Breaking: Victoria's Secret Models Love Their Bodies
Guest post by Rachel O:
So plenty of criticism has been thrown Victoria’s Secret way in the past few years. They’ve been criticized for advertising that seems to be made for men instead of their female customers, stealing, and sometimes going overboard with photoshop, but what bothers me the most is their new ad campaign. Playing up attitudes of self acceptance, Victoria’s Secret has branded their latest advertising campaign as “I Love My Body” featuring regular Victoria’s Secret supermodels, along with up and comers, such as Chanel Iman. While initially excited about the ads, I soon found out it wasn’t the new Dove Real Beauty. And as it turns out, they’re not really selling anything new, just the same old bras on seven very similarly-sized, similarly-figured supermodels.
Now, if Victoria’s Secret had branched out a little, or included a supermodel like Crystal Renn, I probably would be writing a positive post. It’s not that I have issues with models or thinness, but to take what is by societies standards the most beautiful, sexy, glamorous, perfectly-proportioned women, and talk about how much they love their bodies as if it’s something revolutionary is a little insulting. It’s not that these women shouldn’t love their bodies, but the pictures they pose for tend to be part of the problem, rather than the start of a revolutionary self acceptance campaign. If Victoria’s Secret really wants to promote self acceptance, they could start by using a variety of models in different shapes and sizes.
In this day and age, when I hear it’s news that Jessica Alba likes her curvy body, or about how Kate Winslet still has issues of feeling fat, I don’t think a campaign about body acceptance that only shows models who meet the fashion industries limited views on women helps much. But, I guess some buy into the hype. Bonnie Fuller recently wrote a piece on the Huffington Post about how amazing it is that designers are using curvy women again, but doesn’t really compare the “toothpicks” to the so-called-bigger girls, only writes that “…they’ve been considered “too commercial” by snooty fashion insiders.”   I think I’ll stick to saving the praise for companies like Dove.
I completely agree. When I first saw the advertisements, I was surprised at the irony – “I Love My Body” – of course, in this day when thinness and sex appeal is the be all and end all, i think having the body of one of these models, what’s not to love?! This advertising campaign doesn’t actually target “real” women but once again perpetuates the media message thrown at girls and women.
Comment by Hannah L. — May 12, 2010 @ 6:47 pm
I… this hurts my head. How DARE Victoria’s Secret run an “I Love my Body” campaign when all they show is the same sized skinny-assed models simply in different races. This brings us back to the objectification issue that is the bedrock of misogyny. Yeesh
Comment by Jess — July 31, 2010 @ 9:01 pm
I agree. All this ad is doing is showing the same exact ad with the same exact looking models and putting a different slogan on it. There is no diversity among their body types and if i were them i would love my body too. I feel this ad is very whatever. It is merely the normal advertisement you always see when they are trying to sell you “sexy.”
Comment by Debora R — October 20, 2010 @ 2:18 pm
I agree, This ad does not show what real women look like but again it just reinforces that message that we hear all day and night long from magazines and other tv ads, “YOU NEED TO BE TALL AND SKINNY TO BE SEXY”. “I Love my body” well of course you love it! look at yourselff!!
Comment by Delyla M. — October 20, 2010 @ 4:31 pm
I remember seeing this commercial a little while back and thinking, “Well of course you love your body, you’re a model!” They were trying to better their image, but it won’t work. Until they show advertisements with real women who aren’t stick skinny gorgeous models, they’re not showing anything revolutionary.
Comment by Sharon R. — October 21, 2010 @ 12:19 am
This was truly outrageous. At the end of the commercial the announcer claims, “There is a body for everybody,” as if there were AN OUNCE of diversity between these models’ body types. This ad apparently is attempting to promote “diversity” when in actuality, it represents about 1% of women. Because this ad preaches that it represents “all bodies”, it makes the rest of us not represented in the commercial feel as if we don’t exist in society.
Comment by Jennifer Edgerton — October 21, 2010 @ 12:28 am
I was surprised when I saw this advertisement. Victorias’s Secret advertisement “I Love my Body†shows the same looking models but putting a different slogan on it. They continue to put the same types of woman in these ads becuase in todays society they are what are looked at as “ideal perfect” woman
Comment by Joshua. S — October 21, 2010 @ 9:23 pm
If you listen carefully there was a phrase that said, “There is a body for everybody” Really? Where? I don’t see petite, short, or full-figured women anywhere. All I see are beyond average height of 5’4ft models, with slim legs, abs wearing lingerie. Who are they trying to fool?
In the past, I’ve been to Victoria Secret and tried to scout out a bra for myself, but they don’t even make bra’s in my size. I’m a 30AA cup. Seems like they’re bra’s are manufactured to satisfy skinny women with big plastic boobs now.
I agree that Victoria secret’s campaigns have become more directed towards the male demographic over the years. My brother even has a favorite Victoria secret model. Alexandria Ambrossio. Isn’t it strange how men are becoming more and more familiar with Victoria secret models than women? Hint, Hint?
Comment by Joanne S. — October 22, 2010 @ 1:57 pm
I agree that the ad is insulting to most women since we have diverse body types. I will give it to them for having ethnically diverse models but not all women have the same body shape.
Comment by Dalal C. — October 25, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
while everyone is feeling sorry for those who are not beautiful and for those who have diverse body types, I have suffered my whole life because i am beautiful. I have been raped more than 5x, pressured into sex, attacked brutally and often. I could not get a job; I was discriminated against. I live in Canada and good looks are not covered in the human rights code, I mean there is absolutely nothing I could do about it. At 13 years old, I was told I had to sue the magazines and such by the police. I was misdiagnosed with a mental illness instead of PSTD and hospitalized many times. there I saw many good looking women, I mean really good looking. People are mean and cruel and abusive. I am now 40 years old and back on disability. No one understands, people think it’s a good thing to be good looking. No one is looking at the real victims. Does anyone care? I never got married, not many guys are actually into good looking women, realistically. I wonder if anyone on this site will believe me. You call yourselves feminists, well prove it.
Comment by Penny — October 29, 2010 @ 12:14 pm
Actually- I disagree! How can they show ‘real’ womans bodies on a glamour commercial, because noone would buy the product. people want to see perfection, and thats what sells now! i hear alot of groans and crititism when the dove commerical comes on with fat/ old/freckled (etc) woman… truth is noone wants to be reminded of flaws!!
Comment by carly — November 12, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
I’m a guy and think Victoria’s Secret models are sexually unattractive. I don’t find skinny women arousing but if society thinks that being thin is desirable then they are blind. And if women believe thst being thin is sexy they are being fooled. Not very men is attracted to victoria secret models and their bodies. Other cultures value different parts of a women. Therefore, being “sexy and thin’ is an American thing. it’s unrealistic because every women has a different body composition.
Comment by David Ruano — November 19, 2010 @ 10:30 pm
The name of this new campaign should be “We All Have The Same Body by Victoria Secret”, and not “I Love My Body by Victoria Secret”. The add she include real women, with real and beautiful bodies. It’s funny that even though they say they feature women with “bigger bodies” at the end of the day these women are still much thinner than the average women.
I just can’t help but laugh at Victoria Secret lol.
Comment by Leora Sheily — April 19, 2011 @ 5:23 pm
I don’t even have words…I think it’s a joke that this campaign was even praised by people. I wonder if those people were skinny or fat? Unfortunately, it just goes to show that although it seems like the mainstream media is trying to “change” our perceptions of beautiful, I think they are just trying to put a mask over a very, very ugly problem.
Comment by Danielle G. — April 20, 2011 @ 7:55 pm
As much as i hate to say, commercials by victoria secret makes me jump infront of my mirror and compare my body. But i am slowly starting to ignore it because i have woke up to the reality of what a real women’s body is and what REAL SELF BODY truly is.
Comment by Melani DG — April 23, 2011 @ 11:54 am
I love your blog.I wanted to share my feelings in regards to Dove.I hear alot of praise for the Dove real beauty campaign- my problems is Dove is owned by Unilever who also market lynx/ axe with some of the most misogynistic and degrading commercials and marketing I have ever seen.. so while unilever “campaign” for the self-esteem and wellbeing of girls and women with its right hand , it is busy undermining these efforts with the left hand. So I just cant align myself with the hypocrisy of Dove. Just my opinion..
Comment by Tiffany — June 21, 2011 @ 2:48 pm
Tiffany- I agree with you completely on Dove.
Comment by Melanie — June 21, 2011 @ 2:51 pm
The name of the ad allows people to be mislead. You would think the ad would be similar to the Dove campaigns, with inspirational images of real women. Really, it is teh same as any other ad, with images of women who no one looks like.
Comment by Tiffany Majdipour — November 1, 2011 @ 12:29 pm
I totally agree. We don’t need skinny people who are accepted in society as the “norm” telling us that they accept their bodies. Victoria Secret should have use real women with normal figures that are relatable in their campaign.
If companies like V.S. used regular everyday looking models then it would make a huge different in the message the media and industry are sending out about weight and size.
Comment by Michelle A — November 2, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Yes, I love my body after not eating solid food for months, being anorexic, and photoshopped like there is no tomorrow right? Who does Victoria Secret’s think they are kidding. This advertisement is a cheap ploy for profits and if anything just makes women feel worse about their bodies.
Comment by Chloe Shenassa (women studies 10 scholars) — December 6, 2011 @ 6:51 pm
Well I just took a look at the brand spanking new commercial. “tell me you love me, tell me theres no other woman like me”. Ha, I laughed but I was mortified that this crap was being broad casted. If this is vs attempt at reaching out to the female demographic then they are sorely mistaken. And I refuse to buy anything from that company. I’m 20 years old, fairly fit hut realistically I will never look like that. Rubbing tall skinny borderline anorexic women in my face doesn’t make me feel inclined to run and buy lingerie. It makes me feel terrible, and I feel like these impossible standards of beautiful women, impacts young women everywhere. Really Victoria secret, stop… Just stop reality is we don’t look like that.
Comment by Naila — December 9, 2011 @ 5:17 pm
Whenever my 13 year old daughter and I happen to catch/watch any victoria’s secret commercial, we always roll our eyes at each other and laugh our buts off. As if. As if anyone looks exactly that way in real life. As if it is ever appropriate to gyrate and pout in your underwear, in a public forum. I’m aware that I cannot completely shield her from the ubiquitous barrage of soft core porn advertisements, and so I try to soften the effects the images may have on her by using them as a way to keep talking and laughing with each other. We watched this commercial together and decided it was perhaps their worst commercial ever because it masked itself as something real and groundbreaking, yet is (in reality), the same old slutty dance routine. Never spend a penny there.
Comment by Sabrina Tokuyama WS10 — January 4, 2012 @ 9:06 pm
The models pictured in the “ I love my body†campaign ad are super thin and flawless, unlike many of Victoria Secret’s clients. The ad is not targeted to those who have a curvaceous figure and therefore ignore many of the retail store customers. The ad also supports society’s idea of an ideal woman whom is thin and sexy. In our society in order to be beautiful you need to be thin and this ad only supports this claim. In my opinion Victoria Secret should have curvaceous models modeling their bras to represent a larger audience of hippy and curvy women.
Comment by Sandy A — January 14, 2012 @ 12:42 pm
I think that it’s interesting that they say “there’s a body for everybody” and try to show a group of diverse wimmin, but they’re only somewhat racially diverse, rather than a group of wimmin with different types of bodies (which would be more relative to their product and what they’re saying)…
Comment by Breanna K — January 23, 2012 @ 1:40 pm
I think this ad would have been great if they actually tried to show a diverse group of different body sizes. What need to be shown are women of bigger sizes. And I’m not talking about size 3, but sizes of double digits. When more women of bigger sizes start to be portrayed in the media in a positive matter, then we can slowly start to not only have others accept us, but accept ourselves as well.
Comment by Skye G. — January 23, 2012 @ 4:43 pm
I started laughing when I heard “i love my body… the new pushup bra…” Don’t pushup bras help to make the woman’s boob look bigger by lifting them? If you love your body then you love your boobs no matter how they look right? All these Victoria’s Secret commercials are useful to grab a man’s attention and make most women insecure. Where are the curvy models who weigh more than 100pounds?
Comment by Kammira B — January 23, 2012 @ 6:56 pm
This advertisement goes against everything that it says! They are trying to attract people to their products by making this “revolutionary” advertisement that these models love their bodies and that there’s a body for everybody…well all I see here is reverse psychology!! If there really was a body for everyone then put models with different bodies to represent everyone! Stop continuing to put these anorexic looking girls which are far from the typical body and are either received through their genetics or for the majority of times by the help of the medias best friend…photoshop!!
Comment by Rosemary A — January 24, 2012 @ 10:18 am
“If Victoria’s Secret really wants to promote self acceptance, they could start by using a variety of models in different shapes and sizes.”
That quote right there I could not agree more with. To be quite honest watching the clip of the Victoria’s Secret ad I couldn’t help but think to myself who even really looks like that? I know for a fact that most of the population doesn’t. They seriously are insulting our intelligence by even having the guts to run an ad like that and label it “I love my body”. What they really should be calling it is “Let me starve myself until I love my body” because all this video made me want to do is start my new diet tomorrow so I could look good in one of those 7 styles of bra’s. Epic fail on Victoria Secret’s part.
Comment by Loreal H — January 24, 2012 @ 5:59 pm
Uhm. . . I used to find my body decent looking, but after watching that commercial, it changed completely. There is no doubt that those models would love their body even if it was photoshopped. They are extremely skinny and tall. What’s not to love? But how does showing us lanky body after lanky body help the women in society view their own bodies? It sure doesn’t make a woman feel good and I am positive it brings a woman’s self esteem down. Some women do not even realize that bodies like that are unreal. It is genetically impossible to be stick skinny and have a DD bra size. I watched that video and thought, “I wish I had their bodies,” knowing most of it was photoshop. If Victoria’s Secret wants to start promoting self acceptance and teach women to love their bodies, they should be showing us models in bras and panties that fit all ranges of bodies. No matter what size a woman is, she is still a woman and each type of body image should be included.
Comment by Mary H. — January 25, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
It absolutely makes me more sick as I begin to pick up more and more about the norm’s that society and advertisements make. After watching Jean Kilbourne’s movie, it has helped me so much to actually grasp what the societies “norm’s” are forming people like me into. I never quite understood the meaning of the “perfect body type” because I always knew that all people were different. People may have the same idea’s and same set of assets on life, but I knew these things pertaining to life were all contained in different bodies. I may have had bad days when I considered myself to not be in the best shape possible, but certainly these sorts of ad’s aren’t going to help me to love my body. Yes, it is true that we do have some sort of control over our bodies such as intake of calories, sugars, exercise etc., but if society chooses to rather use women who are only considered to have “perfect” bodies because of only their genetics then it’s really unfair. I’m sure those models work to be thin and work to be even more desirable as they become thinner and thinner, but truth is I’m sure they’re just genetically thin people. To raise such a wonderful idea of awareness is not going to properly work out or have the same sort of outcome if you’re only using like 5% of the actual population of women. I mean seriously?! If you don’t have the right intentions of raising awareness for ALL women to love their bodies VS shouldn’t even have done this ad. It only becomes more of a problem and more unfortunate for women who think differently about the way they look.
Comment by Crystina K — January 25, 2012 @ 10:49 pm
“I love my body” especially when I focus solely on real people … the people I interact with every day … yes, even in Los Angeles there are plenty of real people just like me. However it is entirely different when I choose (“choose” being the operative word) to focus on what the mass media tells me is normative … it certainly can be a quick downward spiral but ONLY if I allow those false images to overtake me. It is true that whether I am comparing myself to real people or to the people created by the mass media I am still measuring my self-worth against a certain standard but one of authentic realness as compared to one that is made up and intentionally designed to deceive is certainly a much healthier standard to live up to. Ultimately we do have a choice and even though the mass media cultivates images of the perfect woman (and the perfect man for that matter) aren’t we also cultivated with real life people every day … people who look just like us? What we see in the mass media is only representative of a very small percentage of society, if at all, and everyone else falls into the majority … people just like me and you. I am representative of the average American woman … so you have the choice to look at me, and not the images the mass media would like you to believe is the average American woman and I guarantee if you choose me, you’ll love your body too!
Comment by willemina v. — January 26, 2012 @ 12:03 pm
This ad is just plain absurd. There is absolutely nothing not to love about these Victoria models bodies, why wouldn’t they love their bodies? However, average women do not have bodies like theirs. So what is there to compare? Nothing! They are all cookie cut dolls in different skin color shades, with the same height, same body type, and same age. Though I have to say, my wonderful partner sure made me feel beautiful by thinking I could actually wear VS clothing – through his eyes he sees me as beautiful, regardless of how I actually look. That’s a 180-degree turn around from my first partner in marriage. He told me 6 weeks after we had our 2nd child, (the kids are less than 1 year apart), that I disgusted him. Just what a woman wants to hear after literally being pregnant for two years. I, of course, told him to quit knocking me up. Needless to say, that marriage did not last.
Sorry, I digressed. At the end of VS video, someone says, ‘there is a body for everybody.’ Guess that must mean VS is going to chop their 7 models up into a gazillion pieces so we can each have a little piece. Think that’s what they meant? No, of course not. And yet as we can all plainly see, the truth is there is no diversity among the models, no full figure, no short, no old, no average. Yet we all seem to internalize this hype.
Comment by Suzy D — January 26, 2012 @ 9:11 pm
[…] They can find affront at the drop of a hat. Feminists have taken umbrage at everything from Victoria’s Secret to My Little Pony. Anything that fails to promote feminism’s “strong” woman […]
Pingback by There’s no off-season for the professionally offended | PoliticalDerby.com — January 28, 2012 @ 5:01 am
So the ad video at the end says theirs a body for everyone but from what i saw their only seemed to be one type of body. What happened to the other six types of bodies? Sure there may be a few people that look like that but in reality the majority of people dont look the way they do. Society wants women to love their body and to embrace what we have but how can we do that when the media only sends out one type of body that seems appropriate in our society. All i can say is that society is a huge hypocrite.
