Sometimes I wish that I didn’t check Twitter as soon as my fuzzy morning head is able to competently operate a smart phone. That way, I wouldn’t have been confronted with the news of the return of Page 3 over my porridge. It seems that my little victory jig was somewhat premature – normality has been resumed and sexism is once again the order of the day. Just when I was thinking that finally someone had taken the voices of women seriously, Murdoch shoves a pair of D cups back in my face.

The thought of a bunch of sniggering school boys at the Sun cackling over their hilarious publicity stunt before sneaking off to have a victory wank over the only pair of tits they’re likely to get their hands on today, makes my blood boil. I am feeling disappointed and a bit like the victim of a practical joke, but mostly I am angry. Along with the hundreds of thousands of other people who signed the petition, I feel a bit silly and a bit humiliated because that’s exactly what David Dinsmore and his bevvy of idiotic hacks intended – “Think you’d won did you girls? Don’t be silly, we were just playing with you. Now, on your knees in case you’d forgotten who has the real power around here”.To emphasise how much the Sun newspaper continues to hate women, their PR dude has been tweeting pictures of Page 3 girls to those who were involved in the NMP3 campaign just to highlight what a prick he is.

The folks at NMP3 HQ have reacted with admirable restraint, thanking the Sun for all the extra publicity they’ve received this week and continuing with the amazing positivity which has characterised the campaign from the beginning. They are seeing this as a temporary setback and have taken the opportunity to mop their brow, gather refreshments and prepare for the next round. I am amazed at their ability to pick themselves up and carry on and I wish I could summon the same degree of optimism.

This puerile prank is not just a bit of ‘mischief’ it is a stark reminder of where the real power lies. Rupert Murdoch was able to pull this stunt because he has a ridiculous amount of control over the UK media. He was therefore able to abuse this power to run a story in the Times that falsely announced that Page 3 had been ‘quietly dropped’. If ever there was a case for the breaking up of Murdoch’s monopoly over the news, then this is it. Furthermore, men still overwhelmingly dominate newsrooms, with women making up just 30% of all newspaper journalists. It’s hardly surprising therefore that women make up just 24% of all the people featured in news stories and that when they do appear, it is mostly as victims of violent crime. The NMP3 campaign is more than just a stand against boobs on Page 3, it is a call for this glaring inequality in the representation of women to be addressed. While men continue to dominate the mainstream media, women and their lives and concerns will struggle to be taken seriously. Women politicians will still have to contend with news stories about what they wear rather than what they do, and young girls will continue to grow up in a world where photos of female sports women in national newspapers are a rare treat.

This mainstream representation of women as either victims of violent crime, or naked eye candy, is seriously undermining women and girls in our society. The media does not only reflect reality but it also creates it, reproducing patriarchal ideals about the role of women on a daily basis. The premature excitement over the seeming demise of Page 3 was a huge sigh of relief from all of the fair minded people in this country who thought that women were finally going to be taken seriously by the best selling newspaper in the UK. The fact that it has turned out to be a joke is a horrible reminder to all of us of where the power really lies. In the words of the inimitable Jarvis Cocker, it turns out that cunts are still running the world after all.