I have a confession: I watched the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last night (a bit belatedly). I actually enjoy watching it for its pure cheerfulness and gaudy excess.
And that’s weird for me because I normally really dislike things that portray and glorify only one type of extremely skinny body. In fact, I still hate this about the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. I really, really wish that they would choose some curvier women to be their Angels—some with boobs, some with hips, some with both. I just personally would love to see that variety and I think those bodies could set off the lingerie as well or better than the very similar bodies they use currently.
I’m not saying that I dislike skinny women or think they can’t be beautiful. They are often beautiful. Like Behati!
But I think that the kind of blog posts I’ve been seeing a lot lately, saying that it's unfair to hate on or reject skinny bodies in favor of curvy bodies, are often avoiding a point that I think needs to be made. The glorification of skinny, bony, and in some cases, even starved-looking bodies has been a major trend in fashion for many years now, and can be a trigger for many people with tendencies toward unhealthy behavior or eating disorders. I don’t see an equal self-harm response on the part of skinny women to attempt to look like curvy women. I’m sorry, but I just don’t view it as the same thing. A very skinny, less curvy woman might love her body, or she might feel jealousy and wish for a different body—same as any body shape might feel—but the difference is that the very skinny woman can look in almost any fashion magazine, or at almost any runway show, and see her body type reflected there. Despite not eliminating the possibility of body insecurity, this is still not the case for most other body types who rarely or never see their body type glorified.
I also think that there is a difference between a healthy skinny body and an unhealthy one. I’m not going to name names here or suggest that any certain person is healthier than another, because I don’t know them or their lives, and I’m not a doctor. But some people are skinny because they're naturally skinny, some are skinny because they're athletes, and some are skinny because they are engaging in extreme weight-loss behaviors. I'd like to think that the Victoria's Secret Angels are the first or second kind, but after reading Adriana Lima’s description of her weight loss plan, I have to suspect the opposite. Losing weight by severely restricting calories and over-exercising can be very, very unhealthy and so it is difficult for me to focus on a show celebrating lingerie and women’s sexiness when I am wondering about that.
My point is that, even though there is no call for body-hating on skinny women and calling them “twelve-year-old boys” and so on, there is also the little fact that some women who are that skinny DON’T look like that naturally. Apparently not all of the Angels do, otherwise they would not need to resort to the extreme diet and workout plans they reportedly rely on before the show. And I think that's unnecessary, because I believe that just about everyone looks best at their "natural" weight--the weight they settle at when they go about their lives not obsessing about weight loss and dieting. I would be so much more capable of appreciating the skinny bodies in the VS Fashion Show if I knew they were healthy and natural.
I do enjoy seeing the colorful, frilly, bizarre costumes the Angels wear in the show. The rainbow knee socks. The mermaid costumes. But this year I really struggled with the lack of diversity in the Angels’ body types. Of COURSE the Angels are “Real Women.” But so are ALL women, including those whom Victoria’s Secret would not choose for its runway… and I think it’s those women who don’t hear that often enough.
I used to love watching that show every year until I discovered how bras really should fit. At that point I realised that VS didn't even stock the bras in the sizes the models need. Every one of them walks around with a too big band and too small cups just to get some extreme cleavage. And then everyone thinks that's how the bras should fit... :( These days I cannot even watch it because I just get too annoyed.
ReplyDeleteHaha that's very true. Of course most of the stuff in the show isn't ever produced for sale (which is kind of hilarious and postmodern, if you think about it) so I guess they must just sort of glue it on for them to walk the runway once.
ReplyDeleteMost of those models would probably need 24 backs, right??
I agree with a lot of what you say, but it's not really possible to judge whether someone is over or under their natural weight except in extreme cases (which tend to be most obvious with fashion catwalk models).
ReplyDeleteI think the real issue is that advertising everywhere should show a range of sizes, never just a generic type. There would be far less skinny/curvy bashing and far more awareness if a multitude of sizes were shown in everyday things, this includes not just advertising, but television too. Take a typical US teen tv series, 90210 for example, which other than being atrocious, many young girls will watch. Every girl on the program is the same size, there is no variation, and it's like this everywhere. In every era, there is an 'ideal' size, and I think sadly society will always struggle to break free from that.
I am guessing that some of the Victoria's Secret Angels are under their natural weight based on the extreme nature of the diet and workout plan described by Adriana Lima, but I would make no attempt to judge others.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that there is generally a certain ideal of beauty in each era which is painful for those who arbitrarily do not meet that ideal. I would suggest, though, that the current ideal can be more damaging than some of those in the past, based on the deaths from anorexia of several models ie Ana Carolina Reston, Luisel Ramos, etc. An unattainable ideal is one thing, but when the pursuit of perfection can cause starvation or death for those who do not have the 'ideal' body type naturally, I think it has reached new levels.