Comment by Guadalupe Y — January 28, 2012 @ 3:17 pm
I agree. When i first saw this advertisement all you hear is “I Love My Body”, of course nothing wrong to love your body but the ad is portraying in the media you have to look Tall, thin, and beautiful. Victoria Secret uses the same supermodels over and over again in the same commercials. Why can’t they include a woman with curves or somewhat with a different size? Its sad to see how the media want you to look a certain way. I bet V.S. don’t promote plus size models and I’ve never in my life seen one on a commercial ad for them. Big girls need loving too! I believe everyone woman should love and embrace his or her bodies no matter what sizes. Sometimes other people who watch these type of ad feels insecure about themselves because of what they just saw on television. Obviously Life is not fair but Victoria Secret should have some plus size models and give them a chance to show off their sexy curves and be treated good for who their are.
Comment by Tiffany M — January 29, 2012 @ 4:11 pm
It becomes so clear so early that by saying “I love my Body” they are simply talking about the product. And by product I don’t mean their body (which is exactly the same body between all four of them) but their Body Bra by Victoria’s Secret. By repeating the phrase they’re simply reinforcing the idea that you can only love your body if your body looks exactly like theirs.
Additionally, I find it interesting that the music in the background is Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” which not only sells the song but subliminally puts that extra sexual element on top of the already overtly sexual advertisement.
Comment by Antonia C. — January 30, 2012 @ 11:15 am
These past few months I have found that I have become extremely harsh on my body. I have found in my head that I am not skinny enough, my stomach is not flat enough, my thighs are not tight enough. And I distinctly remember going into a Victoria Secret store and staring at their ads in the store. The bodies of the women are unreal, and really really unrealistic. It is crazy for me to see an ad like this that tries to emphasize a women’s natural body, yet having 7 stick skinny girls posing. It is not realistic, and very misleading. I completely agree that there should be 7 different body types in the picture, showing the diversity and beauty of a woman’s body.
Comment by Yasmin M — January 30, 2012 @ 11:47 pm
Having an ad such as the Victoria’s secret one; “I love my body” will give the impression that only girls with that body should love their bodies, and anyone who does not have that body is not good enough. In addition to that, not everybody looks like that. Merely 10% of the American female population is naturally “stick thin” meaning, the majority does not look like that. Hence, I do not understand why they can’t just have more normal looking models. In addition, I wish they could have a variety of different shapes. Every woman should love her body, no matter if they are big, normal or small and if they had a variety of models with different sizes more women would love themselves and they would also be more confident. I feel as if women just lose themselves in the search to be accepted or included. Some “normal” looking women try so hard to look like the Victoria’s secret models in search of just becoming accepted and included and sadly, it is never for the reason to please themselves it is for the reason to please men. It aggravates me how so many women who have a healthy, curvy body don’t feel accepted because that is not what the media deems is the “ideal body”. It ensues to women risking their health with diet pills, products and crucial diets just to look like those fake looking Victoria’s secret models.
Comment by Simone — January 31, 2012 @ 10:25 pm
I find this commercial very contradicting due to the fact that you have seven women saying that they love their bodies, and they end the commercial with there is “a body for everyone.” If I’m not mistaken being skinny, slim and slender isn’t the only body type out there. This commercial is definitely just geared at the male viewers of society because these are the types of bodies that they expect to see in a Victoria’s Secret Advertisement. I can only imagine a woman that does not have the “body type” of these models would be feeling after watching this commercial. It would seem as if their self esteem would be garnished because of this. In all actuality those bodies are not real, they have been edited and digitized to fit certain criteria. If they really did love their bodies, this commercial would have shown 7 different body types rather then 7 similar bodies.
Comment by Eleazar Capuz — January 31, 2012 @ 10:37 pm
It is crazy that they would come up with a slogan of “I LOVE MY BODY.” Obviously they love their bodies because they are toothpicks. It is unfair to only show thin, tall models because they are not the only body type that is sexy. One of the models on the commercial actually went to high school with me. The first time I saw her on the runway I could NOT believe it was her because she lost more than 30 pounds. This just shows that she wasn’t accepted until she lost weight. If they want to do good to girls they should put other girls not only skinny models.
Comment by Juliana C. — February 3, 2012 @ 10:54 pm
Wow! I have always known that Victoria Secret has the perfect sized models and what not, but after watching this, I felt rather insulted in a way. The slogan “I Love My Body” did not make it seem like they were selling their braw but rather showing off that they have the most perfect and nicest body. As I was watching this, I thought to myself, “the only reason why you love your body is because you HAVE a perfect body”. They are talking about accepting ones bodies, then why dont they start by having models with different body types, as mentioned in the article, atleast that would make us feel better. Many women is this society do not look like this, if you ask any women walking down the street if they love their body, they are most likely going to say no, why? Because they dont look like these Victoria Secret models.
Comment by Yesenia O — February 4, 2012 @ 4:59 pm
I totally agree with this. If I have a body like Victoria Secret’s models, I would be very proud of my body. But everyone hasn’t a body shape like them. “I Love my Body†is sorts of irony. It sounds like women should be thin or skinny like models. Actually, it’s just 5% of the world population.
Comment by Youjung An — February 4, 2012 @ 6:37 pm
Of course they are going to be happy with their bodies as models. If they wanted to display a positive message they should atleast put women with different variations of body types instead of all thin women. I am pretty sure it would have boosted some women’s confidence if they did have women with different body types and it would probably boost their sells, attracting not only skinny women but women who consider themselves to be overweight.
Comment by Payne T — February 5, 2012 @ 2:10 pm
The way the women pose in these ads makes it clear to us viewers that they want to look sexy for the males watching. However, it doesn’t make sense because men aren’t going to buy the bras and underwear for themselves, only their partners would want that. Unfortunately, most women in today’s society do not look like those women which sadly inspires women even more to buy those products. The directors/producers of these ads know these models have no insecurities with their bodies which is why they chose those models with those types of bodies. If they thought about the buyers, they would realize most of those women do not look like the models. I think more women would appreciate these ads if women of all kinds of body sizes were portrayed in victoria secrret’s commercials/ads.
Comment by Alexandria S — February 5, 2012 @ 10:28 pm
Well of course! I’m sure if any woman had that body, they would love it. Society is constantly bombarding us with such images that it’s impossible to love the bodies we have. Whereas if we all had the body of model, our problems would be solved. If this ad featured women with a variety of bodies, the message would have been stronger and more positive. Displaying different body types would also allow women to accept who they are without worry about living up to society standards of being this perfect flawless looking model.
Comment by Sahar S. — February 5, 2012 @ 10:29 pm
They have a ‘I Love My Body’ campaign yet they’re representing one type of body. They have the type of body that we are told to desire and aspire all the time. You’re right, it is insulting! It simply seems as though they have co-opted the idea of loving your body. In effect, it reduces the whole idea and it’s importance.
Comment by Jessica K — February 6, 2012 @ 10:53 am
It’s shameful enough to create ads that attract men more than women for women’s products, but to play on trend of body image acceptence with bodies that are similar to 5% of women’s bodies…it feeds the problem even more. From my own personal experience, VS lingerie is uncomfortable and never fits me…it’s overpriced and most of their items are tacky and tasteless. And this ad campaign only ALLUDES to the excess that is this company.
Victoria Secret, you need to get a reality check about your customers.
Comment by Taja Eddahbi — February 6, 2012 @ 12:53 pm
I liked the slogan “I love my body.” At first the campaign seemed to promote how to embrace our body as it is whether it is slim, fat, short, or tall. However, when typical VC bombshells were only included in the commercial, it made me wonder ‘what exactly should I love about MY body when I have none of the feature the models have?’ Rather than loving my body after watching the commercial, I had to question myself how much I should lose to look like the supermodels and if I would be able to love MY body, or buying their new line of lingerie will help me achieve the goal of having the supermodel-like body.
Comment by Jin Min — February 7, 2012 @ 2:45 am
Really? Victoria Secret models love their bodies? Yeah so do thousands of women around the country, what else is new? I agree, hearing these girls repeatedly say they love their bodies does absolutely nothing for a woman’s self esteem or pushes them any closer to love their own bodies. If an ad is going to include the words “I love my body†than I would expect it to feature women that look like, well real women. The phrase connotes that there are imperfections yet we are comfortable enough to praise those flaws and feel amazing in our own skin, but these models are just as flawless as all the other images of stick think women the media bombards us with. Victoria Secret models are drop dead gorgeous, I think we all know that, but the majority of women can’t associate themselves with their body type. The ad merely made me feel the usual pang of envy and not any better about my own body. I think if Victoria Secret would’ve featured real women instead of the usual clan of angels the ad campaign would have been so much more powerful! We can only hope that one day they will get it right.
Comment by Jessica E. — March 4, 2012 @ 4:14 pm
Personally I do not see the big deal. I believe everyone should love their body and if they are not happy with their body they should do everything they can to change it to what they want. I do agree with the fact that a variety of different size women are needed but I’m not sure what that will change. I think society is aware of the fact that most supermodels are Photoshopped to look a certain way and that the women we see on TV are not necessarily the “norm”. Their is always going to be supper skinny women, big women and everything in between. Although, many of us do not agree with the image of women Victoria Secret is promoting, we all have our ideas of what our ideal body type looks like. I think that as long as the commercial expressed body confidence and was not persuading women to lose weight and look like them, things are moving in the right direction. Whether you are Skinny, fat or short, remember you are beautiful and you can get what you want, if you try.
Comment by Takisha B. — March 9, 2012 @ 11:21 pm
I think that the campaign is putting across the wrong message with the logo of “I love my Body”. I agree that the commercial does use very skinny girls, however, atleast they are using diverse ethnicities. I understand that a small percentage of women have that body type. But just because someone has that body type it does not mean that they necessarily love their body. For instace, I am 5’7 and weight about 120, and I do not love my body. Other people think that being tall and skinny is the “perfect body” and it is “sexy”. In my case it is not, I dislike being skinny because I have been made fun my whole life for being “too skinny”. I do not consider myself beautiful just becasue I am skinny. On the other hand I do agree that the campaign should have included women with diverse body types.
Comment by Analila B. — March 10, 2012 @ 11:05 pm
Wow! Victoria’s Secret is getting nowhere if they really think that this “I Love My Body” campaign featering only women who look like they are a size two, is something liberating. I agree, it’s insulting. I think this ad can make a lot of girls feel terrible about themselves because when I look around, the average girl does not look like these models. If anything, this ad will make girls feel that if they can only get their bodies to look this way, then they will feel satisfied and be able to say “I love my body”, “My body is sexy”. A better approach would have been if they featured models ranging in sizes, just like the Dove campaign did. Once girls start to see models that are bigger than a size 2-4 featured in Victoria’s Secret ads, then maybe they will be able to start to appreciate their size. Larger models are typically only used for “plus size” stores, but I don’t think that is right. Having a thicker model representing Victoria’s Secret would be so awarding for so many girls around the world, because then they too can feel sexy and not feel the need to have to be stick thin to be seen sexy.- D.O.
Comment by Destiny O — March 15, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
As much as I love Victoria Secret it’s sad to know that these models are contributing to the fake image media portrays about women. I would love to see them make a commercial in which they show plus size women modeling their products. I would like to know what effect that brings to society and what man have to say about that. It’s hard to know that women themselves contribute to stereotypes society have for them. How do they expect for women to love themselves and their bodies if they are promoting a body that many women don’t have. I think this article has opened my eyes even more about how I view myself and my body. I feel that now every time ago to a Victory Secret store I would be thinking about this article, and would I really feel the same about my body when I try on things.
Comment by Maria N — March 22, 2012 @ 6:51 pm
Victoria Secret models are all size 0 or 2 models. The campaign features supermodels advertising for their campaign that are not of the idealistic women in society. Most of the girls in society are average weight and do not look anything close to the bodies that these models have. The ad could feature different girls with different body sizes than the ad would proclaim to all body sizes in our society. Even though the models look great with the bodies that they have it is less than half of the girls in society that can relate to that body image. When girls see models with bodies of such we want to do everything in our power to look like that because we think that men only want to date girls who look like Victoria Secret models.
Comment by Erchanik P. — March 26, 2012 @ 9:03 pm
I recently saw a commercial for Victoria Secret in which they models looked into the camera saying that they are irreplaceable and/or asking if there is anyone like them. Up until then when i saw the commercial, I thought that the companies target audience was women. After reading this article and video, I realize they are marketing fictitious expectation via their “perfect” models. Men are sold on the sex appeal and therefore the men will want their girlfriends/wives, etc to look and wear the same. The problem is that their marketing is working. If only people would open their eyes and see the bigger picture. Good post!
Comment by Brian C — March 27, 2012 @ 2:14 pm
I totally agree, I remember seeing this ad and commercial, and remembering that the same exact things were being sold but the setting and wording was different. I’m not exactly sure what message they are trying to send us by repeating, “ I love my bodyâ€, but it is obvious that all the girls in the commercial have similar bodies, and the bras that they are wearing has nothing to do with the shape of their body. So when they say “ I love my bodyâ€, they are trying to give false information out that going out and buying their items will make you look like them. I agree that this add seems like it was made for men rather than women to watch and go out to buy themselves undergarments. This commercial is more of a sex appeal rather than trying to sell items that have already been advertised before. I would love to see the Victoria Secret models have more curves, or have women with all body types in the ads. I feel like if they have commercials with different body types they will have more costumers with different shapes going in and buying more items.
Comment by Marianna B. — March 27, 2012 @ 8:43 pm
Online participation log:
I think it is pretty ridiculous to claim that Victoria Secret models love their bodies. I would love mine as well if I had the money for a personal trainer and nutritionist. Unfortunately I do not. I am like the average American who works 40+ hours a week to pay rent, goes to school full time and/or takes care of their children after work. The full figured woman in my eyes is still non existent in the media. People like Jennifer Hudson who was full figured is now a size 3(Marilyn Monroe was an 8), Jennifer Lopez who does have a vulumptous behind is also a size 2-3. In my eyes that does not constitute full figureness. As far as Jessica Alba is considered I can not even imagine where “full figure” comes in her description. Even inside Victoria Secret stores there are posters of thin, beautiful women who look nothing like me or anyone else in the store. I remember walking into a Victoria Secret store once and trying on a few sexy nightgowns and thinking, “Wow, when they made this cut they definitely had a 5’7″ person in mind whose breast would fill the cup size.” The tailoring in most of their nightgowns and other apperal is clearly not made for the average person and it is unsulting to see these advertisements on television. Especially when it usually grabs the attention of my guy friends and not me; their target audience.
Comment by Nancy Rodriguez — March 28, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
Of course they love their bodies! I would love my body as well, If I look like that. But how realistic is this? Some of them look like they starve themselves to skin and bones. I don’t see any attraction in that. Camera ads pounds so if they look skinny on television, they probably look emaciated in reality. What’s to love about that? If they really loved their bodies I think they would eat normal and not make it an issue about eating. Some of them hunch over from being too skinny. I don’t think they love their bodies, they will always look at someone else and want somebody else’s lips, chin, cheeks, eyes, hips, boobs, etc….. Victoria’s secret is not for the everyday woman. It’s all a fantasy.
Comment by G. Trigueros — March 29, 2012 @ 6:24 pm
While I am not amazed that these commercials/advertisements sell, what is it that they are trying to prove? Yes, we know you’re skinny, sucked up, very shiny, with a lot of make up, but seriously, do you really have to continue to make teenage girls and young women feel more self-conscious about their body than they already do? Do these models have any idea how it feels to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, like a healthy weight and still love your body. It would have been awesome to see a variety of women in this commercial ad; tall, short, too skinny, just right, bigger thighs. The point we come to every time when looking at ads is, it makes money. Sex sells and so does skinny sucked up models for some reason. I say it’s one thing to love your body when you’re healthy, but it’s quite another when “say” you love your body when you can see your ribs.
Comment by Salina G — March 29, 2012 @ 9:50 pm
It is so extremely sad that this is the main body type that women are looking at in the media and being told is beautiful. The Victoria’s Secret models are all beautiful women and do have a reason to appreciate their bodies, but they are just one body type of many that women should learn to love about themselves. Yet because this tall and extremely thin body is what woman are constantly being told is beautiful, anybody who is under 5’8 and over 100 pounds will think that something is wrong with their body in comparison to theirs. I can remember watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion show a few months ago with a group of my friends, and literally every single girl in the room had low self-esteem because their bodies didn’t fit the standard of what Victoria’s Secret was calling beautiful. I then logged on to Facebook and saw a lot of girls on their saying the same thing, and vowing to start working out and eating less in the next few months. Forget the fact that the models had loads of makeup and hair stylists to make them look beautiful and that they were only one body type of the many different ones; everyone wanted to be them and felt insecure because they had normal bodies with a curves or a little fat. I think that Victoria’s Secret should include women of every body type to show that every woman is beautiful in their own way, not just the stick thin type that they seem to promote so much.
Comment by Adrienne S — March 31, 2012 @ 1:57 pm
I agree with the blog post. If Victoria Secret wanted to promote body image in a positive light, they should have displayed a variety of models. Victoria Secret could have had women of all shapes and sizes, inorder to promote their new campaign “I love my body”. Then again VIctoria Secret is known for having models who are extremely thin with large breast. It’s simply part of the image Victoria Secret prefers to sell. It’s funny to hear the irony of these models in the commerical repeat “I love my body”. A body that isn’t of an average size women. I’m sure these women in the commercial do love their bodies, but it isn’t an image that should be should to women. The commerical would have been perfectly fine had they offered an option of different size of women. I find it offensive when I see tabloids stating that Jessica Alba was sporting a curvey body after the birth of her daughter. Curvey to me would be someone like Marily Monroe or Kim Kardashian. I don’t find Victoria Secret’s ad’s to be empowering to women I believe the create women who be come self-consious of their bodies. I love their bra’s and under wear but when I see Victoria Secret commericals I don’t see women who look like me.
Comment by Venezia R — April 1, 2012 @ 9:49 am
This ad made me laugh not because it is funny but because of how dumb it is. Victoria Secret models saying, “I love my body” DUH! why wouldn’t they? Their entire career is based off of displaying their bodies so I suppose it is important that they feel confident about their bodies. Every time I watch the Victoria Secret fashion show I become very disgusted with the types of models they use. I think women who are fit and have wash board abs are beautiful and some of the models such as Adrianna Lima have beautiful bodies. Although she is thin she still looks healthy. I feel most of the older models have thin yet healthy bodies yet the new models look sickly. One model was so thin that you could almost see her entire pelvic bone, it was terrible. These types of images do not give women positive, healthy, role models to look at. I am not saying all models need to be plus sized but they also should not look anorexic either. I believe that these types of images not only give women a negative view of themselves but give men a negative view of how the women they are with look. There is a picture that I found of a woman who had stretch marks after a pregnancy and for me, this should be the “I love my body” ad. The picture said, “Your body is not ruined, your a damn tiger who earned her stripes!”
