That Victoria’s Secret would plaster “The Perfect Body” over ten very thin women in an advert can come as no surprise to anyone. This is a brand who have previously retouched the very butt cheeks out of their already uniformly thin models. They are not known for their dedication to diversity (even in haircut, let alone size) or promoting body confidence.
But as jaded as I am, Victoria’s Secret is still a $5bn business and an American icon that is now aggressively forcing its way on to European high streets. As much as I loathe it, they are an aspirational brand for millions of women – especially young women. This truth has prompted a petition of nearly 20,000 people calling for Victoria’s Secret to stop promoting mostly unattainable standards of beauty in their marketing. #iamperfect argues that Victoria’s Secret should be more responsible about the welfare of their customers and I am right behind them.
The problem is though – and I really hate being this negative – but I just don’t think Victoria’s Secret care. Victoria’s Secret was founded by a man, to make the lingerie shopping process more comfortable for men. This is a company that has got rich promoting a certain kind of thin, mostly white, long shiny haired, lipgloss pouted homogenous kind of sexy. That sentence alone tells you how much they care about women. Talk about unrealistic expectations of beauty: as if it wasn’t godawful enough to ignore the fact that we come in a multitude of shapes and colours, who would rationally believe it was possible to navigate long hair and lipgloss without inadvertently ending up with a beard?
This is not a company that gives a tiny crap about your self-esteem. Or your perfect fit. Or anything. Yes, petition them. Yes, use the hashtag. Yes, tell every woman you know how much they suck. But the only thing Victoria’s Secret will understand is the sound of our purses snapping firmly shut.
[Read more on why I HATE VICTORIA'S SECRET. Two years old. All still true.]