I do want to point out that there are a lot of different body types, beyond skinny and curvy, beyond big and small. What really terrifies me about the times we live in, is that we have beauty standards that are literally impossible to achieve. Even the beautiful models in glossy ads don't look that way in real life. We live in a time when every single female has body image issues, because none of us can stand up to the standard. I try not to judge, based on outward appearances, whether or not someone has body image issues. I know plus sized women who are perfectly happy and slender gorgeous young women who hate their bodies. It's important to remember that body issues are a personal, and often psychological thing, and they don't always follow what we see as logic. Also, sometimes, when one is closer to perfection, the pressure becomes all the more intense, because you are *almost* pretty. But not quite. You can never attain that last bit of perfection that makes you Pretty Material. Such is the world we live in. I try to encourage curvy women to be proud of their bodies, without bashing any other body type in the process. Body bashing on any side isn't helpful. I believe we need to team up together, as women, united in the belief that a whole, diverse range of body types can be beautiful.
ReplyDelete..I don't know if what I just said agrees with you or not, haha. But it is how I feel about the situation. :-)
"...the difference is that the very skinny woman can look in almost any fashion magazine, or at almost any runway show, and see her body type reflected there. Despite not eliminating the possibility of body insecurity, this is still not the case for most other body types who rarely or never see their body type glorified."
ReplyDeleteI have that particular body type myself, and I agree 100%. I have experienced body-shaming on an individual, personal level, but in a wider sense I still experience cultural and social privilege due to my size.
Honestly, even if every single model in the Victoria's Secret show was completely healthy and just happened to be naturally thin, I would still be uncomfortable with the idea that thinness is the only way to be acceptable. This is why I avoid most fashion media; there is nothing positive or body-accepting in the way it glorifies thin women.
Yes, I agree with what both of you are saying too. However, I do think other eras have been damaging too, the 60's when Twiggy first came on to the scene and even the 20's. I think we all dream of a day when a wide variety of different sizes will be more commonly shown, but who knows, we can only hope!
ReplyDelete@ En Bouton, that is really well-put: "I have experienced body-shaming on an individual, personal level, but in a wider sense I still experience cultural and social privilege due to my size". That seems really crucial.
ReplyDelete@Sophia, ahh, you're right! I had forgotten about Twiggy...
I really like Brittany's comment. As an African American women with an athletic, muscular build, I don't see women who look like me anywhere. My body type is not addressed by society, nor is it often viewed as "attractive" by people in the thin or curvy camps. And let's not even get into the topic of the under-representation of people of color in the fashion industry.
ReplyDeleteI wish that there was more diversity on every access within fashion: weight, height, age, body type--but until I there is, I fervently believe that the solution isn't to marginalize women who have a body type different from yours.
You're definitely right about not marginalizing different body types. It is extremely difficult for me to not get bitter and I sometimes wish the tables were turned, but in the end that would not be fair either. However, I find your attitude inspiring and worthy of emulating.
DeleteA new reason to dislike Victoria's Secrets: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/child-labor-for-fair-trade-cotton-probed-by-u-s-investigators.html
ReplyDeleteI recently heard about this. It is really sobering, and always something to be aware of questioning with companies, which I often forget.
DeleteI just came across this post now but it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I'm not a fan of body shaming in any way whatsoever but like others, I really would like to see more diversity in the fashion world. I can't stand trying to find clothes online and having no clue if they will actually look good on my body type or not!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of reasons to dislike Victoria Secrets (first and foremost their limited size range and how they treat customers who don't fit in that size range) so the way they (and most everyone for that matter) chooses their models just drives me even more nuts. I love seeing brands like BiuBiu, Pin-up Girl, Ewa Michalak, etc who show a wider range of models. I've been working towards buying from brands that do support diversity (and like treacle said, I'd LOVE to see diversity not just in body shape but in ethnicity too) in modeling.
I know I'm nit-picking here too but some of us can't just go about our lives and leave our weight be. My weight goes up when I'm not at a good spot- almost depressed, actually. Dealing with my weight means dealing with some mental aspect of my life and it really isn't just about living up to a perfect ideal. There are a lot of health issues going on there too. ;) However, my weight loss has always been done in a slow manner, through exercise and healthy eating (with the help of a nutritionist at times). Extremes measures are another manner all together and if what Lima said is true, it is quite frightening and should really be addressed head on by the fashion industry.
Thanks for your comment. I recognize that people's weights can fluctuate in ways they dislike if they don't maintain certain habits, but then on the other hand I still wonder if perhaps our culture has an overly negative attitude to gaining weight in general. Personally, as someone who wasted years of my life trying to lose pounds that I never needed to lose, when I was already at a very low weight for my body, I feel negatively about our weight-loss-obsessed culture. People have complimented me for losing weight at times when my weight loss was not healthy, ie when I had a severe tonsil infection and could hardly eat. I ended up in the emergency room but people complimented me for weight loss as though I'd started working out and eating healthier. I'm really happy to hear that your weight loss has been slow and gradual and hasn't taken over your life--I hope your blog will help communicate that attitude of healthy living to your readers. Sadly, many other sources are irresponsible and, I think, potentially dangerous to their viewers.
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