Comment by Patrina C — April 7, 2012 @ 10:00 am
Before reading this article, I never realized that Victoria’s Secret’s advertising is targeted more towards the male audience. Having tall, skinny, beautiful women included in an advertising campaign as “I Love My Body†does not represent women as a whole, but instead reinforces societies unrealistic standards of beauty. Victoria’s Secret does a very poor job promoting self-acceptance. Since it is impossible to say that a vast majority of the population looks like these Victoria’s Secret super models, how does Victoria’s Secret expect for a majority of population to accept themselves when they see that they do not match up to these perfectly sculpted models in advertisements? Victoria’s Secret clearly portrays women that they know men find to be attractive rather than helping women see that they can love themselves even if they do not live up to these unrealistic expectations of body image.
Comment by Julianne Insogna — April 7, 2012 @ 9:07 pm
I totally agree, it is surprising see the advertisement, these girls are pretty, I wish myself to look like them, but in reality I wont be. They should include all body sizes for everyone to feel good about themselves, it should be for any advertisement that is shown. Not everyone has that body type, a lot of people have curves and some weight. Victoria Secret has always shown their models as sex appeal and will never change because no matter what people are always buying their product regardless if they are over weight or skinny.
Comment by Natali Fernandez — April 8, 2012 @ 10:03 pm
I don’t want to know about the amount of work these models go through to have a body like that. Anyways, the message that is arising from this commercial is that they love their body because it is the body that it’s considered perfect in our culture, that in order to be happy and love your body, you must have a body like this too. To me this commercial is only strengthening the “ideal†body image in our culture as appose to easing it. The problem is that young girls are suffering from eating disorders like anorexia, and commercials like these will only perpetuate or worsen these problems. Now, Victoria’s secret sells bigger seizes, I would like to know why there are no models advertising these bigger sizes and saying how much they love their body.
Comment by Jose R. Lopez — April 9, 2012 @ 10:24 pm
If this ad was actually aimed towards women, they wouldn’t have had the models gyrating next to each other and hugging while in their underoos. If they wanted to echo the Dove advertising campaign they should have used models that are closer to the realistic American woman.
Comment by MarenW — April 10, 2012 @ 8:38 am
How can I love my body after watching that ad?!! That is ridiculous I had never seen it before and in no part of the advertisement does it acknowledge the different shapes and sizes of women. Victoria Secret only emphasizes and glamorizes one body image, and that of course is thinness. I probably should not mention how those women are naturally thin and on rigorous diets in which they punish their bodies to maintain that physique. Men will then judge the regular women harsher because we cannot achieve that image. Women will then strive to achieve that image spending large amounts of time and money and fail. Not only do advertisements like these affect women but young girls as well. There are more girls now suffering from anorexia, depression and other illnesses because of advertisements such as this one.
Comment by lizbeth Hurtado — April 10, 2012 @ 8:27 pm
This Victoria Secret campaign is an example of the problem that many young women face today. This is the kind of body you’re supposed to have in order to love yourself? Many young women put pressure on themselves to look like these girls which can lead to many psychological issues. These images are ones that the media promotes therefore the rest of society will try to emulate their image by trying to get this body. It also puts standards for the way Men look at Woman. They compare their significant other to these models. If they do not look somewhat like this they are oppressed. If what Victoria Secret is trying to do is sell their product they should not use models that have perfect bodies. They should have a variety of model types because the models they use are part of the few in this world that have those type of bodies.
Comment by LilianaC — April 12, 2012 @ 4:31 pm
These commercials are outrageous! How can us as American’s see the problems out in the world regarding self-esteem, eating disorders, etc and yet advertise bras and underwear on women with only one body type. What percentage of women actually have that body type in the United States? I believe Victoria’s secret would gain more business period if it were directed at women with all types of bodies. One body type should not just be considered sexy or appealing. The fact of the matter is that these type of commercials are planting seeds in our children’s minds and as they grow up they are going to strive to look like that, when in some cases is impossible.
Comment by H. Stevens — April 13, 2012 @ 3:07 pm
I watched the commercial and find it sad that as the narrator says that they have a bra for everybody there are only images of one type of female. I believe if you are going to have a slogan saying I love my body one would include at least one of each body type. If this bra and panties collection is for every body I would like to see a model with at least a D cup and large panties. I believe if it showed me how it flatters the biggest of women then I would be more inclined to buy it. I know plenty of men that like to see a heavier chested and larger butt girl walking around in lingerie because to them curves are sexy. It is nothing wrong with these women loving their body, however the message would be a lot stronger if they did do something like the Dove campaign. The day Victoria Secret does that, I will be more willing to pay $50 for a bra.
Comment by Justine B — April 15, 2012 @ 7:29 pm
I remember seeing this ad by Victoria’s Secret. I actually think their commercials are funny, because they are trying to persuade females to purchase their products, but their commercials sometimes seem too sexy. I feel like their commercials are geared towards men. I saw a commercial from Victoria’s Secret that had a woman in her lingerie saying “tell me you love me†and I was just thinking to myself “really� The whole idea of this campaign teaching women about self acceptance is silly because the one’s discussing it are sitting in their lingerie with what society views as a perfect body. I too believe that they should have showed different body types, sizes, and diversity within their commercial to really make it for their viewers. Not all women are the body type they showed, but they should be able to accept their bodies, and commercials like this make it difficult for those women to accept themselves and instead this makes them feel worse than before maybe. The dove campaign did show different sized women, which I found very nice, because they showed what real women are. I really like when commercials, magazines, just anything in the media shows real women in society.
Comment by CandaceR — April 15, 2012 @ 10:00 pm
After viewing this Victoria Secret campaign it seems like there are not trying to fix the problem that most young women are facing with not loving their bodies they are adding to the problem. It seems that what the models realy saying in the add is “I love my body because I look this way†not because they just happen to love their body. They still show tall, light skinned, curvy and sexy women modeling their products; they don’t use any other models with different body figures to represent them. So how are young girls ever suppose to “love their bodies†if there are still being told through those ads that the only way to love your self is to look like that. This add also tells men that this is what a “real†women looks like and tells them this is how your wife or girlfriend should really look.
Comment by Luis G — April 15, 2012 @ 10:30 pm
It is unfortunate how society has landscaped the “norm” for beauty. As mentioned, the standards are based on the fashion industry’s expectations for what defines a woman to be beauty. Most women have curves, and there are very few size 0. It forces women who aren’t size 0 to become self conscious. I love the dove advertisement for real beauty. They are confident and comfortable in their curvacious figures in which I think it gives other curvy women the same confidence. With advertisement like Victoria Secret’s, it generates more misconceptions within society. If they are seeking women consumers, then their ads need to reflect their target audience which are primarily women with curves. This ad also affects the way men think about what a woman should look like, forcing them to have shallow mindsets and cause curvy women to feel unattractive.
Comment by Brandy S. — April 16, 2012 @ 10:19 pm
The “I love my body” campaign for Victoria’s Secret is such a contradiction. You would think their team of highly paid advertisers would have done their homework and saw that Dove’s popular commercials really strive on celebrating real women.
I love my body, BUT i need this new push up bra? Trying to sell products that enhance your body, while trying to claim how much you love your body. Good job Victoria’s Secret! A more effceint way to get your message across would be to display women of all various sizes, or even to depict your usual models, but untouched by photo shop. However because society depicts these models as perfect, when they say i love my body, it almost means you should not. Instead Doves more accurate display of natural, everyday, full figured women encourages women of all walks of life to love their body. What a better way to sell products; It’s sad that a pair of big breast on a skinny waist usually do the trick.
Comment by Raven G — April 18, 2012 @ 6:57 pm
After watching that video all I can think is really? Really? Gee, I’d love my body too if I was a super beautiful and sexy 5’10 model with long tan legs, a flat stomach, big boobs, and tan skin. This is so ridiculous! This made me feel ten times worse about they way I look. These are one of the many commercials that has preteen girls starving themselves. It’s great that they love their body, but honestly they would be a little sick in the head if they didn’t.
Comment by Lauren B — April 20, 2012 @ 2:16 pm
I really like this article because it is true that there is nothing wrong with the Victoria Secret models loving their bodies, I mean why shouldn’t they, they embody society’s view of beauty, but these women are not the only image of beauty. It is true that there is nothing revolutionary about a woman who has an ideal body in society’s eyes to love her body, but at the same time though it may say that in print, some of these models may still struggle with insecurities which may be hard for some of us to believe but can still be true. I mean for me looking at Kate Winslet I would think that she has an ideal body and is comfortable with it, yet this article reveals that she is still self conscious and struggles with feeling “fat†and therefore it is not fair for us to assume that these models are completely happy with their bodies either. True I personally like ads that contain women of different shapes because that is more realistic, but realistically everyone has insecurities about one thing or another.
Comment by Melissa M. — April 23, 2012 @ 9:32 am
I agree that this ad campaign is ridiculous. Again it does not show women as naturally beautiful but rather all done up with makeup and hair done and who knows what else. I feel this ad is insulting to women and it sends yet another message that women who are young, tall and thin are the ones who should love their bodies.
Comment by Kristin F — April 23, 2012 @ 12:09 pm
This ad does not say how a real woman’s body is supposed to be realistically. How many women in this planet are 6 feet tall and are that thin with big breasts? Naturally, women are supposed to be more curvy due to future nurturance for babies. Yes we all wonder why we don’t look like this and its rare that we are born this way. Women should not expect such highly of ourselves because no one is perfect. The models you see in the ads are not perfect either; they have to photoshop them to “enhance” their looks and shape their bodies to look perfect. Didn’t you notice they have no pores too? Women shouldn’t compare themselves because in the advertising world, they create things that aren’t even realistic. We as women should accept ourselves.
Comment by Linda Piyawadhanachai — April 23, 2012 @ 9:06 pm
I totally agree. I think it is a little stupid for Victoria Secret to even create this ad campaign because who doesn’t know that Victoria Secret models love their bodies? If they didn’t love their bodies I would be utterly suprised. According to the mainstream idea of beauty, these models should be in love with the way they look, that is why they are models and that is why they are on the cover of magazines. I liked how the author mentiond that fashion designers were too snooty to feature curvy women in their ads. I totally disagree because I feel a women with a few curves is attractive and I know plenty of men that like it when a women has some curves and is not stick skinny. They need to keep increasing the number of curvy women in ads so that self-esteem of women in our society doesnt keep plummeting.
Comment by Alina Bergelson — April 24, 2012 @ 11:38 am
I agree with the author of the article, because this ad campaign is sending negative images. Not only do I find Victoria Secret Ads geared towards men, but I also find that they are contributing to the problem of female insecurities. By posing a handful of extremely skinny models saying that they “love their body”, they are sending the message that this is the true standard of how women should look and feel, which is completely inaccurate. There should be models in the industry who actually reflect real-life human beings, not a minority of them. Of course models should be pretty, but why not naturally pretty? Why must we conform to what the media thinks is beautiful?
Comment by Benjamin B — April 25, 2012 @ 8:48 am
I completely agree, I don’t know why they still do that when they know that their top customers are full figured women. I mean I am short, a size 7 mostly on everything I wear, size 34B on bras, and I’m not skinny like those anorexic models. I think it is time to add real women of all full shape body type into selling undergarments; that way we can relate to them and truly say that we love our curves. This campaign just advertised that you have to love your body only if you are skinny. No! Loving ourselves is not just the physical we have to be healthy. We cannot starve ourselves to fulfill the ideal of being skinny like top model. They need to advertise model from different culture so far these models look the same just in different skin tone. They have them same height, stomach, smile, and hair. Seriously, Victoria’s Secret needs to hire a real Latina with curves!
Comment by Karen Acevedo — April 26, 2012 @ 11:45 am
Victoria Secret is the number one company that makes me wants to hate my body because as much as I work out and diet there is no way I could make my body look like that. Yea when I got older I learned that they are photoshoped but because every guy that picks up a catalog can’t put it down makes me feel so angry. It’s very sad that Victoria Secret continues to make women all around the world feel insecure about their bodies by only representing the skinny girls. What about us round shaped girls are we just invisible? I hate shopping at Victoria Secret and maybe will one day in the future as soon as they get with the program and realize NOT EVERY SINGLE GIRL ON THE PLANT IS A SIZE 0!
Comment by Merri Abramyan — April 26, 2012 @ 2:40 pm
I totally agree! I think it’s funny that the advertiser says “there is a body for everybody†and only show thin models. So are they saying that thin models are everyone? I would of have appreciated that they would use every type of body since it is saying “I love my body†and reality is that the majority of women do not like this models look. There is nothing wrong being thin, don’t get me wrong these women are beautiful but it is the image and message that they are sending. This commercial is part of the cultivation of images that the mass media and advertisers send the message that if you’re thin you can only love your body and feel and look sexy.
Comment by DeniseF — April 26, 2012 @ 11:10 pm
Of course they love their body. Their body has given them luxuries, wealthy husbands, and an incredibly big income. If it weren’t for those bodies where would they be. Maybe back at their third world country married, mother’s and housewives. Most women aren’t in love with their bodies. Thin or thick women goal for body perfection is impossible. When they think they are perfect there comes a commercial like this to make them re-think their body. The Dove commercial also has negative feedback. I remember reading an article for such commercial and how some men felt it was inappropriate to show those “type” of women half naked. Type, being curvy real women, the type of women they most like associate themselves with in real life. The media and advertisers make commercials with sex appeal in order to sell. Sex sells.
Comment by Yadira DiSiena — April 27, 2012 @ 5:51 pm
Anyone who was 5’9 and 120 pounds would love their body – duh! That isn’t anything new. They don’t have a single ounce of fat and haver EVERY reason to feel confident and comfortable in their skin…If Victoria’s Secret used REGULAR women in their ads, this might be something to talk about.
My girlfriend was recently reading an edition of “Us” magazine that featured stars’ “super diets.” The magazine featured celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Lea Michele, etc. They all have CRAZY diets to stay that thin! It talks about juice fasts, sticking to 1200-calories-per-day diets, and only eating grilled meat and raw vegetables. That isn’t the diet of a normal person, but “Us” portrays that as normal. Maybe that’s normal in Hollywood, just like maybe being 5’9 and 120 pounds is “normal” for a VIctoria’s Secret model. But it really ISN’T normal. Normal women don’t and shouldn’t look like that, but they shouldn’t feel ashamed of their bodies. Normal women have some fat and some cellulite. In my opinion, starving yourself to be skinny and absolutely MISERABLE just isn’t worth it, and I definitely wouldn’t want that for my girlfriend or for my sister.
Comment by Kyle Rudell — April 29, 2012 @ 3:01 pm
Victoria’s Secret Campaign Ad undermines what the whole Positive image movement is all about. The women in Victoria’s Secret Ads are flawless by popular standards but it is a one-sided depiction of beauty. A Victoria Secret model loving her body is nothing out of the ordinary. What would be revolutionary would be if Victoria’s Secret showed women with different body types other than tall thin. Dove Ad campaigns have been able to remain true to the values of the positive body image movement. Although executives at dove may be doing so for profit rather than for the sake of social change their ads may be moving in the right direction. The message that Victoria’ Secret sends out is confusing. Victoria Secret is supposed to be selling women’s lingerie and other women’s products yet it does seem to be directed towards men. The women that are depicted in Victoria’s Secret catalogs are extremely altered for the sole purpose of appealing to men not women. Women want to see other women who look them in catalogs and in ads. The women in Victoria’s Secret ads portray what very few women look like and most other women know that no amount of dieting will make them look like the Victoria’s Secret Angels if they were to buy the same undergarments. Ads from Victoria’s Secret only create obstacles for women on a journey to self-love. Ads like these don’t empower women,on he contrary they only make them hate themselves.
Comment by Gaby Valencia — April 29, 2012 @ 3:01 pm
I completely agree these ads are definitely mad for men and not keeping women in mind. Seeing Victoria secret advertisements always make me mad because I know I don’t look like those models. The ad basically says in order to love your body you need to look like those models. They need to start using a variety of models in different shapes and sizes.
Comment by Erica — April 29, 2012 @ 3:27 pm
Victoria Secret should not have released this campaign. How can women find self-acceptance in their bodies if they are shown women like this? They are society’s version of the perfect women; tall, skinny and pretty. They are women that every man wants to have. They lower our self-esteem making us feel like our bodies aren’t pretty and we can’t love our bodies. By them proclaiming that they love their bodies they are basically telling us their bodies are the only ones dingy of love. If they wanted to show women that it is okay to love their bodies they should have featured different kinds of women. What they have accomplished with this campaign is to let women to be self-hateful towards their bodies. They should run campaigns that encourage self-love towards the bodies.
Comment by Teresa H. — April 29, 2012 @ 9:18 pm
I definitely agree with having different sizes and shaped models for campaigns that deal with “loving your body image.” As the articles states, the models in the Victoria Secret advertisement is what society deems or depicts as a beautiful body image; however, it is not realistic because, there are so many different body types in the world. In my opinion the more real and natural body images are not these Victoria Secret or runway models. I personally prefer more curves. These ad’s should encourage everyone to love their bodies. As long as we are healthy, that should all that matters. Therefore, to reach out and relate to a more broader audience, a variety of shapes and sizes should be displayed behind the, “I love my body” message.
Comment by Chynnassa E. — April 30, 2012 @ 8:47 am
I love this post! I always think it is funny how many girls feel the need to shop at Victoria’s secret after their annual runway shows. I am always telling my boyfriend, why do they only advertise their products with skinny models. They should have a variety of women modeling and feeling comfortable with their bodies. I am a size 5 in jeans and when I see that these models are a size 0, that makes me feel uncomfortable. I think they should really go out their and explore all the other women who may be size 7 or 9 and feel amazing in their own body. Victoria’s secret should not advertise that these girls accept their body because it may not be true.
