Last night, the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show aired and hundreds of thousands of college women tuned in, myself included.
My friends would call me a feminist, and I can’t say I could disagree. I cringe at the E! Network, Hardy’s ads with half naked women, and when newsrooms discuss Hilary Clinton’s wardrobe choice, instead of her diplomatic work. On the other hand, I’m not burning my bra in the streets of Madison.
So, one might wonder if I myself would boycott or, at least, grimace at the VSFS. The truth is, I watch it every year, and do so happily. I tune in with excitement, wondering the themes and which artists are going to perform. I would never pretend that I don’t stare at the glory that is Adrianna Lima with wonder. I mean, come on, she’s gorgeous.
I think the show is a spectacle. As ridiculous as it may sound to some, I consider the show to be art, as I consider all fashion. The work they put in to the costuming and set design, theme intricacies and artist collaboration impress me immensely. However, it can be argued that very few actually pay attention to any of that handiwork. It’s all about the Angels.
Here’s where it gets tricky for me. Those women are beautiful. I mean, they are absolutely, excruciatingly gorgeous and I’ll openly admit to having a girl-crush on a few. I don’t have a problem with them being the models for VS on any personal level. Where I start to struggle is when I see girls look in the mirror and say, “I definitely do NOT look like that woman” and then feel bad about it. Of course we don’t look like them, they are wonders, odd, out of the ordinary in the realm of physical looks. That’s where they excel, in their beauty.
I realized this is such a problem when I myself looked in the mirror before bed and thought, “Well, I am not bad looking… but my nose would stop any VS talent agent in their tracks.” I’m not kidding. Those actual thoughts ran through my so-called feminist head and I immediately realized what had happened. We see what is supposed to be perfection strut down a runway in expensive underwear and somehow, subconsciously or not, we compare ourselves to these women.
The fact of the matter is we all want to be beautiful. We all want, on some level, to be prettier, skinnier, taller, better. I think this thought process becomes unhealthy when we turn underwear models into role models, when we stop eating dairy because our thighs are too fat or skip meals in hopes of getting those size 23 waists.
I’m not going to say how everyone is beautiful in her own way, not because it isn’t true, but because physical attributes just shouldn’t be so damn important. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t care about the way I look; I do and always will. But, there are just things I care about more. Beauty is not a value we should focus on. Morality, integrity, and respect are much more important and that’s why I struggle with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Women are great at so much more than looking fabulous in a pair of panties. To limit ourselves to the ideals of a VS model, rather than the talents of so many other women, is what is limiting us as a gender in society. We are too intelligent, creative, strong, innovative, and adaptive to believe that being a size 0 is more important than enjoying a slice of cake at our brothers’ weddings.
What we need to be able to do is see these beautiful women and accept them, but also be able to accept ourselves. Beauty is their talent, their niche. That does not mean that to be a successful, talented woman, you need to be “beautiful”. Finding our own strengths individually (whether that’s creativity, ingenuity, motherhood, arithmetic, whatever it is that we are fantastic at) is being able to find a new kind of beauty in women, one that is separated from the symmetries of a face.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is just that, a show. But, women are more than a spectacle to be looked at; we are more than face, a size, a bra. The Angels are beautiful; that is what they excel at. However, being able to look past imperfections, to be strong and intelligent and great is what women have, can, and will continue to excel at.