and this is good PR–particularly coming from a country that now has nearly 5 million CCTV cameras and is slowly turning into an Orwellian police state. Apparently, taking away their Page 3 girls may be going to far.
Trevor Burrus 