Comment by Ana B — April 30, 2012 @ 8:51 am
I’ve worked at Victoria secrets and not only does this affect the models of claiming to love their bodies but also the people that shop there and also employed. The ladies shopping there try so hard to fit as sexy in lingerie as the models do but don’t enjoy the fact that they are a beautiful curved and if the lingerie is more curved on them they feel fat. The people employed there have to make sure every woman in there is satisfied even if you can sense her insecurities you must make that sale to make her purchase something she may not even feel comfortable in. Yes I do agree these ladies in these ad campaigns do it more so for the men instead of enhancing their beauty and being comfortable in their skin. I would love to see more curvy women in these ads, tired of these boney ladies acting like they’re happy with the size they are, when some of them aren’t.
Comment by Kayla Ainsworth — April 30, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
Where are all the other sized women and why aren’t they displayed in this ad? It seems pretty funny that Victoria secret sells big sizes yet are never on display or on ads. The ads only show what society wants to see or what men fantasize. Don’t get me wrong these women are beautiful but is it a healthy beautiful. I wonder what these women looked like before joining a campaign for modeling am sure nowhere near from where they stand today. Ads like this not only display sexy little things but make those women that don’t look like this feel suppressed.I want to know what Victoria’s secret really is to be looking like this..
Comment by Angelica Oseguera — April 30, 2012 @ 6:32 pm
So, I have to give it up to the writers, because they totally played on the language to get the message across… without the models actually talking about their actually bodies. The product is called “my body by Victoria Secret” so when they say “I love my body” they are referring to the bra they are wearing, but the hidden message was much more clear. I am a skinny girl, but even I do not have a body like that, especially those boobs! It is really sad that our society still stands for this kind of advertising and content to be played so freely on the air.
Comment by J. Prock — April 30, 2012 @ 7:13 pm
I completely agree with this post. Yes of course these victoria secret models love their bodies they are what society and their company have told them to be. Skinny, tall, beautiful this commercial does represent your everyday women instead it encourages women to become an unattainable picture of what beauty is. Yes these models are beautiful but once again they are being used as sex objects and showing women that they have to look that way in order to accepted. It would have made a difference if they would have shown a fuller figured women saying she loves her body that would have sent a totally different positive message out to women everywhere but once again we are shown what ideal women should look and it is not always the case for everybody.
Comment by Denisse Teutla — April 30, 2012 @ 10:21 pm
It is ironic how the commercial are for men because its a women’s lingerie company. Victoria secret belittles women because they try to say that this is the ideal body that everyone wants and desires. What they need to see is that is this body is rare and by genetics. It given young women physical and mental problems trying to abide by this lifestyle of sexism.
Comment by Ally P — May 1, 2012 @ 12:20 am
I couldn’t have said it better than how this post has! It’s so insulting how Victoria Secret tries to make an ad for self acceptance yet in no way strays away from it’s previous ad campaigns. It’s almost as if they find self-acceptance and loving your body as a fad and something they should promote in order to stay current and cool. If they really felt like it was important for women to love their bodies then they would have taken this campaign more seriously, they would have made more of an effort to include women in all body types. By making a campaign with skinny and tall models that are all the same body type, it makes the whole campaign almost seem like a sad attempt for equality. Victoria Secret is completely missing the mark, like this article states, of course models who fit society’s standards for beautiful are going to love their bodies. The average girl who is going to view this ad isn’t going to identify with any of these models, if the public can’t identify with any of the models then what’s the point of promoting any message?
Comment by Scarlett G — May 1, 2012 @ 12:14 pm
Victoria Secret is totally geared toward men. Every time I’m watching television with my boyfriend, and a Victoria Secret ad comes on, I change it right away. Their commercials are always very provocative, and their highly photoshopped magazines lower my self-esteem. I actually don’t shop there because I never allow their company to advertise to me. I couldn’t help but also feel a little insulted when one of the Victoria Secret models proclaimed that, “This is my favorite body.” Of course it is her favorite body, she fits into the media’s standards of beauty. These women are supermodels, so the message feels very condecenging. The Dove campaign for beauty was sincere, and had real fleshy women in their ads. This Victoria Model commercial only offeres viewers one image of beauty, coincidentally the only image of beauty that is truly accepted. “There is a body for everybody”….Not according to this ad.
Comment by Deirdre D. — May 1, 2012 @ 7:53 pm
Victoria Secret is totally geared toward men. Every time I’m watching television with my boyfriend, and a Victoria Secret ad comes on, I change it right away. Their commercials are always very provocative, and their highly photoshopped magazines lower my self-esteem. I actually don’t shop there because I never allow their company to advertise to me. I couldn’t help but also feel a little insulted when one of the Victoria Secret models proclaimed that, “This is my favorite body.†Of course it is her favorite body, she fits into the media’s standards of beauty. These women are supermodels, so the message feels very condescending. The Dove campaign for beauty was sincere, and had real fleshy women in their ads. This Victoria Model commercial only offers viewers one image of beauty, coincidentally the only image of beauty that is truly accepted. “There is a body for everybodyâ€â€¦.Not according to this ad.
Comment by Deirdre D. — May 1, 2012 @ 7:55 pm
Victoria’s Secret models featured in an “I Love My Body” campaign don’t appeal to me at all. My first thought is, “Obviously you love your body! Look at yourself!” I’m not motivated or inspired to accept myself any more by looking at these skinny half naked models preaching self acceptance nor am I disappointed because I am happy with how I look (whether it be like a Victoria’s Secret model or not). Those women have every right to love their bodies just as the curvy women in the Dove campaign do. I love Dove’s campaign because not only is it different but it uses body image acceptance in such a positive way. If Victoria’s Secret used models other than their usuals not only would they make more money but they could really impact how women feel about themselves.
Comment by Michelle A. — May 1, 2012 @ 11:17 pm
The ad about the “I Love My Body” campaign was typical to me. Yes, this bothers me to the fullest because not only does these women believe this but, society have grown to believe this as well. So, now when a person who is out of this “Sexy” category goes to apply for a job or find a man or what ever the case maybe they won’t get the job, the man of their dreams or what ever it maybe because they aren’t “Sexy” enough. A women who wears a size 0-3 and half the models starve themselves, had eating disorders, and/or are depressed to fit in. I also can not just blame these women because its not just them. Society is based and revolves around money. So, if someone was told sexy sells, and you have to do this or look like this to get this much money then its going to be done. Also its not just Victoria Secrets who does things like this, it is a lot of companies who believe that this is okay. It leaves little to no hope for other women. I personally do not care about skinny, fat, tall, short or what ever. I dislike how everything is so discriminating as far as making a living. Especially in California, it is hard and very discriminating. Overall these women, media, ads, and companies do not know how bad they impact and interfere with the lives of other people.
Comment by Bri Davis — May 2, 2012 @ 5:57 pm
The way that companies advertise are always going to cause stirrups with in the population, no matter what the ad is trying to target there is always someone who takes it offensively. I can clearly see as to why “real women†or women of size larger than these models could take this very offensive in the sense that of course these women are happy with their bodies, they are too skinny. However, I don’t believe that this is what the ad was intended on doing, instead I took this campaign as if you buy this product, you will feel sexy and like your body. Of course the fact that Victory Secret uses very thin models to promote their slogan does not help this situation, but I do believe that was the true intention. All the company cares about is the selling of their product, and yes I could be seen as an advertisement for men, but instead I see it as women who have men or are seeking men should buy these products to find or aesthetically please men. These bras are obviously not just about comfort anymore, they are more of how do I look when wearing one, and according to this campaign Victoria Secret wants women to feel sexy in their bodies. Unfortunately I do believe that the reason they do not use women of larger stature because they don’t think it will bring them in sales and money, because that’s all the probably care about. And it is sad to think about cause all women should feel sexy in whatever they choose to wear, and just because some skinnier girl is wearing it doesn’t mean you can’t look good in it too.
Comment by Kincaidw — May 2, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Victoria Secret models have changed drastically ever since Tyra Banks retired from modeling. I remember how much I love Victoria Secret having such a variety of women represented. I find it hard to have the same feeling for their models of today. They went from being different by showing women with more curves to just the same model type like the fashion industry currently has. They seem to be focus too much on finding models with the same body type. What I find very unnatural is the way their body appears very slim and with muscle tone. I find this to be very unlikely for a slim and tall woman to appear this way. In the end, if your slim, curvy, or full figure we all go through the same pressures of aiming to have the same body type that is emphasized by “fashion.” If Victoria Secret would represent more women with different body types the message giving “I love my body†would make more sense. Seriously, Victoria Secret what are you doing? We would all love to have more variety of models, and maybe then I can say again, “I love my Victoria Secret.â€
Comment by Elizabeth D. — May 3, 2012 @ 1:20 am
I could not agree more. If we really saw what these images looked like BEFORE they were Photo shopped we would get a more realistic sense of what these women looked like. The campaign slogan that Victoria’s Secret chose to run with of “Love Your Body†is inaccurate. Again as the author points out, if Victoria’s Secret was truly adamant about sending out such a message in their advertisement, they would use models of all sizes. These pasty models that they use in their ads do not represent what the majority of women in society look like. These ads are not promoting self-acceptance, but rather insecurities. As the author points out, even huge A-list celebrities like Kate Winslet feel the huge amount of pressure from society to “look beautiful.†Kate Winslet is an incredibly beautiful woman who is extremely talented, but the fact that even she sometimes feels “too fat†is discouraging for women in society. A woman of her stature should promote inner beauty and sway away from media pressures of becoming thin. One ad campaign that I truly appreciate is the Fruit of the Loom clothing. They often show women of all sizes comfortable in the skin they are in and happy. This is what companies like Victoria’s Secret should emphasize.
Comment by Lyndsay Porchas — May 3, 2012 @ 4:55 pm
I do agree that the “Love my Body” by Victoria Secrets is definitely not regarding actual women. Not all women are this small but it is what the media expresses. I feel it does make women self conscious about their body and always wanting to attain such thinness. Now where I have trouble is; let’s be honest nobody cares to see plus size people in a lingerie commercial and this includes men as well. I don’t want to have some big plus size guy rockin’ some Calvin Klein underwear on my television. My argument has nothing to do with discriminating on being fat or being skinny, the reality of the situation is everyone on this planet wants to be skinny. Why? Because it is unhealthy to be over weight and nobody wants to be “fat”. I do agree that women don’t have to be this skinny to model under garments and it does make young girls strive to be that skinny. The media needs to realize that and focus on the majority of “real women” when they advertise to attract a better audience.
Comment by Michael Champieux — May 6, 2012 @ 11:47 pm
Victoria Secret Came out with bigger size bra’s but yet they only put this skinny models. They accepted their bodies because they know thy have the perfect body that fits in our society standards and mens fantasize body. With this ad they are advertising that only those women who have the body like this models can be love; therefore for the ones who don’t have it make us uncomfortable with our bodues becuase we start comparing ourselfs to theirs. In reality I wonder if the models really “love” their body because I bet it cost them alot to mainatin that body and maybe they affected their physical and mental health. If they didn’t great, but a lot of young girls who are not naturaly skinny do everything that to be like them thanks to this type of ads. For example, they have body dismorphia, eating disorder and or disorder eating. I think its time to start seeing real models, curvy models, models we could relate too.
Comment by Gladys S — May 8, 2012 @ 6:58 am
As an avid consumer of products made by Victoria’s Secret, I initially saw no real issue with this ad. Over the years, I have grown accustomed to this company’s use of sexual innuendo and unrealistic ideals of beauty. I am ashamed to admit that I did not even wince when this video first appeared on my television screen. That just goes to show how deeply embedded our society’s ideals of beauty have become. I would expect nothing less of Victoria’s Secret. Does this mean that I agree with their marketing and advertising? No. Their “I love my body” campaign is utterly ridiculous and groundless. Of course the models are going to love their bodies! They are all tall, thin, and beautiful. If they did not love their bodies, some may argue that they were suffering from body dysmorphic disorder. The implied message that is being transmitted to the target demographic is what we should be concerned about.
An overwhelming number of teenagers and young women suffer from eating disorders. Propagating and glorifying images of picture-perfect females is sure to produce adverse effects. In defense of Victoria’s Secret, they are not the only company who is guilty of this crime against women. While they are far from representing the norm, Victoria’s Secret is known for selecting models who are “curvy” in juxtaposition with fashion models. They often are endowed with average sized breasts and have hips, rather than a stick-figure. I am aware that this is only a tiny step towards the incorporation of models reminiscent of an average American woman, but it is still a slight departure from the fashion industry’s definition of beauty. What I do have a slight problem with is the blatant use of marketing targeted towards men. Men do not buy lingerie; women make up the vast majority of Victoria’s Secrets customers. Producing over-sexified ads is off-putting and could eventually retard annual sales for the company. The commercials need a serious revamp if they truly want all women to “love their bodies” as the ad proclaims!
Comment by Nicole Z. — May 8, 2012 @ 9:29 pm
I was not surprised to see an ad full of skinny, tall supermodels brag about how much they love their bodies. I thought to myself that if every woman in the world looked like that, they would also love their body and the issue of women not liking our bodies would be resolved and everyone would be happy. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Victoria’s Secret is giving into society’s ideal body. I was wondering when a short or bigger woman was going to show up and say how much she loved her body. This ad just makes women feel bad about themselves if they do not look like those supermodels. If they are supposed to promote their bras and underwear, they should talk about the bras and underwear! If they are trying to say that every woman should love their body and wear bras that will help them love their body, they should talk about that. Instead, they have skinny models showing off their body and showing confidence. I think that if Victoria’s Secret would have women of all sizes in their ads, all women can relate to their bras and panties and want to purchase them. I thin that this ad is just plain wrong because they are trying to make women think that if they buy their products, they will feel as confident as these models, but in reality it is the total opposite, at least for me.
Comment by Sonia B. — May 9, 2012 @ 8:15 am
This ad by Victoria is like a slap on the face towards companies that are really making strides towards featuring regular women. I personally don’t purchase Victoria secret bra’s because they are over priced. I find that they never fit quite right. Could it possibly because I am not super model skinny with perfect breasts. Once again it comes down to the fact that companies like Victoria Secret are thriving because we buy the ad’s. Perhaps women fool themselves into thinking that if they purchase the product they will also skinny like the models. Prior to this article I had not really thought much about how the ad failed to have everyday women in it. I am so used to Victoria Secret always having thin model that in a way I have just accepted it. Perhaps if Victoria Secret would consider a REAL ad of “I love my body” they could potentially have more sales.
Comment by Esmeralda Martinez — May 10, 2012 @ 11:04 am
I haven’t seen these commercials from Victoria’s Secret only the one posted along with this article but honestly if I were to have seen it before it would make me feel insecure. These gorgeous super skinny girls are stating that they love their bodies like that is supposed to be reassuring for other women. I’m not a big girl by any means, I am only a size three and these women make me feel fat and insecure about my own body. I cannot imagine what it does for other women. It is important for these models to love their bodies but it think all women should love their bodies. I agree that it would be so much better if they used different shaped models especially if they are going to have ads that say I love my body. I must say I really like the Dove commercials so much more because they are so real and show real looking women.
Comment by Brittany P — May 10, 2012 @ 5:58 pm
When I hear of campaigns like “I Love My Body” I get excited, because I think finally someone I can relate to. Then I see that the campaign is nothing but the same stick thin models and I think “great, another unrealistic expectation”. The Victoria’s Secret models are beautiful women who should absolutely love their bodies, however the whole campaign rubs me the wrong way. It doesn’t promote self acceptance for everyone. It promotes self acceptance if you look like a supermodel. It’s kind of a slap in the face to the rest of us.
Comment by Sophia S. — May 10, 2012 @ 10:47 pm
It’s completely true; this ad is completely discrediting the whole idea of their campaign, “I Love My Body.†It’s still pushing this idea of being sexy and loving your body is only for those who have bodies such as these models. And then how they mention that their collection has 7 different styles and that “there’s a body for everybody,†doesn’t make sense to me when there is clearly one kind of type of body being portrayed in this ad. And I know for a fact, that their collection isn’t for everybody. I, for instance, am not able to buy a Victoria Secret bra, because in having a curvy body, I have larger breasts. It’s something I share with some friends and family of mine. We do not have bodies like these Victoria’s Secret models, so their bras don’t fit to our dimensions. Shopping at Victoria’s Secret has ALWAYS been something I’ve been uncomfortable with because the ads with. As mentioned these ads seem to be made for men, and that’s exactly how I felt. I have never bought anything from Victoria’s Secret except for a lip gloss and body mist that happened to be on clearance and that I only bought because I had received a gift card to there from a co-worker of mine. And in seeing this ad campaign, I’m not very surprised. It’s upsetting to me but also humorous because I don’t see how this kind of ad can appeal to the majority of women. What’s not so humorous is that there are young girls who see these ads and think that to love their body they have to be thin like this models, so they will do unhealthy things to get that kind of body.
Comment by Melissa M — May 11, 2012 @ 8:53 pm
I can’t say that I necessarily agree with this article. As a bigger woman, I find myself constantly being compared to “skinny†girls. I couldn’t care less. I am who I am, and they are who they are. I definitely agree and understand that idea that society and especially the media, influences many women to feel the need to be skinny. However, I do not “play in to this.†As someone who enjoys cooking and visiting specialty restaurants, I see no need in being skinny. Of course we should all aim to be healthy, but that does not mean one can not be heavier or thinner.
While we urge the media to not concentrate on women needing to be “skinny,†I think it is also important to urge the media to not imply that one should NOT be skinny. In other words, we should be encouraging people to be healthy and to love their bodies. I think that it should be a personal choice that we all make based on what we like to do in life. If someone enjoys eating extremely healthy and working out several hours a day, and can earn money with the way their body looks, then who am I to say that is wrong!? Whether we want to consider it, or not, it is important to know that being a model is not always easy. Most of these women are not born looking this way, with no effort. While some may be able to eat what they want and still look that good, I would say that the majority do not find this the case.
Comment by K — May 12, 2012 @ 12:11 am
It truly is ironic that the campaign ad is “I Love my body†because as the female members of my family put it they could have at least put a model wearing 36D because all of these models were no bigger than the 32B cups. I could see how much of a letdown watching this video made them feel about themselves. In a way I feel bad for them because this warped body image cannot possibly be healthy mentally or physically because I am sure they will be declaring another diet phase.
