Disclaimer: I am not saying that watching the Show is right
or wrong, and I am not criticizing those who watch it for entertainment. I am
criticizing those who continue to watch and support the Show while they
critique its effect but take no action.
As a leader, sometimes there are things that one just does
not want to address. In my case, that would be the Victoria’s Secret Fashion
Show. I am the president of an Ohio State organization called Body Sense. We
promote a healthy body image through outreach activities, and we are the lovely
group that hosts Columbus’s (and Ohio’s only)
NEDA Walk. I actually forgot the fashion show was tonight until our treasurer
emailed me an article that OSU’s newspaper, The Lantern, published about the
future backlash of the show that was also meant to be a positive, uplifting
message to OSU’s female students. That is actually why I did not want to
address it. Because it is the most cliché
topic ever to grace the public eye of body image issues. This is literally the only
night of the year that most of the American population publicly gives a rat’s
butt about body image. I am not about to give some rainbows-and-butterflies
speech about how we are all beautiful, etc. because there will be about a
thousand of those tomorrow. I want to address why we say the same things over
and over each year, yet do nothing about it.
This has been the routine the past
5+ years: The models wear relatively the same thing; a giant set of wings (sometimes
other objects such as snowflakes or hearts) and a million-dollar bra. Celebrities
come out to play, as do the journalists and (ta-da!) bloggers. Millions of
women post statuses on social media sites about going to the gym for hours, doing a juice cleanse and
tons of other comments that display disordered thinking. Millions of men
discuss how they think the models get thinner each year and how that is
supposedly unattractive. The next day one of the models discusses her pre-show
diet which is also extremely unhealthy and disordered. She is criticized even though
the previous night she was glorified.
In other words, the VS Fashion Show will have the US in an
uproar for approximately 48 hours.
I have had my taste of the runway, and it’s really not that
difficult. What is difficult is attaining the body standards of the modeling
world. Last year my bff Elise and I (picture fabulously displayed below) designed a dress for the KSA Fashion Schau
and I modeled for us. We had an incredible time, and our design was chosen as a finalist in the competition! We plan
on doing again this year, but we are going to design for the other so each of
us can model. We aren’t forcing any crazy diets upon ourselves. We are simply
designing for each other and having fun with our fellow designer friends.
There was a time when I wanted to be like those models. I
have watched the show twice desiring to look like the Angels and was then affected
by the spectacle of the show. But let’s be real now. I’m over it. I got over it
a long time ago. I’m never going to look like that, and I could really care
less! That is why I seriously do not understand why we do this every year. The
models virtually look the same, it has the same effect on young women, and
journalists write the same freaking articles. It is high time that America gets
over it too. If it really bothers you that much, take off your PINK! velour jumpsuit,
turn off the television, and celebrate who you are because none of us are
Angels. 