The executive editor of the
children’s television channel CBBC, Melissa Hardinge, makes the female
presenters (the article name checks the presenters of a programme called Friday Download, me neither) remove red lipstick and
generally tone it down so as not to look too sexy while on screen. That is
about the gist of it, Hardinge is quoted as saying that sexualisation of girls
is something they take seriously at the BBC. I’m not sure why this has suddenly
become news to be honest, as many employers lay down a rudimentary dress code
based on standards, but I can’t help thinking that Melissa Hardinge is wasting
her time.
CBBC is the channel aimed at
children up to teenage, which is why I am confused about what Hardinge’s
problem is. The channel’s presenters aren’t underage, so she can’t be accused
of anything too sordid here, and the sad fact is that while you are supposed to
grow out of children’s television by about the age of thirteen (although we
never really do), attractive presenters keep the audience hanging on a bit
longer. Whether it’s a beer advert or children’s television, like it or not,
sexiness sells.
Sex has always been used to
encourage people to part with their money or to watch television. Is it
exploitation or is it just one of those things? I don’t feel that the world
really needs Miss World or game show ‘dolly birds’ for no real reason anymore,
but it does work both ways. Nobody wants the Diet Coke adverts taken off the
air because a bunch of women ogle the fit shirtless man, but we’re supposed to
be anti-Page Three, a bandwagon I refuse to jump aboard for the simple reason
that personal choice is at stake. I do not see a pair of breasts in my daily
newspaper because I read The Independent
and The Guardian, and that is the answer –
vote with your choice of paper. If I ever find out that The Sun
are involved in a human trafficking operation dedicated to dragging attractive
women from the streets and forcing them in front of a camera with their tits
out then I will change this opinion of course, but as far as I am aware, these
women remove their bras out of choice and for a very hefty financial reward.
Also, we have to face facts, boobs are wonderful things.
To return to the issue of
children’s television, I haven’t had to watch CBBC or any other channel for
quite some time now, but I seem to remember both sexes being very easy on the
eye. Maybe this hasn’t always been the case (Noel Edmonds, Keith Chegwin and
Mike Read were once the faces of Saturday morning television), but I’m sure
that Phillip Schofield was just as fancied by the viewers as the lovely Sarah
Greene was.
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