| Sunshine Girl | |
| Type: | Daily newspaper |
| Foundation: | 1971 |
| Owners: | Postmedia |
| Political: | Right-wing Conservative[1] |
| Headquarters: | 365 Bloor Street East 3rd Floor Toronto, Ontario M4W 3L4 |
| Circulation: | 119,048 weekdays 111,515 Saturdays 142,376 Sundays in 2015[2] |
| Issn: | 0837-3175 |
| Oclc: | 66653673 |
| Chiefeditor: | Adrienne Batra |
Pin-up girls depicted in most of the daily newspapers of the Sun chain in Canada are known as Sunshine Girls.
The feature started with the Toronto Sun, which was launched in 1971, and was adapted from British tabloids with similar featured women. While the British tabloids started publishing photos of topless models in 1970, a Sunshine Girl is usually a clothed or swim-suited female model, actress, or athlete. The feature was printed in black and white from the 1970s to the early 1980s, alternated between color and black and white until the 1990s, then usually in color.
The Sun chain was owned by Sun Media until acquired by Postmedia Network in 2014.
Typically on page 3 of the Sun in the 1990s, the Sunshine Girl moved to the back page of the sports section in the early 2000s. In 2011, the Sunshine Girl was restored to page 3 in some, not all, Sun newspapers, and two different photos of the same Sunshine Girl are run each day. Famous former SUNshine girls include: Amanda Coetzer, Ann Rohmer, Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler, and Krista Erickson (Sun News Network anchor, who appeared on the date of that network's 2011 launch).
Additional images of the day's Sunshine Girl are posted each day to the Sun newspapers' websites, along with behind-the-scenes videos of select models.
At least twice a year, the Sun Group produces and sells a calendar featuring a selection of Sunshine Girls. Typically, the Girls who are selected for the calendar are chosen by the public online and by a mail-in vote.
The Sunshine Girl series has been criticized by some readers and media commentators for objectifying women.[3] Critics have also condemned the series as degrading and inappropriate for a newspaper as a medium that purports to publish credible journalism. On November 14, 1985, the Ontario Press Council upheld at least one reader complaint, saying the feature "portrays women as sex objects",[4] although there were no penalties attached to this ruling. Margaret Coulter of Toronto made the complaint, saying a newspaper was not an appropriate medium for the suggestive photos, which made her feel "embarrassed and offended." Coulter said she had the same feelings about the Sunshine Boy feature.