Comment by Albert Q — May 12, 2012 @ 11:16 pm
I think the most ironic thing about this advertisement is that it boasts “there’s a body for everybody, only at Victoria’s Secret” while the only body shown is a stick thin, zero-ounces-of-fat body. And what’s even more ironic than that, is Victoria’s Secret is one of the few stores I’ve found that has an adequate supply of bras in larger sizes for larger women. Having a larger body and larger breasts myself, it is difficult for me to find bras that fit adequately and don’t look like they belong to my 85 year-old grandmother. Victorias Secret has very cute bras in my size and are very non grandma-ish. Yet Victorias Secret has branded itself with super skinny models. I think they would make a killing if they attempted to target larger women than what they show in their current ads.
Comment by Anndrea Anderson — May 13, 2012 @ 3:00 am
Someone with society’s perfect bodily illustration of beauty who gets paid for exactly how they look and who has men order their women’s catalog for, well, other uses loves their body? Wow. Shocker. Victoria’s real Secret is that she has no backbone. If she did, she would do women everywhere a favor and seriously question the patriarchally defined concept of beauty they subscribe to. Maybe they should get a clue and talk to Dove’s marketing analysts.
Comment by Kayla — May 13, 2012 @ 8:52 am
Okay. If all women had bodies that looked just like a Victoria Secret model they would all love their bodies too. No woman looks like a Victoria Secret model, except Victoria Secret models. This commercial is not true representation of women. In comparing this commercial to the most recent Dove campaign, they are completely different. The Dove campaign “ real beauty†are images of women that we see on a regular day to day bases. It is way more believable to her a women that loves like me say she loves her body. Women such as those in the Dove campaign are realistic to the women in the world we live in. Those women help women across the world love themselves for who they are, no matter the size and shape of their body. Women such as the Victoria secret models saying that they love their bodies makes normal women hate their bodies even more. It make women strive to have super model figures when all actuality it is impossible. In the commercial they make it seem like the collection is for all women, no women is going to believe that when they have no diversity within the commercial. All the women that are in the commercial are tall and skinny.
Comment by Glynda Givens — May 13, 2012 @ 11:10 am
I feel like this article spoke from my heart. Every women’s dreamÂ… to be 5’10, 115 pounds or underweight as to be considered thin, have long slender legs, a flat stomach and to have generously proportioned breasts. Why? Simply because media has deceived young women into thinking as though that is the standard of beauty, and every woman wants to be beautiful. This generation of young women and girls are plagued with the dissatisfaction of their bodies. They struggle with body image, low self-esteem, and dieting. What causes their self-hatred for their bodies? A selection of sources such as Victoria’s Secret show the outcome that media has on women in America and around the world. I personally think that these girls are way too skinny, and should not be representing as the typical body image.
Comment by Ani S — May 13, 2012 @ 12:20 pm
I completely agree, nowhere in the video clip did Victoria Secret acknowledge different types of bodies. Although I am a huge Victoria Secret Fan, it is sometimes hard to find my bra size in their collections. I can see why there is controversy over ‘I Love My body Campaign” rather than bringing awareness to all the bodies out in the wold, all the models have similar bodies, and honestly misrepresent half of women across the world. Even though they kept on saying I love my body, all i got from the video is Sex sells and it appeals!! When ever I wear Victoria Secret I do feel sexy and good, and I like how my body looks in them, as I am sure other women might to just because their stuff is really cute, but just as we feel good about wearing it, their advertisement should also include diversity and reflect the women that buy their clothing.
Comment by Berenice V — May 13, 2012 @ 3:37 pm
From a males perspective,I find that Victoria Secret models are sexually unattractive. Very Skinny women posing in lingerie is a major turnoff and if society thinks that being thin is desirable then they have been misconstrued. And if women believe thst being thin is sexy they are sucked in by social structure. A lot of men arent attracted to victoria secret models and their bodies. Other cultures value different parts of a women. Therefore, being “sexy and thin’ is a social construction thing. it’s unrealistic because every women has a different body composition.
Comment by VicG — May 13, 2012 @ 5:47 pm
I was thrown off by the campaign being called “I love My Body”. What’s not to love about a thin body, but on the same hand what’s not to love about a larger body. A pretty face to me is a pretty face. I love that they are promoting women to love their bodies, but I wish they would show women of different shapes and sizes. It would have been refreshing for this to be the revamp of Victoria’s Secret. They should start selling bras for bigger women, and even have some type of avenue to get customized bras for those even larger. I understand that this is a business, so maybe they could be made to order. This would increase their sales, customers. Also this would make the connotation behind the name Victoria’s Secret not be ” only made for the skinny girl” Alls this coming from a skinny girl.
Comment by Corrin M. — May 13, 2012 @ 6:16 pm
Victoria Secret is a brand which portrays this false image of the body to women an teens. Although its main goal is to sell they focus on this image of a petite tall girl to advertise there products, in this false campaign I love my body  women aren’t able to associate or relate to the models because real women have curves, aren’t tall and aren’t a size zero. I find this campaign to be false advertisement like Barbie. How can young girls and women in general relate to this models and their depiction of body, my body doesn’t look remotely like theres and I  can’t relate to them. Advertisements need to start including people who the masses can relate to,instead of creating this fictitious images of the women. Who dictates that skinny and tall women should be the ideal women? Why can’t an image that is logical and attainable be portray as the ideal women in the end all women are different and have their own qualities and the media and ads shouldn’t dictate what’s pretty because they tend to have an unrealistic image.
Comment by Tania L — May 13, 2012 @ 7:19 pm
8. Wow really Victoria Secret is showing an “I love my body†ad. No kidding you love your bodies’ ladies!!! This is why so many women have issues with what they look like today because you have skinny “beautiful†women as spokes people saying that they love their body. Congratulations to the dove ladies who aren’t shy to show their curves and show America that they are real women too who love their bodies. That Victoria Secret advertisement is a joke. I mean come on this is a slap in the face to all the women who are trying and killing themselves to look like these so called “real†women.
Comment by Simara Williams — May 13, 2012 @ 8:36 pm
Every time I see these videos I forget that all of these pictures are photo shopped! That’s one of the main reasons I could imagine that girls are being so misled by these adds. Yes, the victoria secret models may love the bodies they’re in, but they’re lying to their constituency when they make it seem like their viewers are seeing their “real” bodies. These images are almost as processed and bad for this country as the pink slime that mcdonalds feeds its customers. Both are misleading, give people momentary pleasure, and are detrimental to the wellbeing/health of everyone who has to experience them. There needs to be a major revolution. I know that it may seem really outrageous to think that this would happen, but major retailers and clothing manufacturers need to make a cutoff for bmi so it is not bellow a certain number. this, and they need to increase the average weight of every model.
Comment by Stephanie Farzam — May 14, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
It is things like this that get under my skin and irritate me beyond belief. When commercials are aired for VS and they are messaged to the audience in this way of “I love my body” it is so fake because of course why wouldn’t you love your body at a size o or 2? It’s just ridiculous in my eyes that these commercials are made. There is a brand, which momentarily I cannot remember the name, but they have a commercial for plus size women in bras, considering plus size to them means 6 or 8, but it’s already more realistic to look at than a 0. The standard size for a woman today is a 10/12, so how can a sz 0 be considered a “I love my body” commercial when it’s not the typical body. It’s really funny how all VS bra’s look the same time in and time out, the only thing they change are the models from time to time, and that’s how they get their sales. When girls see a new model they think shes gorgeous and they want to get the bra she’s wearing, when in reality they probably have that bra in a different color. I don’t believe VS has ever showcased a model who was an ounce over 130 lbs, and don’t forget their height! I once read an article on some of these models and their weight was like 115, 120, 128, and some of these girls are over 5’7! Yes, they are beautiful, but they are not realistic. VS sheds so much light when one of their models gives birth and is back on the runway in 2 months. This is crazy, unhealthy and sets unrealistic and damaging goals to young girls who hear this.
Comment by Anna Kleyman — May 18, 2012 @ 8:58 am
Victoria Secret is seriously cruisin’ for a bruisin’. I highly doubt anybody with that body WOULDN’T love their body. Here’s a wild idea maybe they should show some women of different sizes who are showing love and self acceptance? They aren’t making much of an impact when they are showing women who are tone, sexy, tall, and skinny loving themselves. It is the real women with real bodies that need to be inspired to love themselves. This commercial to me seems like brainwashing on a gold platter that Victoria Secret is feeding to young girls who already have messed up enough perceptions of themselves.
Comment by Melody S. — May 27, 2012 @ 8:01 pm
I’m watching this ad and I’m thinking that all it’s saying is “you will love your body when you’re this thin, too!” What about showing girls of all different shapes and sizes embracing their bodies? All I see is “love yourself” but undermined by “only love yourself when you look like this”. I like the idea of a self-acceptance message, but we don’t need the body types that are perpetuating the problems to be the messengers. Victoria’s Secret is clearly defining what is sexy by showing these models, and now, if anything, girls will feel less like loving their bodies when they compare themselves to these unrealistic models. I LOVED reading Andrea Annderson’s post, when she pointed out that the commercial said “there’s a body for every body” but really only showed one body type. And don’t even get me started on the Victoria’s Secret fashion show…
Comment by Lyndsay A. — May 30, 2012 @ 2:29 pm
Do the women in this ad really love their body? Of course they do, I would love that body too if I had it. Being thin is a good feeling I will admit. The hardest thing about being thin is always maintaining that weight. These women must starve themselves in order to maintain this weight. Keeping your body a certain way is truly a day to day job. Maintaining this impossible body image is the job of these models, they are getting paid for their physical appearance.
Comment by Mary Marrone — May 30, 2012 @ 3:20 pm
I’m sure very few readers will appreciate this, but believe me it’s true: calling some women “toothpicks” is just as offensive as any degrading name targeted at curvy or “real” women. I am naturally thin, even more so than any of those models, and there is nothing I can do about it. You act as if seeing women who look like you will help, but it really doesn’t. (Consider Kim Kardashian, who everyone thinks is pretty and hot- realistically, a thin girl cannot naturally be equipped with those assets!) So, if you are trying to empower women, don’t us size 0 or 2 girls down, because if you really want acceptance of every type of beauty, you’ll have to include me, too. Really think about this issue before you start calling women toothpicks.
Comment by Fey — May 30, 2012 @ 7:22 pm
When i first started thinking about what im going to comment i didnt really have anything to say cause i was frustrated. Of course these women LOVE their bodies. If i had a perfect petite body, slim arms, nice bone structure and a perfect butt i would LOVE my body too. whats not to love?? These women have personal chefs, personal trainers, personal hair, makeup, and clothing stylists so yeah they’re always going to look perfect. But there’s nothing different from this ad then every other ad out there. maybe V.S. should put a curvier women. i get its a big jump from skinny to plus size but they should put at least a little curvier girl in the bunch. they should make the customers who are mostly women feel comfortable but these ads are totally targeted to men.
Comment by Samina Abgin — October 17, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
Victoria Secrets advertising campaign as “I Love My Body†is just the same as any of their other ads. The models are same type of models they use in every ad pin thin legs, flat tummies, and have breasts the so called “ideal woman†in the media. I get that the company is trying to show their critics that are not selling theses products for men’s pleasure but for woman. But they do a very terrible job executing there ad campaign. If they seriously were trying to appeal to woman than they should have used “real woman†in there advertisement like the blogger Rachel O. suggested. If they used real woman in their ads it would actually sell to a broader consumer of woman who aren’t so petite but also those with curvy bodies. Instead Victoria Secrets campaign ad for “I Love My Body†used woman that the mass media portrays as the ideal woman a thin frame with big breasts. When in reality woman those thin don’t have big breasts and the ones that do have breasts are labeled as curvy. So how is this in any way encouraging woman to love their bodies if they don’t have that “ideal type of body?†This ideal body in the ad is pretty impossible to achieve not to mention all the models in that campaign had personal trainers, personal nutrients, makeup artists, professional photographers, a lot of lighting, and probably some Photoshop to make their bodies look like the “ideal woman.â€The company also is not selling anything new to the consumers of woman that they claim that they advertise to because they only have a hand full of sizes that fit petite bodies and leave all the curvy voluptuous bodies out of there consumers. This ad is pretty despicable for an ad encouraging woman to love their body when in fact they are adding to the stress to achieve a body image that is unattainable.
Comment by TasnimD — October 30, 2012 @ 10:16 am
Victoria Secret is know for their beautiful, skinny, exotic (most of the time) looking models. Even thought I don’t look a thing like the models, I don’t have a problem with this ad at all. It may be because I love models in general, but it just doesn’t. However, I can see how it is problematic. Victoria Secret models fit the norm of what our society consider’s beautiful and normal, so for them to say they love their bodies is neither unique or revolutionary. It’s just not, because the world already sees them as the most beautiful. And it makes to strive to change our view on body shapes, and the way in which they’re presented in our culture. Even though they’re encouraging women to love their bodies, all these girls have the same body type, so it’s not giving a message of reassurance, but a message that THIS is the body type that is beautiful. Of course the consumer will see into this as they please, but in the end it’s just an ad for women to buy their product. Plus, I feel like the Victoria’s Secret models are what women WANT to be, so seeing them only makes them want the product more.
Comment by SoleilH — November 4, 2012 @ 12:15 am
This advertisement goes against everything that it says! They are trying to attract people to their products by making this “revolutionary†advertisement that these models love their bodies and that there’s a body for everybody…well all I see here is reverse psychology!! If there really was a body for everyone then put models with different bodies to represent everyone! Stop continuing to put these anorexic looking girls which are far from the typical body and are either received through their genetics or for the majority of times by the help of the medias best friend… photo shop!
Comment by PanteaP — November 4, 2012 @ 9:11 am
Simply put, it is not hard to love your body when everyone around you loves your body. Body image is most often a refelection of the messages about our body that we internalize from the world aorund us. The real victory in loving ones body is in loving even a body that is atypical or not ideal. To love one’s body is to take care of it and to be comfortable in it. If I love my body it is becuase I feel my body is an expression of me. This Victoria Secret campaign completly misunderstands this point.
Comment by MansourR — November 4, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
Well, in my opinion i think that Victoria Secret promoters are absolutely wrong and unjust for promoting only thin petite women models for there clothing line. Because not all women are thin and petite and similar to the models that are hired to promote Victorias Secret clothing line. And are also wrong for sending the wrong message to women and our society that being thin and petite and also being a size 0 is the only kind of attractive and appealing women in our society.
Comment by Danny S — November 4, 2012 @ 6:28 pm
“I love my body, my body is sexy”
Now that we know what a sexy body looks like, and have been taught that sexy women are desirable, then if my body also looks like these Victoria Secret models bodies, then I too will be sexy and love my body. Thanks for the uplifting message Victoria Secret. I really feel like I can love and accept my body for what it is now that I’ve received this clear message and realization that my body looks NOTHING like yours.
Every time I go into a VS store and try on some of those sexy bra’s with my size A breasts, I look in that changing rooms mirror and feel completely shitty about myself. Probably because by the time I’ve entered the store and reached that dressing room, I’ve been flooded by images of “perfect” models. So once I’m in that room, with my shirt off, and black lacy bra on, I feel too fat, too flat, and too hairy. And it’s because I’m subconsciously comparing my body, breast size, and hairiness to those seven angels and become depressed that I don’t look, and will probably never, look like them.
But what I consciously need to remind myself of is that these angels don’t even look like this. These images are photoshopped to perfection, and then advertised to us while setting an unobtainable standard of beauty. Also, these models are paid to dedicate their lives to look like this. If I was able to dedicate my entire day to beautifying myself, working out, and dieting with a full team of professionals, I might also look like this. Fortunately, I go to school, have a job, and have applications to universities to fill out. Sorry I’m not sorry that I can’t dedicate my entire day towards our media’s image of “perfect”, “beautiful”, and “sexy”.
Comment by Jasmine F — November 7, 2012 @ 8:21 pm
These women in the “I love my body” advertisement are absolutely beautiful even though they probably are photoshopped.I agree with how the article should have girls in different sizes.They should have women that are beautiful and curvy because if the message of this ad is to love your body,then it needs to represent women of different sizes.If it only shows skinny women then its going to say if you’re skinny then you should love your body because that is the only type of girl that’s beautiful.I think girls that are curvy that have a Kim kardashian type body are just as beautiful as the petite women in these Victoria’s secret advertisements.
Comment by Saman M. — November 10, 2012 @ 6:00 pm
I find it hilarious that in the video the narrator says “Their is a body for everybody”, which is saying that you should love your body no matter what type it is, YET they only show one body type; skinny, tiny torso, long legs, and big chest. It is actually kind of funny that this was Victorias Secret attempt at being more open minded and accepting of average sized body types. They might have the right slogan but the image to go along with it is completely contradictory. It no surprise you “love your body”, so does everyone else because we are bombarded with this body type every day! What Victorias Secret really should have done was still have the theme “i love my body” but chose girls with all different types of body shapes, heights, and ethnicity’s, Now,that would be a powerful commercial.
Comment by Jasmine B (Women Studies 10 scholars t,th) — November 15, 2012 @ 5:16 pm
I’m not sure whether this particular ad makes me more insecure about my body or not but I do know that it does not make me appreciate my curves or my big thighs. I believe VS does appeal to one body type and if most women do not look like this particular body type how could they sell the idea of loving your body. In fact, this ad would probably make women despise their bodies because they have different imperfections that advertisers want to omit from advertisements. How can advertisers be so ignorant of the fact that all women are not size zero and by them blatantly telling women that photo- shopped, unreal images is what they must attain to love their body is extremely disappointing.
Comment by Anhjia L — November 16, 2012 @ 10:32 am
I find this article offensive towards any girl that feels discomfort about her body. I believe that the media shouldn’t tell you what has value and what doesn’t. In contrary, I believe that people should tell media what’s important and what isn’t. In comparison to the amount of viewers the media has, the media itself is controlled by a small group of people. By simply watching the television we are giving the media power. This needs to stop because women need to learn that they are beautiful just the way they are. They need to also learn to stop believing everything they see and understand that the images that are being displayed are photo-shopped. If more women had knowledge about this then the depression and suicide rate would decrease dramatically.
