Victoria’s Not So Well Kept Secret
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2017
Photo: Corey Tenold
By: Rechelle Dennis
This past week the legendary Victoria Secret’s fashion show took place in NYC and is scheduled to air in December. For many women and femmes Victoria Secret was the epitome of reaching women hood, having been tricked into thinking their lingerie was the very definition of being desirable. To top it all off the yearly Victoria Secret Fashion Show was the icing on the cake, as we watched some of our favorite models strut down the runway in glittery lingerie with intricate wings attached to their thinly framed bodies. It seemed like the very next day of the shows airing, it was the topic of discussion not only equipped with hundreds of FaceBook statuses but in classrooms. The countless amounts of times I’ve heard my peers say, “I can’t eat because the show made me feel bad about my body,” or “I wish I looked like that,” made me realize I can’t even recite anything else during my tenure in high school as vividly as those statement. Yes, sorry to all my teachers but you guys just didn’t make the cut.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
In a recent very alarming Vogue interview with chief marketing officer of L Brands (parent company of Victoria’s Secret), Ed Razek, Victoria Secret’s selective standard of beauty has been confirmed. Having claimed to open the door for brands like Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty, in creating a runway of diversity and inclusivity. Razek was asked about the shift in needs in the market, he replied, “So it’s like, why don’t you do 50? Why don’t you do 60? Why don’t you do 24? It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.” How can we trust an old man out of touch with society to tell us who can be defined as having fantasy quality. There are so many transgender models such as Leyna Bloom who are capable of killing the runway like any other cis-women. The world is no longer just battling the issue of black and white.
It’s time for us to wake up and realize our perception of reality is warped, the average women is not a size 2 and white. In fact, chances are whoever is reading this is not white and certainly is not a size 2. Lets not forget to mention that many brands STILL need to do a better job of making sure women of color are represented. We fought for more representation on the runway but where is our fight for plus-sized and trans women? Can you call yourself a champion of women if you do not stand for all women?