I"m probably Victoria's Secret's biggest fan. The girls in my local VS and I are on a first-name basis. I'm a sucker for all the emails, promotions, and 7/$27.50. Buying aesthetically pleasing and provocative underwear is by no means, un-feminist, and if it were, we'd probably all be screwed. But the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show most certainly is. As exquisite fo a performance it is, there are quite a few reasons I don't watch it yearly like many other American women.
Annually, women around America gather around their TV sets to watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and annually, women sit on their couch and feel bad about themselves because of these unrealistically beautiful, long-limbed women walking the runway clad in a pair of wings and skimpy lingerie. There's no denying these models are downright gorgeous, but most of them are also the definition of stereotypical beauty in our society-- tall, thin, white, and blonde. Making all of us who aren't that (most of the women in America) feel like we can't be beautiful. These women are pretty much walking Barbie dolls, which made us feel inferior as little girls, and now we have Victoria's Secret angels to make us feel inferior as grown women. These women are at such an unattainable level of perfection, there's no way viewers don't feel bad about themselves. The lack of body diversity in this is sickening.
As with everything else in our society, sex sells, and the fashion show objectifies women, using women's bodies to sell their merchandise. Obviously, as a women's lingerie store, then essentially need to use women's bodies to do so, but the ostentatious way it's presented to us is unnecessary. Then, there's also the issue of cultural appropriation in this year's show-- using a white woman to model a Chinese inspired ensemble. This isn't the first time Victoria's Secret has been accused of cultural appropriation, either. In 2012, they were forced to pull Karlie Kloss's Native American inspired look from the show. This year, many are trying to assume this as "multiculturalism", but the Chinese are much more reserved, so how are we using their culture to incorporate it in a racy lingerie fashion show?
As much as I love Victoria's Secret, I'd rather support something more body positive, like including a variety of models, or something like the Aerie Real campagin, or Dove's Self Esteem project. Something that promotes a healthy, and realistic standard of beauty in a world of already impossible beauty standards. These models are more like everyday women and they show us we can be beautiful despite our flaws, and we need to learn to embrace them.
I'll never judge my fellow women on enjoying the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, it's an incredible show with beautiful women. Yes, it's advertisements masked as entertainment, but it's entertaining nevertheless. But it's important to keep in the back of our heads, we can't feel bad about ourselves because of the beauty of these women, we're all beautiful in our own ways, even if it's not tall, white, and thin.