Comment by Alexander K (Wom.10 Scholars) — November 16, 2012 @ 1:46 pm
I think it is hilarious, and at the same time sad, that Victoria’s Secret is promoting to “love your body” but the models that they are showing that supposedly “love their body” are models that all look the same, and meet the usual social standards. That being that they are mostly white skinned (only one African American), thin, and virtually flawless. This does not, in any way, promote that different types of bodies are still desirable. I believe that they should have had different models, with different skin tones, and different body shapes. That might have made a a little better.
Comment by Tiffany N. — November 19, 2012 @ 12:26 pm
I definitely agree with this article! It is unfair and excluding to those who are not as skinny as the models in the ad. It is not relatable to all women and can definitely make many women who do not have the same body type as those models, feel extremely insecure. Everyone should love their body even if it does not look like that of the Victoria Secret’s models. It is targeted more towards male viewers, than women who want to purchase bras. This ad also supports the claim that you must be extremely thin in order to be beautiful, which is very wrong. It encourages women to live up to these impossible images and try to become flawless and “perfect†like these photo shopped models.
Comment by NatashaN — November 25, 2012 @ 8:12 pm
At first I was a bit skeptical as to why the campaign was called “I love My Bodyâ€. Personally I love a woman with a thin body, but on the other hand what’s not to love about a larger body. A sexy body is a sexy body and it will always turn me on. I love how they are showing women to love their bodies, however everyone must keep in mind that they are VICTORIA SECRET MODELS. The fact that they are promoting this makes other women feel bad who do not have this body. This is why so many women have issues with what they look like today because you have skinny and sexy women saying that they love their body. These women that are saying they love their bodies’ makes women with average size bodies hate themselves. The media has made young women think as though this is the standard of beauty, and every woman who wants to be beautiful should look like this. This generation of young women and girls are disgusted with their bodies. They struggle with body image, low self-esteem, and dieting.
Comment by Edwin S. — November 25, 2012 @ 11:17 pm
Of course these thin, lean, toned women love their body. Ads like this are meant to made by curvy women who know and appreciate their body and love it for what it is. Also, a true ad that is trying to show appreciation for different body types should actually show, different body types, not all the women having the same thin bodies. The only diversity showed in this advertisement was with the women having different skin colors, not different body types, which is the whole point in the ad. All the women found in this advertisement are those who fit society’s desires as well as those of men and the media. These bodies are now the standard of beauty and make all women strive for this look. Just forget the fact that all women are built different with different curves in different places. Looking like this is all that needs to be done, forget the sickness and diseases, you just need to look like this at the end of the day. This is the message that this advertisement is trying to portray to young women today. If you look like this, you will “love your body”.
Comment by Tiffany S. — November 28, 2012 @ 10:26 am
Advertisements like this one are equivalent to a slap in the face for average sized healthy women. They portray thin and unrealistic looking women. Women that we don’t consider being the girl next door. We see them loving their bodies. What’s wrong about it is that for many women who are going through body issues and have low self esteem a super thin flawless model telling us every hour or so when the commercial plays that SHE loves HER body isn’t helping solve any problem. Of course she loves her body! She is considered beautiful by society’s standards. But what about the rest of us women? Who aren’t sculpted to represent a victoria’s secret model. I suppose we are expected to look like those models to feel and be beautiful in our own skin.
Comment by RosaE — November 28, 2012 @ 2:54 pm
I love my body! Of course you do you are a VS model. I agree, if this had a little diversity it would help take a little layer of dislike to most of fashion designers and their closed minded views on size. Approaching the highly anticipated yearly event the VS fashion show, I along with majority of women put down what ever we are eating once the show starts. To prove how distorted media is to get all of us in the paranoid state of mind I saw in a magazine the sneak preview coverage of the show.
The spread was about how great the models look after a short amount of time since they gave birth. For most women it’s an unrealistic challenge to look anything like these exaggerated beauties while alone attempt to be able to walk the runway as the famous VS model Adrianna Lima did: who gave birth 8 weeks ago. Women need to understand that models are paid to take care of themselves, it’s their job to be at the gym with a personal trainer. Keep it calm, cool and realistic. We are all unique and have to remember that is the beauty.
Comment by MilaB — December 2, 2012 @ 2:22 am
I would have to agree with this article because out of all the years i’ve been seeing Victoria Secret ads i have to say that i have never once seen any of their models as real full sized women that you see in reality. Victoria Secrets might sale to women but they advertise to me, which i dont see the point of that if the merchandise is for women. I mean i’m a woman and watching other women about ten times smaller than me, hard toned bodies in sexy night wear or under garments doesnt make me want to run out and buy whatever their saleing it just makes me feel worse about my own looks and that what Victoria Secret company needs to realize that they are not helping women feel better about themselves but much worse than they already do.
Comment by Carmel — December 2, 2012 @ 7:11 pm
After reading this article I come to agree with what the author is arguing. Although they are promoting a “I love my body” campaign, they are sending the message that the models, who are thin and all look the same, are comfortable with their bodies. In reality, only a few women across the United States have a body that is very similar to that of a Victoria’s Secret model. a majority of women are fuller figured and this campaign only objectifies women and lowers their self-esteem. Women and girls will have a different body image and will think that in order to love their body they must look like the models, who all look the same. If anything, Victoria’s Secret could have features a variety of models with different body types.
Comment by Angella F — December 2, 2012 @ 9:54 pm
It would appear that Victoria Secrets views the spectrum of body types to be inclusive only of skin tones and hair colors. In the ending of the ad, they were all of similar heights, similar proportions and similar model builds. I wonder what they meant by the phrase, “I love my body.” It may appear to be an empowering statement however, it further alienates one with a body type that falls outside that category. Imagine how it feels to try that lingerie on in the dressing room and it doesn’t look as good on you as it did in the video. Then does that mean your body is not worth loving? Knowing the fluid sociohistorical nature of the standards of beauty, what can one do when the cultural standards of beauty in their time just doesn’t match their body. I agree that there should have been a broader display of body types. By only portraying the build of a model, it reinforces the idea that it is attainable by all. And it creates unrealistic expectations from both genders.
Comment by Sharon K. — December 3, 2012 @ 6:10 am
I resent the Victoria Secret “I love my body” Campaign because it’s commercializing on a real problem A LOT of women have when it comes to actually fully loving their bodies. Of course those models appear like they love their bodies (I’m not saying they love themselves in real life, but they do for the sake of the promotion) but practically everyone loves their bodies. That’s why they’re models. This campaign totally under-represents all of the women out there who don’t have the time to be perfect. Or they don’t have the time to be photoshopped.
Comment by Tiana R.Q — December 3, 2012 @ 8:52 pm
I really want to just say wow to this ad campaign by Victorias Secret. Like really? Yea I would love my body too if it looked that way. Guess ill just have to stop eating and photoshop all my pictures. I just wish that I could see an average woman of average weight in these ads, because bras are for comfort for me and I don’t feel comfortable in them because I don’t look like those models. This is what makes woman and girls feel like there is something wrong with them and why depression rates in woman are high. This commercial isn’t even for woman, its for men because in patriarchy a mans view of a woman is more important than a woman’s view of herself. We need to express our need to see more diverse body shapes and to get rid of photo shop it doesn’t do anyone good.
Comment by Lucy M — December 3, 2012 @ 10:01 pm
This video is basically selling sex. This was society portrays as a “perfect body”. Many insecure females crave this, they will do anything to get a victoria secret body. Such as starving themselves and even making themselves throw up. I feel Victoria Secret should start having a more of variety women with different body shapes and cultural.
Comment by Oliver M — December 3, 2012 @ 11:12 pm
Dove’s real beauty ad compared to this Victoria’s Secret ad stands out the a dove among crows. For one, these women are just unreal. I pass by the huge posters in the mall and I feel completely disproportional in comparison to them. And that’s the thing–you can’t help but compare. So when one sees an advertisement (because that’s what it is, not an inspirational message) of Victoria’s Secret models stating that they love their bodies, the first response that should come to their minds is “no, shit.” An ordinary non-model woman might look at this ad and think to herself that she wishes she could love her body too, that she would if she looked like one of them. What really ticks me off though is the fact that these models probably don’t really love their bodies. Models are more inclined toward eating disorders and body dysmorphia because of what is expected of them, and they probably deal with self-image problems such as this every day. This ad is a lie to the people it is presented to and the company presenting it, and the sad thing is, people from both parties fall for it every time.
Comment by Michelle G — December 4, 2012 @ 12:02 pm
I completely agree with this post. Its very ironic how the models are campaigning a self acceptance post, yet the females in the bras and underwear have flawless bodies. Its unreal for girls that buy their products to look the way the models do. If they used girls that had more realistic body types, then it would make sense with what Victoria Secret is trying to promote. I guess in a way they believe that they can attract more customers by using models like that, but they shouldn’t even be promoting self acceptance in the first place if that was the case.
Comment by BrittanyP — December 4, 2012 @ 6:39 pm
Victoria Secret has been one of many companies that look like its ad is made for men. They try to show men that they deserve women that look like their models. Sexy, thin and beautiful. And their message to women is to buy their products, so they can “love their body”!! this is completely ridiculous and it promotes the idea of women comparing themselves with nonexistent people and helping them to be unhappy with their bodies and have a low self esteem. Bulimia, easting disorders, starvation and suicide are the causes of Victoria secret ads. Great job Victoria Secret!
Comment by Nazli C — December 5, 2012 @ 10:14 am
I don’t think that this ad is insulting to most women in general I just think that the ad should have used different types of models. Using the same body type models and saying that they love their body shows that they love THAT body type and not anything is which might make everyone else feel bad about their body types. I am not that skinny and perfect and I don’t feel bad about my body after watching that Ad but there are women who have low self esteems and will make a tremendous change in the way they look just because of this ad they saw.
Comment by CharlleneA — December 5, 2012 @ 11:50 am
I work at Victoria Secret and its sad how plus size woman are always questoning them selfs and us if we have there size in our store. When a plus size woman asked me if we carry a double D I told her in all our catorgorise we do. She didnt believe me at first. I want the company to advertize more plus size woman so these woman wont question us if we have what they want. It might help the company get more income if they show that we have everyones size. The media thinks tooth pick woman are only going to make companies look better if they have them, little do they know that there are 40% or more woman plus size then small size.This world need to come up with another plan when the woman stop paying attenetion to the media and there advertazing.
Comment by Alejandra A — December 5, 2012 @ 4:39 pm
After watching the 30 second clip on Victoria Secret’s ad campaign, “I love my body,†I have to admit, I don’t blame these women admitting that they do love they’re bodies. Why wouldn’t they? It’s so obvious that they would because they fall under what the society accepts. However, if this is an ad to promote self-acceptance, they are failing. They’re promoting only one type of look: the skinny, sexy and beautiful. What they could have done was to use a variety of models in different shapes and sizes. Displaying only one body type only means that this is the only body type that is acceptable and nothing else. It’s only advertising that the only women who love their bodies are the ones who look like these models. Does this mean that all other women should hate their bodies? No it doesn’t, but this ad helps cause their hate towards their body. It’s just a disgrace to all those women who are trying so hard and killing themselves to look like these “ideal†women.
Comment by Shaina M — December 5, 2012 @ 7:32 pm
Whats ironic is that most likely just all of the Victoria’s Secret don’t love their bodies. Ive read article after article about how these girls take drugs to stay that skinny. Not to mention they basically starve themselves to stay that skinny. That is not love.
After taking the women’s’ studies class I feel much better about my body and find many other body types beautiful as well. I hope to one day live in a world that embraces the many beautiful and healthy body types that exist. Im sure if companies had naturally petite asian models, athletic african american models, or curvy Latina models it wouldn’t result in a decrease in sales. I see only an upside.
Comment by OliviaW — December 5, 2012 @ 8:32 pm
All this ad seems to do is rub in how inadequate most women feel about their bodies. It just further shames women who aren’t stick figures. I agree that Victoria’s Secret seems to cater more to men’s desires than woman’s needs. Someone who doesn’t understand how the media shames average people might look at this ad and feel inadequate. But these models have a body type that is rare, and they all look the same.
Comment by Taylor W — December 5, 2012 @ 10:17 pm
Victoria Secret is definitely known to have the most gorgeous girls with the best bodies, to bad there are advertisements showing off their bodies when not every women out there are able to look like them. Personally being a man i really enjoyed this advertisement and even though the product being advertise was not intended for men, the advertisement really caught my attention and made me finish it to see the end.
Comment by Jimmy S — December 5, 2012 @ 10:25 pm
Being that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show was last night, I now know 50+ girls on diets. Victoria’s Secret has turned into the new playboy, the only difference is that these models are supposed to be selling something for women, not men. In reality, most of these models do not have a healthy diet, and most have implants. “We love our bodies” may suit the girls, but not :we love ourselves”. These girls are literally torturing themselves in order to be the perfect icon for mens fantasies.
Comment by Carolyne A — December 6, 2012 @ 12:58 am
I think this Victoria Secret ad can be offensive to women and girls who don’t have a body image like these models. It’s nice that they love their body, but it sounds like they are sending out a message that you are only beautiful if your body looks as nice and thin as theirs. It would also be appropriate to use models with different shapes and sizes to show that not only one style of body image is accepted by the society. Unfortunately, it does not work this way. This also open men’s eyes to believe that a body like a Victoria Secret model is the best fit body image for a woman to have. There are a lot of girls and women who are not happy with the way their body looks and after looking at these models, it can make them feel worse about themselves.
Comment by Shahriar M. — December 6, 2012 @ 1:09 am
I agree that they should not be promoting loving your body without showing women that are more plus-sized (or at least not all extremely skinny). When they show all models as being skinny with the phrase love your body, it only contributes more to criticizing your own body image than it would if they posed without the phrase. When they don’t include models that are more curvy or full-figured, they are essentially promoting the idea that you can only love your body if you are super skinny and all glommed up. If they really wanted to make it and ad for the normal woman about loving her own body, they should have, as you said, included models that do represent different body types and possibly women without makeup.
Comment by Matthew H. — December 6, 2012 @ 6:15 am
This is just funny to me. It is nothing new. Victoria’s Secret does not need to come out with this advertisement called “I Love My Body.†Looking throughout the history of the models of Victoria’s Secret they have all been the same type of body modeling for these things. Okay so one might have had an inch of fat on her than the other girls but it is not something that everyone could point out. It is put out there that there is no such a thing as having the perfect body unless you are skinny and tall. Instead of them bringing all the same looking girls with the same body type they should bring women who have a curvy body, change the advertisement for once.
Comment by Daniella L — January 27, 2013 @ 2:37 pm
I agree with this article because its great that these women love their bodies, but its not the average women being shown, its the same typical skinny, tall, flat stomach and why wouldn’t they love their body when it is known in society as “the perfect body.” These advertisements really affect young girls today as well because it sends the message to viewers of these advertisements on tv and in stores that this is how you should look like to “love your body.” When in reality, most of the pictures are photoshopped and average women and girls have curves that are just as beautiful. Victoria’s Secret should put out new campaigns of various women that have different shapes and sizes that say they love their body so people in society can actually relate to the women and they can have the confidence and self esteem to say that they love their bodies too.
Comment by Shannon Ha — January 29, 2013 @ 11:17 am
This article accurately explains the prime reason why the majority of women have body issues. The bodies of Victoria’s Secret models are the product of photo shop, winning the genetic lottery, and good lighting. The majority of women in the world do not look anything like these thin hipped, large breasted women. However, because of the immense amount of positive attention these models receive from men, the rest of the women in society feel pressured to look like “toothpicksâ€. Personally, I believe that it is shameful for these models to claim that they “love their bodiesâ€. In reality, these models are probably suffering from an eating disorder, disordered eating, and major self-confidence issues. In addition to these problems, the models are harassed by companies to look even thinner, and then photo shopped to “perfectionâ€. A change in the marketing of Victoria’s Secret would be the start of putting an end to the self-consciousness of women. The models would have to represent women of all body types; tall, short, skinny, fat, curvy, thin, etc. As a result, all women would begin to finally TRULY love their bodies.
Comment by Shannon He — January 31, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
I don’t believe that all these women are in love with their bodies in reality. And even if they are, then that shouldn’t be the standard for feminine beauty. These women that say they are pleased with their bodies all look similar to each other. They are all portraying that same tall and thin woman which every woman should apparently try to be. But if they really wanted to prove something, then they would portray women of different shapes and sizes. I believe that this is the wrong method for which this advertisement should raise self-esteem. This only results in women looking at these models and being shameful that they are not like these models.
Comment by Michael Z — February 1, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
This really hits the nail on the head. These products may be made for women but the ads seem to be made for men. It’s because of ads like these that women are so hyper critical of their own bodies. I’m absolutely positive that none of these super models ever wake up in the morning thinking “I hate my body I’m too skinny”. This ad doesn’t advocate acceptance of all body types infact it does the complete opposite. It makes people more aware of their own flaws and short comings.
Comment by Alireza D. — February 3, 2013 @ 11:03 pm
Victoria Secret has always been controversial. A commercial like “I love my body,†promotes that you can only love your body if you are thin. Recently, I watched a TedX video in my class in which Cameron Russell was telling that audience that models are the most insecure women in the world. That does not surprise me. When you are in the public eye constantly and need to maintain the image that made you famous in the first place, it puts a pressure on you whether you like it or not. So when I see these women making these commercials, all I can do is laugh and think how hypocritical.
Comment by Sam B. — February 3, 2013 @ 11:17 pm
The whole point of this advertisement is to encourage women to accept and love their bodies. But by having thin models in this ad won’t do it and in fact has an opposite effect. Therefore by trying to ameliorate this notion of body image for average women, it’s only making it worst. This advertisement is implying that women should inherently look like this, and once they do they should be proud and love their bodies. Therefore i find this victoria secret add to be very contradictory.
Comment by Mariya A — February 5, 2013 @ 6:29 pm
I’m sure that if these model’s ‘love their bodies’, they must love the effects of photoshop even more! I find that Victoria’s Secret ads only make women feel worse about their bodies while at the same time raising a males expectations of what a female body should look like. This is very concerning since the images one is looking at are digitally retouched to hide any ‘flaws’ these women may have, therefore making them ‘perfect’. Models are under this constant pressure themselves to try and keep their bodies in the best shape ever. They try to live up to the image of them in the magazine which has been photoshopped and this just makes reaching that goal impossible. It concerns me to think about how the younger generations of girls and boys will act when it comes to body image.
