The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is widely regarded as the sexiest night of the year on American television. Once a year, some of the world's most beautiful women gather and strut down the runway with their flawless skin, long legs and unrealistic bodies while wearing the skimpiest outfits with extravagant wings in tow. While the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is easily one of the biggest events in television, many women can't help but compare themselves to the beautiful women strutting down the runway. Even as I watch the show every year, it's hard not to consider changing my eating habits with hopes of obtaining a body like Adriana Lima. While I feel guilty thinking a body like theirs is obtainable, I am not alone.
Every year, these women strut down the runway and give women unrealistic expectations of what the female body should look like. While the models are not to blame for having incredible genes and amazing figures, their bodies are not a realistic representation of what a women's body should look like.
It's okay if you don't uphold the characteristics needed to be considered eligible to be a Victoria's Secret model. It's also acceptable to eat a bowl of ice cream while you watch Candice Swanepoel show off her perfect figure down the runway wearing nothing but a bra and underwear.
While it's fun watching models flaunt around in the lingerie that will hit shelves months later, and even more exciting when the chosen model reveals the fantasy bra, Victoria's Secret models are a flawed example of a women's physical appearance.
It's hard enough already being a woman. It's hard seeing stereotypical bodies like those of Victoria's Secret models and having the desire to look like them. Women are already criticized for this and that, so giving them the thought that they need to look like these models is even worse. I understand not everyone has the desire to look like them, but many women do.
If I'm being honest, I count calories more than I should. I know I don't have an eating disorder, but I don't have a healthy mindset either. It's not healthy telling people you refuse to eat anything with calories after 9 p.m. because you don't want to get fat or because you are trying to lose weight. It's not healthy refusing to eat a food you are craving because it is too unhealthy and because you don't want to gain weight. While I too am going to engage in all the excitement the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has to offer, I know it's going to kill my self-esteem watching Candice and Adriana blow kisses down the runway. It will also most likely chip away at another girl's self-esteem watching them strut their stuff.
The media is the worst critic on a women's body. Even a skinny celebrity like Selena Gomez is criticized for "getting fat" and "gaining weight." To the media, has it ever occurred to you that she looks normal and that she is just growing into her figure? If there is one thing true about the 21st century, the media's view of what a women should look like has changed drastically. What was once considered beautiful is now considered too fat, too ugly, etc. Decades ago, curves were considered attractive. People preferred curves over thinness because it was "in." Nowadays, models on the runway are so skinny their ribs show, their legs look like skeletons, and honestly, they look like they haven't slept in days.
While I consider unhealthy, many people consider this beautiful. Very rarely do you see a curvy model or even someone who looks a normal weight walk the runway. Another rarity is seeing a model walk the runway with her natural hair.
When Angolan supermodel Maria Borges walked the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show with her natural short, curly hair, the world was in awe. It was the first time in the history of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that a model flaunted her natural beauty. Borges walked the runway without extensions and sported her natural hair for the world to see.
“I’d like to thank Victoria’s Secret for giving me the opportunity to help women around the globe embrace their own beauty,” Borges said in an interview with PeopleStyle. “Being the voice of a few women was one of the best feelings, ever! Being yourself is always the right thing to do. By being yourself, I mean choosing the hairstyle that you want, not what people ask you to do in order to be beautiful or sexy in their eyes.”
The world needs more women like Borges to strut the runway and proudly display their natural beauty. The world needs more curvy women on the runway and more women with frizzy, curly hair.
The modeling world needs to rid the runways of women who look like skeletons and attain a diverse group of women to represent this high-profile world and wear these beautiful clothes.
When the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show rolls around this December, 8th, watch the show and eat a heaping bowl of ice cream if you please. Wear sweatpants with your hair in a messy bun and forget the desire to look like a Victoria's Secret model.
You are beautiful the way you are, and you are lucky because you don't have to put your body out there for millions of viewers to see and thousands of people to criticize. Eat what you please while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Life will be more fulfilling this way.
