Sitting down to write an article on the recent Victoria Secret fashion show, I was fully prepared to mock the unrealistic models, the skimpy underwear and the impractical assumptions the show made about femininity and the female body. I have always been disheartened by the presentation of women’s bodies in the media and the notion that a size 8/10 is the norm.  While the debate about the female body is on going in today’s society many people, myself included, are pretty fed up of hearing the same arguments again and again without seeing many changes.
However, what was interesting to see when I was researching the show was that these women are real people. Yes they have amazing bodies, yes they are beautiful, but a lot of hard work went into making them look that way. I bet that if any normal person had a makeup artist and hair stylist work on them, they would look a million dollars too. And as for the model’s bodies, think how much self control and hard work that must’ve taken. Watching backstage interviews on youtube, the model Barbara Fialho said “it’s an honour” to be a part of the show. And again I find myself agreeing with her. Think of how many women would’ve killed for a spot on that show and how many women could’ve done it. Victoria Secret are one of the most renowned lingerie labels in the world so of course they are going to have a lot of choice when it comes to picking models.
Now although I still don’t agree with the ideal that this is what all women should look like in order to be desirable, I do think that these women should be allowed, even dare I say it, proud to flaunt their bodies in this way. If I looked that good in underwear, I would enjoy being paid to walk around in embellished lingerie costumes. So while I haven’t changed my mind on this needless parading of beautiful, skinny women, it has caused me to consider that there are always two sides to every argument. If we’re totally honest, we like to see beautiful women in advertising. I don’t know anyone who would be convinced to buy a product used by an ugly man or woman.
I think that the best way to combat the media’s use of unrealistic images of women is neither to ignore it, nor attack it head on, instead we should make sure that women, especially younger girls, understand that these images are not real. That they do not need to look like this to be happy. I think that in our narcissistic society this is the most important message to get across. Trying to stop these images is futile, and what’s more is that there will always be beautiful women who are naturally skinny. We just need to keep pointing out that this is one body shape, not the body shape that exists in the world today.
Photo credits: dailymail