Comment by Jonathan M — February 5, 2013 @ 7:14 pm
I feel that all this ad is doing is showing the same exact ad with the same exact looking models and putting a different slogan on it. I think that this ad is insulting to most women in general and the ad should have used different types of models. It is hurting girls with low self esteem, when they watch this they feel like they will never be beautiful By using the same body type models and saying that they love their body only shows that girls with that body type love their bodies and makes every other girl feel bad about their body.
Comment by Ashley H. — February 7, 2013 @ 12:34 am
I think that this ad is insulting girls with different body types. It is hurting girls with low self esteem, when they watch this they feel like they will never be beautiful By using the same body type models and saying that they love their body only shows that girls with that body type love their bodies and makes every other girl feel bad about their body.
Comment by Ashley H. — February 7, 2013 @ 12:36 am
I completely agree with this blog post. In our generation today, the majority of women have self-esteem and body issues because of these thin, gorgeous models. Although these models are pretty, a lot of photo shop and editing is done to make them look how they do. Living for eighteen years now, most women are incomparable to these thin, pretty, full-chested models. From my own eyes, I see that men love these model like figures making the rest of our women in society feeling bad about themselves. I believe when models say, “I love my body†in reality they don’t. Its unfortunate because these models have to starve themselves and possibly have an eating disorder to actually look how they look. I’m sure the models lack self-confidence. I also believe these models are always being told to watch their weight and not eat a lot. This can really harm models and lead to serious illness. I believe if Victoria Secret hired different kids of models such as tall, voluptuous, fat, and curvy this will make women less insecure and feel better about their bodies and figures. Unfortunately, I don’t believe this will ever happen because the ideal figure is considered skinny and curvy.
Comment by Jnaziri — February 20, 2013 @ 10:07 pm
First off, to be honest, i do not consider half of these women to be “hot” or “sexy”, just because they oil up their bodies and have tans to show their tone figure does not mean that they are “hot”. (Just thought i would put that out there). Secondly, i do agree with this article and it is really insulting to putting only “hot” women as their models to sell their product rather than have a diversity of sizes. However, a counter-argument to that could be that they are trying to show that wearing their bras makes you feel “hot”? No idea. Whatever the reason might be, it can cause a lot of controversy. In addition, responding to the post above, i do feel that some of these women actually do not “love their body” as i know many people are diagnosed with Body dysmorphic disorder and noone even knows about it.
Comment by Jonathan Y — February 25, 2013 @ 1:33 am
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some may find these women attractive while others may not. However, it comes down to the marketability of the women presenting the products. The lingerie does not sell itself; the models who have been deemed as the cornerstone of sexuality do. Victoria’s Secret was founded by Roy Raymond; a man who was too embarrassed to purchase lingerie for his wife. This brings upon another idea that this is not a brand whose marketing campaign is aimed at women by women. It is a brand whose marketing campaign is aimed at women by men who have decided what women should aim to achieve. These women have the genetic predisposition to achieve this body structure (with a strict diet and workout regiment as well) while the majority of women do not. Again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, therefore it is not fair to say that all those who do not look like Victoria’s Secret models have been hurt by these images, as others may find this body type beautiful. An example of comparison across genders is Abercrombie and Fitch. This is a company that is the male counter-part to Victoria’s Secret, which pioneered the modern age of human sexuality as the ultimate selling point. Like Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch aims to sell to a certain demographic through their borderline pornographic marketing campaign. While it is up to the individual to decide whether or not they adore and uphold the ideals of the company, the numbers stand and the idea remains that sex sells, even to the same gender.
Comment by Darien a. — March 17, 2013 @ 8:44 pm
The Victoria’s Secret advertisement belongs to the dark ages – to a time when it was acceptable to use the tallest, thinnest, and most beautifully proportioned women dressed to appeal exclusively to men, to advertise clothes for women. I thought this kind of unrealistic and for most women completely unachievable body image ‘went out’ 10 years ago, in favor of normal or plus-size proportions. Where have the Victoria’s Secret marketing executives been living? And then to have their pencil-thin models dress in flirty underwear and say “I love my body†tells essentially all other women not to love theirs! I think all thinking women should reject Victoria’s Secret – dropping sales will bring them back!
Comment by Lois P — April 19, 2013 @ 2:28 pm
When I read this article and I saw that it said “I love My bodyâ€. This first thing that came to my mind was “well I would too if I was as tall and skinny as them.†However, I later realized that it was advertising the bra and it was the breast size they were talking about. But this advertisement was a little confusing because the women advertizing this product were tall thin models who majority of them have implants. Over all I had mixed feelings about this add.
Comment by Jasmin H — April 30, 2013 @ 10:18 pm
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation however I to find this topic to be really one thing which I think I would never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very huge for me. I’m having a look ahead in your subsequent put up, I’ll try to get the cling of it!
Comment by Feel sexy in beautiful lingerie. — May 6, 2013 @ 8:37 pm
I agree that this ad should put models with different shapes and sizes instead of solely this one uniformly societal view of women. This advertisement shows the world that these models love their bodies because they are thin and tall, but would they love their bodies if they had to face an eating disorder to maintain that kind of body? Health comes first, and some girls are not genetically capable of having a figure like those models. So, I don’t see a point of making so many girls uncomfortable with their bodies. Society has such a one dimensional view about beauty and this causes so many problems for people who try to achieve this unrealistic perfection.
Comment by Ashley K. — May 9, 2013 @ 4:47 pm
This definitely reminds me of the commodification of grrl power by corporations in the late 90s. Victoria’s Secret, one of the most egregious purveyors of a one-dimensional beauty image, are trying to tap into the feminist ideal of self-love and body acceptance to sell their product. It is an incredibly transparent and hypocritical move, and as you said, they didn’t even try to change the models or anything. Just slapping an “I LOVE MY BODY” caption across the usual group of thin models isn’t really going to encourage any kind of body acceptance.
I have many naturally skinny friends and believe that all bodies are beautiful, but the lack of representation of all body types, mostly plus-size, is discouraging to girls and women that feel that their bodies are not desirable. Skinniness is emphasized, and if you’re not skinny, you’re not attractive enough to be a part of the campaign. And while these models “love their bodies”, it sends the message that anyone who falls outside of their image does not or should not love themselves.
Comment by Chandler L. — May 10, 2013 @ 12:01 am
For a fairly long time I was completely blinded by the fact that Victoria’s Secret uses the same size and body type models to advertise underwear; which is a product literally every single type of body style wears. These types of images for these advertisements were so socially embedded in my mind that at first it was difficult to realize the underlying issue. It makes absolutely no sense to have women with the same exact, unrealistic body type to sell underwear because most of their consumers don’t even look like that. Yet, consumers are seeing these models and wanting to feel sexy too in their Victoria’s Secret underwear. If my body looked like their’s, I’m sure I would be in love with my body too. Many mainstream themes are being portrayed in this advertisement, such as the ideal beauty image, sexuality, as well as the products are being sexualized. I completely agree that these products could almost appear as striving for a target audience of men, but it is also clear how this works to promote female consumers.
Comment by Jacklynn Morris — May 15, 2013 @ 2:18 pm
Wow this add just made me feel so fat about my self. I really want to head over to Victoria to have the body. Wow. I mean their “ is a body for everybody†what!! Hold up! I don’t even see seven different type of women in their commercial. I saw a bunch of women who had the same type of body’s wearing different color bras with shades. Victoria secret has been a outrage, and is selling these thin images of body’s to women. The commercial is also trying to see its products to women saying that if you buy our bras you will have this type of body. Well the commercial sure did convince me. This attention attracts women to go purchase these items such as my self. I believe that Victoria commercials are way over the line and are trying to tell most women not to accept their own body the way it is. There is something wrong with our body so we have to go get theirs. The add is dangerous especially to young teens. I believe women and young teens are not fully aware of what the message is trying to tell them, because their so in to how their body is going to be with the bra they get. I believe laundry should be respected and not put in public like that. The commercial also came out as a abuse to me because its teaching young men on television that women have to wear certain bra brand and be a certain way to have the body. Women should be more educated and respected I believe.
Comment by Sam F — May 16, 2013 @ 4:24 am
If the message of this advertisement was made to support “body acceptance”, it has completely failed. Watching this commerical, all I could feel was self-loathing for my own body. Yes, it is good that the Victoria Secret models love their bodies – but then again, they have a body type that is largely praised and desired (due to Western standards of beauty). As the author stated, the message would carry more weight, so to speak, if they used models of different sizes and shapes. Using the same, skinny, carbon copy model does nothing to promote body acceptance. As someone else stated above, this is an all too familiar case of commercializing on the popular concept of body acceptance. Sure, you can love your body…IF you buy this seventy dollar bra. This is a purely hypocritical move by Victoria Secret.
Comment by Presley B — May 18, 2013 @ 11:49 am
This is a gross attempt by Victoria’s Secret to disguise body hatred as self love. The only message this ad is giving is that you too can love your body, but only if you look like a Victoria’s Secret model. This would get me to stop shopping at Victoria’s Secret if I already hadn’t considering the first time I went there and I asked why they didn’t have any 36Ds on display, they instructed me they only keep them in the back. I guess they don’t “love” my body!
Comment by Jessica P. — May 20, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
I wasn’t surprised to uncover a profitable purpose behind the Victoria’s Secret campaign about women loving and embracing their bodies. To myself I thought, “Well of course you love your bodies, you’re all size 2 with massive breasts and toned thighs!” This campaign is useless, not because it only shows slim models with “perfect” bodies, but the fact that it doesn’t show REAL women. To me, it basically advocates that only women with figures similar to these models may be allowed to embrace their bodies and wear bras and panties so freely, and REAL women with REAL bodies may not.
Comment by RoxanaGM — May 24, 2013 @ 7:40 am
Watching the Victoria Secret ad made me feel so ugly and actually dislike some parts of my body. Clearly, the true intention of this ad was made to promote/ sell Victoria secret clothing and sell the idea of ideal beauty. This ad is actually lying to the viewers for several reasons. The models say they love their bodies, which is probably not true. Many models starve themselves, hate their bodies, and may even suffer from diseases such as anorexia. Secondly, this ad is false on a different level. These models are not only wearing tons of makeup on their faces and bodies, have been photoshopped on the screen, but have also been tanned and shaped to look toned and perfect with airbrush sprays. I find it disgusting that our society sees ideal beauty as a size double zero, tiny legs, large breasts, and large butts. It is disproportional and unreal. No one has that body and it is sad to see that this is what every girl dreams of having. The media has a huge influence on what is considered ideal and yet they decide to abuse their power by promoting unrealistic things, solely for their own benefit of selling more and more products. The media makes the ideal of thin bodies because they know it is unrealistic, yet they selfishly continue to do this in order to make more money by selling products such as diet bars, pushup bras, and more.
Comment by Jacqueline A. — May 25, 2013 @ 7:31 pm
Personally, I think that the models do not actually “love their bodies”. I believe that many of them must be on extreme diets to maintain their skinny body structure. In fact, some models eat cotton balls soaked in orange juice to subside their hunger. In addition, I think that the model’s breasts may be fake. There is a good chance that they have gone under the knife and has implants. Lastly, I hope girls and women do not compare themselves to these models. Just know that under all the makeup, implants, and digital alteration are models who need help before they become very sick or even worse die.
Comment by Bryan K — May 27, 2013 @ 12:58 am
I think this ad campaign by Victoria’s Secret is ridiculous. OBVIOUSLY these women love their bodies! They’re supermodels for one of the most prominent lingerie brands! Many girls die over their bodies and use these models and their killer bodies as inspiration, as their goal. Not only do the models love their bodies, but everyone loves their bodies. Maybe if they directed the campaign towards how wearing Victoria’s Secret makes them feel sexy, that would be better and wiser. After all, isn’t the lingerie what they should be selling? I guess women see these ads and assume that for them to love their body, they need to wear Victoria’s Secret. And I guess men see these ads and want to be with someone that looks like the models, so women try to look like the models do. Men might even encourage their ladies to go out and purchase Victoria’s Secret, if not go out themselves and buy it for them. Overall, I think the ad is ridiculous.
Comment by Neda S — May 29, 2013 @ 11:07 am
This is so hilarious to me. Victoria’s Secret is so hypocritical and contradictory. First, they photoshop KNEE CAPS off their models (this is real), and now they have the sexiest models posing in their push-up bras, all about loving their bodies. I have a couple things to say that will sound contadictory, as well, but it has to be said.
First off, I am not model perfect (no one is, not even the models haha) but I am very skinny, and I do love my body, and I don’t think that the fact that I love my body, as an average young woman, should be of any less “value” than if a thicker woman were to say she loved her body. I have a naturally small build, and it is so awkward when people begin to talk trash about skinny girls and how we make thicker girls feel uncomfortable, etc. For the record, we are normal human beings. We are not to blame for female insecurities because WE HAVE THEM, TOO! Advertisements are to blame. The media is to blame. Fashion corporations are to blame. I struggled with my body my entire life because I never felt feminine enough with small breasts and no hips. I hated myself, and ultimately I became “one of the guys”, never seeing the feminine beauty I saw in other women (REAL women, since models are unreal). Even Victoria Secret models make skinny girls feel like crap because chances are, if you’re naturally skinny, you won’t have an extremely curvy body (unless you’re lucky, like my sisters). Those VS models have it all, which is obvious photoshop and bras 3 sizes too small. Also, I’m tired of hearing girls call me a “cokewhore” or anorexic because I’m skinny. Never done coke, and I like to eat. The point is, rather than girls turning against one another, we should fight the REAL problem, which is to no surprise, THE MEDIA! & companies that try to sell us.
The second thing I’d like to say is I actually work at Victoria’s Secret, and for the most part, they do have bras to fit anyone and to make everyone feel comfortable in their own skin (I only mention this because I can see where the ad was going). However, at work, we are brainwashed to believe that our company was made for women to love their bodies and to feel sexy all the time, but that’s total bull. I see right through all of that. We sell lingerie because nudity isn’t good enough. We sell push up bras that add two cup sizes! Oh baby, don’t you just love your fake body, you Bombshell? Yeah right. Women come into the store shopping for their man, hardly ever for themselves. 95% of the bras are uncomfortable and aren’t even for every day wear, only for one-night occasions. Only 5% of our bras are actually comfortable and those are the bras women buy for THEMSELVES, because they don’t have the intention of showing it off. In addition to this, VS is very geared towards men. Often time, it is the men that come into our store to buy their women lingerie that THEY would want her to wear. They also spend the most money in our stores.
These are all things I’ve been meaning to get off my chest but never found the place to do so. Also, I really hate my job and I’m thankful to be JUST a cashier, that way I don’t have to lie and sell crappy bras to women.
Comment by Ambar P. — May 29, 2013 @ 7:45 pm
I totally agree that if Victoria Secret was trying to promote a movement to help other women love their bodies they should not be doing so by showing 7 “perfect” women saying that they love their body. Everyone should love their body, but their body does not love to look the way these supermodels’ bodies look like. Once again it is important for people to know that a really small percentage of women have the body type that these super models have. People should not compare their bodies to the bodies of these models. This is just another scheme to make people believe that if they buy these bras they will feel sexy and feel like they love their body. Loving oneself and body comes from within, not from the bra you put on in the morning.
Comment by Ariella M — May 29, 2013 @ 8:53 pm
An “I Love My Body†campaign launched by a company that is famous for it’s perfect models sounds like such a joke to me. I used to be envious of the perfectly sculpted bodies I saw on VS ads and photos, but now I think it’s sad. No one considers what goes on behind closed doors. What isn’t pictured are the countless hours spent at the gym or on hair and makeup. These women live to make themselves beautiful. Prolific images of these models are not even real- they have been prolific images are not even real- they have been photo-shopped and tinkered with. A leading factor of socialization today is the media. It affects persons of all ages by creating a stream of images that reinforce one another to construct a frame of reality for us. That is the way we view ourselves and the world. If Victoria Secret really wants to send the message that women should love their body, then they should feature models of different sizes. Not everybody has a stick-thin figure. “Love my body†should include variation.
Comment by GabbyT — May 29, 2013 @ 11:13 pm
Ads like these really do cater to men and not the women who actually will buy and use the product.It’s also pretty disgusting that the campaign uses the slogan “I Love My Body”, yet still uses the typical skinny supermodel. Just totally in bad taste. Way to continue to give many women out there body image issues, Victoria’s Secret.
Comment by Cristine B — May 29, 2013 @ 11:49 pm
Honestly this is so sickening to watch. I was recently just writing a paper in my Women’s Studies class about what advertisements/television programs live up to the “ideal” body image. The first thing that came into my mind was Victoria Secret. I can’t help but agree that Victoria Secret is really targeting women to have such attitudes and behaviors. Attitudes such as, depressed on how women cannot live up to a Victoria Secret model. Such behaviors as women making themselves throw up to help them become skinny like a Victoria Secret model.
And this commercial one bit does not help women motivate themselves because everyone in the world already have too many expectations for women to be skinny, big breasted, skinny thighs, nice butt, etc.
Comment by NatalieM — July 10, 2013 @ 8:24 pm
This commercial is ridiculous. It’s telling everyone to have great bodies like the models so that they can love their bodies. Everyone is structured in a different way. Some people have big bones, others have muscles, others are toothpicks. People can’t help the way they look and if they keep watching these commercials, they’ll feel worse and worse about themselves. They won’t love themselves at all. The commercial is taking a feminist idea and making it into a sexist idea.
Comment by M.D. — July 13, 2013 @ 6:23 pm
This ad is so contradictory that I’m not even sure what the message is supposed to be. The banner reads “I Love My Body” yet right next to it, stand 3 stick-thin models whose bodies are honored and celebrated through the standards of society. The message of “loving our bodies” is intended to mean that we should love our bodies no matter what size we are and forget all the pressures we have to fit into society’s standards. By putting these models on the ad it is as if they’re trying to tell us that the only people that should love their bodies are the women who look similar to the models.
