Dear Victoria's Secret,
We’ve been together a while now, but I’ll no longer be able to say that after seeing you this one last time. It was the last straw for me. The bodies you glorify are all the same version of unrealistic. You leave me feeling drained and inadequate every time I visit your store.
Believe it or not, I do realize you are a company trying to sell a product. I just think there’s a better way of selling it. I know the trick you’re playing. Oh, if we put our products on these beyond perfect models, customers will think our clothes will make them look that way too! I will be the first to attest that I fell for your trick for a number of years, but I am proud to say, I am done.
Let me break this down for you: what is the purpose of a model? Models are meant to show customers what the clothing will look like on a body. In a perfect world, I would see an outfit on a model and be able to know what the clothing will look like on me. A woman should be able to look at a picture of another woman in the clothing she is purchasing, buy the piece and feel confident that it will look similar on her, or even better! Confident though is the last thing I am seeing you.
You pick apart my deepest insecurities about my body. Every model I look at is the same 110-pound white model as the one before that, I will never look the way they do and I am no longer standing for your unrealistic expectations for me. The models you choose glorify bodies that are unrealistic and even unhealthy. But even they’re not good enough for you. Even though these women have exquisite bodies (because you compensate their perfection), they’re still not good enough for you until you have photo-shopped them into your perfect girl.
You know nothing when it comes to the true function of breasts, because believe it or not they have a much more important purpose than being sexy lumps for your pleasure. Not only do you completely lack nursing bras, but I have heard multiple stories of breast feeding mothers being kicked out of your store for nursing their children. Apparently the intended purpose of breasts is not allowed your relationship with women. You only like boobs when they’re two cup sizes bigger and bedazzled!
There’s an irony to it all. You always advertise bras which make your breasts look “two cup sizes bigger” but the models you use don’t have large breasts. Instead of using models who have large breasts to promote your product you take women with small breasts, and then put them in a push-up bra. What is that saying? I interpret that as if you have small breasts they need to be bigger, but if you have naturally large breasts, you’re not good enough either because our models only have small breasts. I’m sick of being told that no matter how I look, I’m not good enough.
It’s time to try something new Victoria Secret. Start using models with a variety of skin colors and body types. If you want to keep the women you serve happy, try using realistic models! Use models that portray a variety of women instead of one non-existent body type.
Yours truly,
The one that got away
