On Dec. 8, the 20th annual Victoria Secret Fashion Show will air on CBS. The anticipation of annual viewers has been building as the Victoria's Secret Youtube channel releases behind-the-scenes videos and reveals which artists will be performing.

With viewership at 9.71 million in 2013 and 9.1 million 2014, and a majority of viewers in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, the VS Fashion Show dominates TV ratings once a year. Even if you don’t watch the show, the countless photos, video clips, and recaps that flood the Internet the next day are nearly impossible to avoid.

However, if you have managed to avoid the highly popularized event, let me fill you in. It consists of the industry’s top models strutting down a million dollar runway in front of a sizable LED backdrop, adorned in elaborate lingerie and “angel” wings as the pop music industry’s top performers belt out their biggest hits.

The Fashion Show is undoubtedly a stylistic masterpiece. And while it’s viewers might be in awe of the spectacle, there may be unfavorable consequences of watching year after year.

As the fashion industry and growing social media spread images of an “ideal” body type, they have constantly received criticism for causing or worsening body image issues and eating disorders, particularly in female adolescents.

Because The Weeknd, Rihanna, and Selena Gomez are confirmed performers, each will draw in their fanbases to watch the fashion show extravaganza—fan-bases consisting largely of adolescents, who are largely susceptible to body image issues when exposed to media.

Victoria Secret is not much different from the rest of the fashion world. The models are above average heights and are below the average weight range for their heights. Advertisements showcase the models posing in sensual poses, their faces glowing as their immaculate hair is blown back revealing a body free of stretch marks, creases, cellulite, or disproportion.

The company has created its own image of what a beautiful and sexy woman should look like and the popularization of Victoria's Secret and the media coverage of its Fashion Show have spread this image to women across the country. Women believe they should look like the models when they try on Victoria’s Secret lingerie, so they strive to change their own bodies, and if they cannot change their bodies, their confidence plummets.

Although the VS models look a particular way, it’s safe to say that most people do not look like them. All women are built differently and Victoria’s Secret eliminates these differences to attempt to establish a physical norm, but in reality they are just establishing a damaging and artificial ideal of the “perfect” body.

In a video released on the Victoria’s Secret Youtube channel, one model, Megan Puleri, says, “You want to look confident and you want to feel confident.” Although encouraging confidence in the female community is crucial, these models give the impression that in order to be confident you have to look like a Victoria's Secret model—5’10’’ and 126 pounds.

Of course, Victoria’s Secret has developed into a company known for hiring models with big personalities, stamping out the archaic idea that a woman is only a visual object. Fred Howard, a publicist in the modeling industry, explained, “Models are no longer just pretty cover girls. People want to know who they are. They want to know her background, what she does when she’s not working… they want to know her.” Ex-model Cara Delevingne gained a name for herself by walking in the VS Fashion show in 2012 and obtained immense popularity with her eccentric and carefree personality.

Although focusing on personality definitely has its benefits, revealing the less professional side of models, makes them seem more average than they are. As seen in the Victoria's Secret lip-dub video featuring the “Angels," the models act like “regular” people, so “regular” people should look like them— this message can be detrimental to a woman’s health.

It is important to note that these women have to make a career out of their appearance in order to earn a living modeling, so if VS models want to work, in a healthy manner, to fit the modeling industry’s tough physical standards, they should not be stopped. However, the industry does not choose women that are a reflection of the average American woman, so the fact that their physicality is idealized is ridiculous.

Kendall Jenner, a rookie to the VS Fashion Show this year, comes from a family with millions of dollars who can pay for personal trainers and nutritionists. She does not go to school or have a nine-to-five job that prevents her from going to the gym, and she is under constant pressure from the media industry to maintain her figure.

Unfortunately, the VS Fashion Show will probably never evolve to be as progressive as Aerie and include models without the “ideal” body type, because their ratings are so high as is.

Although Victoria’s Secret may convince you that the only way to be successful is to match a certain standard of beauty, this is in no way true. Because there are so many different beauty standards that are constantly changing, one person can in no way meet them all.

I have never met a supermodel and I have met some of the most beautiful women in the world who are genuine, intelligent, successful human beings at 5’4’’ and 145 lbs.

It’s difficult to avoid comparing your body to those of the women seen in the VS Fashion Show, especially during the holidays when there are so many dietary and beauty challenges. Just reminding yourself that a woman is in no way inferior to the models walking down the runway, because she doesn’t look like them, may be helpful— because regardless of it’s effects, people are still going to watch and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will continue to air year-after-year.