On beauty, empowerment, and what we're really teaching the next generation of women.
Yesterday in L.A. was a big day for fashionphiles (especially those of the lingerie persuasion) thanks to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Today, after all the glitter has settled and the heels have come off, I can't help thinking that this year's show and the buzz surrounding it have left me in a dither, and not the good kind.
I saw countless people and platforms excitedly proclaiming, “She's only six weeks postpartum, and look at her go!” “These women are over 40, and look how amazing they look!” “Look how many mothers are in the show. What an incredible example for our kids!”
But what example are we actually praising? That having a body like a supermodel after having children is the ultimate goal in life? I find this narrative extremely reductive, and frankly infuriating, particularly when so many are labeling the show and the women walking in it as the pinnacle of “women's empowerment.”
Now, as a former fashion professional and someone who has certainly purchased her fair share of VS bras, I am not anti-Victoria's Secret. I think there is absolutely a place to discuss and cover the show from a fashion perspective, but we need to parse out the fashion itself from the cultural sentiments running beneath it.
The fashion, the creativity, the designs, the theatrics—all are worth celebrating and discussing. But what becomes a slippery slope is when the bodies wearing those looks become the primary focus of the conversation and are held up as the pinnacle of female success.
Additionally, I think there is a conflation of visibility with liberation. Just because a model or a mother has achieved national or global visibility and has a major platform does not mean she has broken free of the system upholding those constraining beliefs about what women are meant to be in the first place.
I've also been thinking about what a truly progressive or empowering Victoria's Secret Fashion Show would even look like, and I wonder whether the premise of the show itself is inherently problematic. Perhaps what would help is acknowledging more clearly that the show is a fantasy. The women walking are undoubtedly beautiful, but they are not representative of all beauty, nor are they necessarily the ultimate ideal of beauty. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And why is becoming a Victoria's Secret Angel the dream of so many young girls? What does that say about our society and the values we are instilling in the next generation?
As a mother myself, I hope we can find more varied and exciting things for young women to aspire to. What about intellect, curiosity, resilience, bravery, and the countless other qualities and accomplishments we can celebrate beyond physical attractiveness?
Perhaps true progress isn't simply seeing more mothers, older women, or diverse faces on the runway, but celebrating women's accomplishments off the runway with just as much enthusiasm.