Syphilis and Sophie Dahl’s Knockers

Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. It’s all about the sex, isn’t it? Pick up most magazines and newspapers and you’ll find a reference within the first three pages. And some titles seem to be founded on it (yes, Country Home, I’ve got your number…). 

Take The Daily Mail (please someone, take The Daily Mail…). This week it ran a piece about stunning ex-supermodel Sophie Dahl’s new BBC cooking show, The Delicious Miss Dahl, criticising her credibility as a cook, her culinary talent and her ability with a bread knife. Fair enough, I say. Having watched the programme (purely for research purposes, you understand), I find it difficult to understand what gives her the right to try and become the new Nigella. Personable? Yes. Eye candy? Yes. Cook? Definitely not. She just wasn’t believable. But what stood out from The Daily Mail’s review of the show was the picture it used to illustrate the piece; a gratuitous, eye-popping cleavage shot of Miss Dahl bending over a…well, who cares. The image even had an ‘enlarge’ button on The Daily Mail website. Jan Moir wasn’t the only Sophie Dahl knocker on that page…
 
Sophie Dahl: Serious Chef

Sex is even being linked to social media now too. Another big story this week was The Sun’s piece stating that “sex diseases soar due to Facebook romps”. This totally ridiculous story was based on the fact that STIs have apparently been on the increase in the North East, and that the North East is a hotspot for social media activity. Spurious link? Ever so slightly, especially when further interrogation reveals that the data isn’t even statistically significant. An NHS public health official had said: “Unprotected sex, especially with casual partners, is the biggest risk for syphilis…Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex”. The Sun, in a very Sun way, jumped on this, sensationalised it and bingo – shocking headline! The Media Blog gave this story the respect it deserved (ie none) when it called it “abhorrent”.

Can’t we just have a few days without sex being used to sell the news? Hell, I’d settle for one day. Or is this just insanely wishful thinking on my part? I blame Katie Price…


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