The Politics of the Smile - Patricia Holland

When Rupert Murdoch purchased and relaunched The Sun in in 1969, editor Larry Lamb set out to give the paper a newer, more fun twist, by introducing scandal, sex and 'saucy' humour. It changed the whole perception of the popular paper. He introduced the daily image of a semi naked woman, which we all know as page 3. This became the best known feature of the paper, and was described in a September 1982 paper as 'Those luscious lovelies you drool over at breakfast time'.

The topless girl on page 3 will almost always be smiling, and therefore, giving the impression that the women are enjoying the experience, proud to show off their breasts and are free to do so.

Popular newspapers set out to entertain as much as they do to be informative. The sexualisation of The Sun was used to intice readers with it's content. The smile on the face of the model is an invitation to everyday men and women to buy the paper, and the fact that the model isn't anyone particularly famous, shows that these are just everyday girls having some fun, and adds to the lighthearted nature of the paper.

In the 80's, this was seen as quite a rebellious move by The Sun, but has since lost that reputation, with the introduction of lads mags like Nuts, FHM and Zoo taking that limelight, with its freedom to go into more explicit detail.

This approach has clearly reaped benefits, and the introduction of magazines like the ones above was probably motivated by the same ideas. 'Tickle the public, make 'em grin, the more you tickle the more you'll win. Teach the public, you'll never get rich, You'll live like a beggar and die in a ditch'.