That’s a rhetorical question. I know they’re not kidding anyone.
I remember the first time I realized Victoria’s Secret, purveyor of products for women, was actually more interested in advertising toward men. It was when I was in college and a group of guys in my Rocks For Jocks (appropriate, no?) class were using a VS catalogue as ogling material. Had they each been in their dorm rooms, I would have classified it as them enjoying some soft porn.
The catalogues were one thing. They might still be soft porn (seriously, how many women do you know pose around like that in their bra and panties?), but at least they do offer a few specs on the products.
The TV ads, however, are NOT catered to me in the least. They tell me next to nothing about the supposedly fantastic bras the tall, lithe (and yet voluptuous) models display in various erotic poses. I suspect VS would disagree, as often the ads include the word “ladies” in salutation. How, then, could it not be geared toward me? Easy. I don’t buy bras based on how they look on a rail-thin model as she poses in positions that look, well, painful to me (back arched, what little tummy she has sucked in, butt and breasts out).
I like pretty bras and panties, I really do. But I buy bras based on functionality first, and if they’re pretty that’s just a bonus. I buy Warner’s. I buy Maidenform. I buy Barely There. None of those really advertise much, but then they don’t have to.
I don’t buy Victoria’s Secret.
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Unless it’s dip, I can’t stand spinach. (And, uh, I’ve never had that issue with bananas…)
But hey, you may be on to something! We should have a model poll to find out what they eat!
Ifritah(Quote) (Reply)
*waits for models to show up and offer diet details*
*tumbleweed blows past*
Ah, well, it was a good idea. Yes, bananas do make one’s mouth feel weird, and so does spinach, but it’s a different weird. A yummier weird.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
I’ve read with interest most of the comments posted here. I agree with many but didn’t see any address the problem I have with VS. I have a 10 year old daughter. She’s a little tomboy and that’s great with me. She sees the VS commercials along with a multitude of others portraying women as nothing more than sexual objects (for whatever reason) and it’s very confusing to her. I block a lot of TV but you can’t protect kids from everything. My daughter sees this type of advertising and no longer feels comfortable in her own “skin”. She says “I don’t want to be a girl if it means growing up to be like that”. I expose her to wonderful female role models and explain to her that she doesn’t have to be that “type” of female…that in fact those kind of women are in the minority. I only hope that I can help her feel good and happy about her being a girl. But with what the media is throwing at our kids now a days it feels like a uphill battle. I grew up in a time when you didn’t have to worry about what was going to pop up on your television screen…I wish I had that for my daughter.
ann(Quote) (Reply)
Ann, I can only imagine what you’re going through – and your daughter. Commercials in the 80′s may have featured less nudity, but it was clear to me when women were being treated as less than human.
Looking back, I think it was the real women I knew who most defined in my mind what my options were. In the end, the media objectification of women made me think worse of the men who watch that stuff than the women who model it.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
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