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How Can I Look Like Her? A Young Woman's Perspective On The VS Fashion Show

Samantha Dilley |
December 9, 2014 | 7:24 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

(Instagram @victoriassecret)
(Instagram @victoriassecret)
Between the glitz and the glam of elaborate sets and bedazzled lingerie, there is no doubt that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is one of the largest events in the fashion industry. Annually, the show never fails to impress in its showcase of awe-inspiring female bodies and peppy music, consuming the focus of social media for days. Last year, the fashion show reached just under 10 million viewers across the country and cost over $12 million to produce and film. 

Ever since first airing in 2001, it has also infamously amassed criticism in how the company portrays the ideal woman: an angel, so to speak. 

Any time a woman prances around in her bra and underwear, no matter how progressive modern-day society strives to be, there will always be unwarranted criticism. Many critics draw issue to the hyper-sexualization endorsed by the show. They are concerned that the show demonstrates to society that the ideal woman is represented by an image of sex rather than intelligence or professionalism. Critics have even said that the models are in essence “sex objects” that the company promotes and encourages women to emulate. 

Personally, I think it is absurd that women who are sexualized receive any flack at all. Thousands of women flocked to see “Magic Mike” in theaters, loving and savoring every objectifying second of Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey, me being no exception.

The idea that any public display of female sexuality is a social taboo is an incredibly ancient and outdated idea that only further encourages male superiority. Why is it socially unacceptable to accept the reality and prevalence of sex in a modern woman’s life? Feminism in it of itself is about eradicating the double standard in the war of the sexes; sexuality of either gender has to be celebrated in order to equalize this standard. 

With that argument aside, I can honestly say there are many other reasons why I actively do not support the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The fashion show does nothing to empower women - it perpetuates standards of beauty that are horrific and tremendously troubling. In 2011, Adriana Lima, one of the most famous angels in the cast, confessed the unnatural lengths she went to to look thin before stepping on the runway. She told the Telegraph UK that she does not eat any solid food nine days before the show, and twelve hours before she will not eat or drink anything. She claims that abstaining from feeding your body anything right before the show not only can “dry out” your body, but also can help you lose “up to eight pounds” just from lack of nutrition. 

(Instagram @victoriassecret)
(Instagram @victoriassecret)
Although the fashion industry is a little late in projecting an accurate and holistic representation of women in the media, there are so many major brands that advertise slender, toned women in a much less offensive manner. Yes, women who model for Nike are notoriously skinny with toned middles like the “Angels,” but the difference is that Nike promotes healthy living and exercise, not skinniness that so unattainable that the Angels themselves openly admit to dangerous dieting. It is every bit deserving to celebrate fitness in terms of visibly toned strength, not malnourishment. 

One could also argue that it is not just Victoria’s Secret, but every high fashion company that demands the same standard of skinny from their models. Yes, to every extent I agree that fashion and the media have corrupted our perception of perfection, and that this annual lingerie show is not the only thing to blame. But what bothers me so much is the power that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show holds over young women today.

After the show was filmed, my entire Instagram feed was flooded with “WCW’s” and bombshell photos of Alessandra Ambrosio, with captions like, “My mind says Victoria’s Secret model, but my heart says Nutella and pizza.” Obviously the post is meant to be funny, but there is an even more obvious twinge of self-hatred that upsets me the most. The persistent jokes about the obscenely inconceivable Victoria’s Secret standard of beauty become less humorous in that it is apparent that young women feel like they have to address their inadequacy. It shouldn’t be a depressing reality to acknowledge that I will never have the same body as Candice Swanepoel, nor should it be something I am so ashamed of that I feel obligated to make self-deprecating jokes about it on Twitter.

It’s not the hyper-sexualization, nor is it the objectification of women. I take issue with the dangerous dieting and unhealthy relationship with their own bodies that the models promote. I don’t like the way it makes me or my peers feel inferior. If the show is supposed to revere female sexuality, it will continue to lack success with the unrealistic bodies that are showcased. The show may be a marvelous work of art, but every young woman watching the show leaves with feelings of inadequacy instead of empowerment. That, in my mind, defeats the purpose. 

Reach Staff Reporter Samantha Dilley here.



 

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