An exposed bra. Skimpy hotpants. Does dressing like a soft porn star empower a woman, or is she simply exploiting herself? Chelsey Clark investigates
Fifty years ago women in the media were dressed to look clean, fresh and bright-eyed- whether housewives and brides in Women’s Own, or haughty fashionistas in Vogue. Now, not only do they look far younger and skinnier- they swing naked on wrecking balls and stripper poles as this guarantees page views and downloads.
After watching the cascade of sexual fantasy displayed during Victoria’s Secret Annual fashion show the term ‘supermodel’ became very interesting. Their slogan suggests, Victoria’s Secret ‘Angels’ are the most beautiful women in the world. The occupation of these ‘Angels’ was to seductively saunter down a runway in order to drive lingerie sales. These women every year are sculpted, prepped and soaked in extravagant accessories to intensify the pleasure men receive at looking at females as sexual objects.
The brand begs us to believe that our power comes from enhancing, accessorizing, fixing and flaunting our bodies to create that one and only sexy look- thin, tall, and young and wrinkle and cellulite free; in order to become sexy, bold and powerful. The women in the show are unhealthily thin, unrealistically tall, and unattainably pretty, however, they typify
the standard of beauty. They are put into 12-inch stilettos that they need help to walk in, squeezed into too-small underwear, weighed down with 8-foot wings and marched out for viewing pleasure like an army of plastic dolls.
At this point they are not seen as women anymore. They become objects of fantasy. The images of men shown in the crowd staring at the women send a clear message about power. Men control the gaze, and women are the object of the gaze.
The models claim that the show is about female empowerment, yet who is it empowering for?
The Victoria show has been described as provocative and criticised for being soft porn but it is important that we consider who the target audience is. Is it men just looking, or is it women, measuring themselves against these impossible - and undesirable - role models?
Tyra Banks was seen to be the first black female model who weighed more than the typical stick-thin models for Victoria Secret, allegedly making the parade reflective of a multicultural society. Some argue that these women have stepped onto the stage as strong and empowered individuals, eschewing victimization and defining feminine beauty for themselves as subjects, not as objects of a sexist patriarchy. (Rampton, Martha, 2008, The Magazine of Pacific University) However, the reason that many people think the Victoria's Secret fashion show is a disgrace is that the models are based on very stringent standards such as specific height requirement and chest to waist length and of course a beautiful face.
Today, we are inundated by media whether it's in the form of television, film, internet or print; the images of women presented in the media today are produced as a combination of media pressure and audience desire, but isn't it time the audience thought a little harder about what it wants? If we want the next generation of girls to be independent, thinking individuals, with some genuine power in the world, we need to start looking at their minds, rather than just their bodies.