Comment by NikiN — July 19, 2013 @ 3:50 pm
After reading this article, I played few more videos of Victoria’s Secret ads. Trying to find any woman in different size. I could not find a single woman but only different races in same typical size of women(known as perfect body). And now “I love my body” sounds joke to me.
Comment by Chul Woo Park — July 23, 2013 @ 8:05 am
First of all, why are Victoria secret models talking about how they love their bodies? According to the standards of beauty today, they have it all. For the campaign to be about how these women, the Victorian Secret women, love their bodies is still maintaining a standard body image. These women are already beautiful according to society. It is insulting because they do not show any other women of other larger sizes that say they love their bodies. What about them? Don’t they have a chance to show the world that they love their bodies too despite it’s size! Its the same thin, youthful, long haired women who have already achieve a societal beauty. This commercial still perpetuates the standard of beauty. It also has little diversity of colored women. It was the same white, blonde haired women who received longer footage during this commercial.
Comment by CurielL — July 23, 2013 @ 9:26 pm
I’ve been into Victoria Secret a few times and I’ve never seen advertising of plus sized women in their window displays, they always have the very skinny and tall women from and center in their stores. Why do they do this when women of all shapes and sizes shop at Victoria Secret but as a company Victoria Secret only Acknowledges the skinny tall ones. I think maybe if Victoria Secret changes their store ads they would attract more attention and not just attention for the women who think they have the same body ads the women in Victoria Secret’s Ads.
Comment by Qujuan F — July 23, 2013 @ 10:05 pm
The advertisement need to focus on more things in reality. They Photoshop a lot of things and change they appearance. More models need to focus and stop worrying about completing a man needs when men don’t be the one purchasing they’re items. By them saying “they love their body†I mean everyone is skinny, and they have that “dream body†and nothing is different. Although Some might be different races, but besides that that’s it. They do this stuff for attention but not for women attention, they do it for men!
Comment by Alexis C — July 24, 2013 @ 8:03 am
“I love my body” Wow! Yea of course they love there body. These girls are the desired figures in society. There skinny, good looking, nice hair, colored eyes, look healthy and are MODELS. These girls would definitely not be advertising a commercial if they were fat, ugly and had low self esteem. Advertisements like these are not reality. These types of girls are photoshoped and are always upgraded with the advantage of technology.
Comment by JessicaH — July 24, 2013 @ 3:18 pm
When I first heard about Victoria Secrets new “I Love My Body” ad campaign, I thought I would be seeing images of women in all shapes and sizes but when I actually saw some pictures and videos used for the advertisement and saw that they were using their skinny minnie supermodels, I was actually a little upset. The message that one would assume this ad is trying to give off when they hear the name is that we should all love our bodies no matter what we look like so why is Victoria Secret showing us images of women that would just make someone who is already uncomfortable in their own skin even more self conscious? The ad should feature normal people in all different sizes.
Comment by Jasmine P — July 24, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
It’s great that they love their bodies, I would hope that all women do. But… this does not apply to most women of the world, it actually can be pretty insulting. I think it’d be better if they showcased all sizes in Victoria’s Secret lingerie, that way they’d be advertising their clothing and advocating for all the different types and sizes of women around the world. It seems unfair that while all sizes of women are buying items from Victoria’s Secret, Victoria’s Secret only advertises for the double or triple zero’s.
Comment by Skye J. — July 24, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
The advertisements that they show especially in Victoria secret is that it says “I love my body” which is quite ironic because we do not see that logo being portrayed by other females. It is true that the advertisement is more for men than for women because they show women all in their underwear and bras as if showing how a real women should look like. To get them to think that this is what they should look for in them. At the same time it gets women to feel bad about themselves in thinking that there is something wrong with them. This creates low self esteem for them. Why cant Victoria secret show women in different sizes and race to show that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. We are all unique from one another and we should be portrayed like that in the advertisements. This is something that they should do but they don’t because we live in a patriarchal society where men are in charge and have control over everything.
Comment by Kimberly C — July 24, 2013 @ 4:33 pm
I dont think that we should be bashing these women for loving their bodies or campaigning for body acceptance even though they have the perfect body. These VS Angels work hard to achieve the bodies that they have. I don’t think that attacking them or not appreciating them is going to solve the problem that the fashion industry and media in general does not accept the many sizes of women. VS models loving their bodies doesn’t do anything for the rest of us that feel like a blob, i’ll give you that much.
Comment by Margarita H. — July 24, 2013 @ 6:58 pm
If you had a body like a Victoria Secret model most likely you will accept your body.Why wouldn’t you? Like what most people said this image of Victoria Secret model is what society values;like thinness, perfect skin, a eurocentric look. So when Victoria Secret tries to do a campaign about accepting your body and loving it seems far fetched. Models do not represent the average person. In addition these photos are most likely photoshoped. If Victoria Secret really wanted to make an impact with accepting ones body they would have a variety of models in size and color. But instead the models are around the same size, have similar skin tones and hair. Another example of how a influential company conforms to patriarchal standard of what beauty is suppose to look like.
Comment by BrendaR — July 24, 2013 @ 8:14 pm
Seeing this ad reminds me of the two sisters i have that look up to these models everyday of their life. Always saying oh my gosh i wish i looked like her and oh my look at her body i wish i had that kind of body. These super models have a point to love their bodies but what victoria secret should add is different types of models to grab the attention of plus size women or women of different kinds of bodies.
Comment by Justin N — July 24, 2013 @ 10:29 pm
Victoria’s secret is flawed in many ways, this ad just proving to be another. If I had the body of a Victoria’s Secret model, I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard to “love my body”. Victoria’s Secret has had curvier women in the past such as Marisa Miller, Tyra Banks, even Adriana Lima in her curvier days; Not that these women aren’t model thin, but they were curvier than the models they have now. I have always been a person who has gawked at Victoria’s Secret models, even criticized some. In my opinion, Chanel Iman has a baby face and absolutely no womanly curves. Also in this ad is Victoria’s Secret angel, Candice Swanepoel, whose body actually repulses me. When the Victoria’s Secret catalogue comes to my house and I see pictures of her in swimsuits, I get kind of disgusted. Seeing these models in an ad that says “I love my body” really frustrates me. Victoria’s Secret is trying to tell me that the supermodels who go through rigorous amounts of dieting and exercise, and hours of hair and make-up and bronzing, and have hours spent on photoshopping these images, love the way they look. Victoria’s Secret is one of the biggest and most well-known lingerie brands and yet they haven’t ever featured an average or plus size model in any of their ads… They don’t even have that many bra sizes that accommodate to women with cup sizes larger than a 40 DD. I think that’s pretty ridiculous for such a large and popular lingerie brand. This ad had the potential to be something revolutionary and Victoria’s Secret blew it.
Comment by CrystalY — July 24, 2013 @ 11:40 pm
The first thing that comes to my mine about these Victoria Secret Models are absolute liars on loving their bodies. The only reason they say that it’s because it’s their job to lie and to sell their advertisement. These messages on loving my body are completely unrealistic. Many women envy Victoria secret models because of their skinny and pretty faces which shows that in the media women are seen as skinny is beautiful. In our society this makes women that are not the same size, height, weight, as a Victoria secret model think that the only way to be beautiful and boost up their self-esteem or help a relationship work out is by losing weight and be a slim size. The messages that we send out to women in society is ridiculous. Women should be seen in many different distinctive ways and not have so much attention to height, size, shape, weight, race, nationality,. Women in all over the world should be advertised as being beautiful in any size and shape to be proud of who they are. And not be seen as men having power over them but instead women not letting themselves be controlled. Women should love who they are not hate it.
Comment by Priscilla Ramos — July 25, 2013 @ 12:45 am
This really got me upset! How can Victoria Secret do an ad saying “I love my body” I feel like this ad was teasing women who was aren’t comfortable with their bodies. This ad was soo perdictable. It did not have any plus size girls. Ads like this should be banned from the TV.
Comment by Essence H — July 25, 2013 @ 9:50 am
This really got me upset! How can Victoria Secret do an ad saying “I love my body” I feel like this ad was teasing women who was aren’t comfortable with their bodies. This ad was soo perdictable. It did not have any plus size girls. Ads like this should be banned from the TV. They should start having all diffrebt types of sizes in commercails
Comment by Essence H — July 25, 2013 @ 9:52 am
I really wonder if the makers of this ad thought of the irony of it when they were making the ad. These girls are exactly what society describes a perfect body to be. They have the bodies that society says one is allowed to love. It’s as if Victoria’s Secret was on a campaign to state the obvious instead of a campaign for real beauty. Rachel O is correct in saying that the girls are “similar sized [and] similarly figured supermodelsâ€. All of them have the same flat stomach with voluptuous hair, long legs, and great sized breasts. The ad seems to just reinforce the message of what “real beauty†is in society’s definition. The only thing real about the ad is the color of the supermodels skins and that is only to an extent. Yes, Victoria’s Secret has managed to put light skin and darker skinned girls on the commercial but all four girls have perfectly smooth and what looks liked tanned skins. However, I have to agree that most people watch Victoria’s Secret ads because of the “perfect looking†supermodels. Women buy the product because they want to look like that and they hope that in wearing those bras and those shorts they could achieve that perfect looking body. Therefore if they had brought real women into the shoot I would not have been surprised if their sales prices dropped. However, I also do not think that Victoria’s Secret should have tried to trick people into thinking that they support real beauty. If Victoria’s Secret cannot afford to send out the message of what a real women looks like then they should not try to get publicity or fake their way into telling the public they support real beauty.
Comment by Ronita K — October 12, 2013 @ 4:00 pm
I think it’s terrible that Victoria secret can put out a campaign like this. First of all “no real person†can have a body like that, and we can make the good assumption that photo was photo shopped. As well as having a body like that is actually not a good thing health wise. Also, I was thinking from a business stand point that if Victoria secret included models of different sizes it would help them sell more merchandize, because, in actuality only a small number of people look like that. Also, if people see their body type on posters and ads I think they would be more willing to buy Victoria secret merchandise. Lastly, I would like to say that it is degrading to impose that all women should look a certain way, or even any one for that matter weather male or female.
Comment by Benjamin E — November 5, 2013 @ 2:33 pm
In our modern-day society, beauty unaccurately acts as a measuring factor that determines a woman’s place in society. This advertisement aims at a broad demographic of females, from young, naive girls entering or going through adolescence to elder women – who might also be wives or mothers interested in a new fashion trend. However, regardless of age or role in the domestic sphere, this ad (and ads similar to this) potentially uphold an “unrealistic” & harmful image for females – which might have a physical and emotional backlash. I agree with the writer in the aspect of exhibiting women of all shapes, sizes, and colors to develop an inclusive message. Not to mention, through deconstructing the advertisement we realize that the product placement is very non-visible and reinforces the notion that we live in an image-based culture thriving off appealing to individuals’ emotions. Moreover, this inclusion would be a great marketing maneuver for the Victoria’s Secret franchise, in terms of broadening their demographics and potential profit-margins (in a strictly business sense).
Comment by Michael A. — November 7, 2013 @ 7:52 pm
Modeling is such an inconsistent career choice because these women spend their whole lives trying to look a certain way not because they want to look like that but because they want to be looked at as the best looking women in this day and age. I think there is nothing wrong with admiring your own body i a non vapid way but i feel there is little truth to these women saying they love their bodies because if they really loved them they would strive to be more comfortable with themselves. Instead of starving to achieve their skinniness and working out non stop they would simply let their natural beauty speak for itsself.
Comment by Andrew O — November 20, 2013 @ 8:00 pm
The message the ad campaign intends send is that all women should love there bodies. But since the women in the ad are the image of society’s perfect body the message does not apply to the average woman. It comes off as a sick joke because most women cannot identify with these women or their body types. The women are promoting self acceptance but they all are beautiful, sexy and perfectly-proportioned women. If they truly were interested in promoting self acceptance they would illustrate their products on women of all sizes and shapes.
Comment by ChristinaB — November 23, 2013 @ 10:19 pm
This ad shows how our one dimensional image of beauty keeps being cultivated. Like it was mentioned in the article there is nothing wrong with the women on this ad loving their body. What is wrong, is the fact that the models in this ad have the same body type and that leaves women thinking that only when our body looks that way is that we can love our body. Victoria’s Secret is essentially instilling an idea of beauty that is not healthy and can potentially be life threatening because of the drastic measures girls take to look this way. Its sad because this ad actually had the potential to make women who are not skinny to feel comfortable in their own skin, but instead did the opposite.
Comment by Leslie S — November 25, 2013 @ 11:47 am
The image that these models are portraying is what sells. In the society we live in today we pay no attention to women who represent the average woman’s body instead we obsess over women like the ones depicted in this commercial. Women constantly compare themselves to this image of the “perfect” female while men wish they had a woman like that. Sadly this image is what we as consumers buy. Society has a lot of work to do to realize that there are different shapes, colors, and sizes of women and that they are all equally beautiful. Sadly it is outside of mosts peoples comfort zone to see an ad like the one Dove came out with and be accepting of it and embrace the ideal that all women are unique.
Comment by Maritza R — November 25, 2013 @ 2:10 pm
I’m not sure how to feel about this. One because I like victoria’s secret. I but there braws and undies and other things from them because I really like them. I don’t go but those things because I see tem in commercials like this though. I go because I’m walking through the mall and I wonder in and I like something for myself so I get it. I feel like there is this weird double or triple standard for girls when it comes to Victoria’s secret close. Either you are drop dead gorgeous and when your seen there people think of course you shop here or are like you should shop here. If you are chunky and not a supermodel then people look at you funny like what are you doing here. And then if you are just average I feel like its almost the worst because then its like your split between the two some people may see you wearing clothing from there and say things like this post did that it is only encouraging the problem. But at the same time I feel like whats wrong if girls want to feel beautiful. They are criticized like crazy as it is they minus well do something for themselves whatever that may be. I do agree though that their advertisement do seem like they are being catered more to men than to the women that are actually going to be wearing the clothes.
Comment by Jessica L. — November 25, 2013 @ 4:53 pm
I’m not sure how to feel about this. One because I like victoria’s secret. I buy their bras and undies and other things from them because I really like them. I don’t go but those things because I see tem in commercials like this though. I go because I’m walking through the mall and I wonder in and I like something for myself so I get it. I feel like there is this weird double or triple standard for girls when it comes to Victoria’s secret close. Either you are drop dead gorgeous and when your seen there people think of course you shop here or are like you should shop here. If you are chunky and not a supermodel then people look at you funny like what are you doing here. And then if you are just average I feel like its almost the worst because then its like your split between the two some people may see you wearing clothing from there and say things like this post did that it is only encouraging the problem. But at the same time I feel like what’s wrong if girls want to feel beautiful. They are criticized like crazy as it is they minus well do something for themselves whatever that may be. I do agree though that their advertisement do seem like they are being catered more to men than to the women that are actually going to be wearing the clothes.

Comment by Jessica L. — November 25, 2013 @ 6:59 pm
I have also noticed that there are some serious problems in the way that Victoria Secret models are portraying their body. I feel as though they should not not feel the need to alter their bodies. It is quite sad, because of this many women are resorting to eating disorders and are also becoming more and more dissatisfied with how they look. This is not to say that all women are like this, but I think that it is an increasing problem that should be put to an end. As a commercial for the new braws were passing on the TV, the models’ bodies looked extremely starved, I commented to my brother “That looks so unnatural”. His response was” I don’t mind,” I found his response very revolting. Women starving their bodies and even that isn’t enough to stop them from altering their body using technology–the message is not positive.
Comment by Bonnie O. — November 26, 2013 @ 11:38 am
After watching the Victoria Secret advertisement that you included, I felt the same thing as you felt. This advertisement seems it is rather targeted to appeal their bodies instead of focusing on selling the underwears. They even show model’s body more than actual products. I also agree on how underwear companies have to show more variey body types. The models in advertisements are I think just few percentage of whole consumers or even just 1 or 2%. Because of the advertisements, women without those rare bodies get lower self-esteem and stresses. Also men start to think that women would have those bodies which is not realistic. Women who are not comfortable with their bodies would become more depressed and lower confidence
Comment by Jieun K — November 26, 2013 @ 2:32 pm
Personal I love looking at Victoria secret models posing to take they pictures about under wears and selling the product.This advertisement goes against everything that it says! They are trying to attract people to their products by making this “revolutionary†advertisement that these models love their bodies and that there’s a body for everybody…well all I see here is reverse psychology!! If there really was a body for everyone then put models with different bodies sizes to represent everyone! Then maybe they could actually say that there is a body type for everybody. Stop continuing to put these anorexic looking girls which are far from the typical body and are either received through their genetics or for the majority of times by the help of the medias best friend…photoshop
Comment by CeciliaR — November 26, 2013 @ 4:34 pm
I am not really sure how I feel about this, because I understand that it is wrong of them to just advertise skinny women’s bodies but at the same time they have clothes and sizes that are for everyone. When watching their ads I do believe they are just targeting certain body types but that’s how they get peoples attention. Most marketers photo shop so much that it make the person look completely different, but in these ads and videos it is not a fake body that they are putting out to give people fake assumptions of what your body should look like even though they don’t. In this case they really do look like that and they are just embracing it. I do believe they should put women with different body types in their ads just to show everyone that their body is good enough and they do not have to have a flat stomach or waists to be beautiful. No matter what everyone is beautiful in their own way, and they should embrace it, even if these advertisements do not.
Comment by Nicole R. — November 30, 2013 @ 1:38 am
I completely agree. It seems like nothing more than a marketing strategy on Victoria Secret’s part to combat the constant criticism that their advertisements are made for men, despite their actual products being sold to women. It is not enough that a group of nationally revered supermodels – many people’s examples of the ideal female – love and respect their bodies. It is not enough, especially in such a heavily mediated culture that teaches girls and boys that the only way to be attractive is to first be thin. So with this new ad campaign, not only is the media influencing girls and boys to adhere to our culture’s rigid beauty standard, but it is also telling them that ONLY once they get to that target weight will they have the capacity to love themselves. It cultivates an entire generation of self-loathing, self-blaming human beings who can’t allow themselves to “love their bodies,” as the models do, until they achieve model status. This, as we know from Dove’s “Evolution” video , is an impossible, unachievable feat. I suppose the masterminds behind Victoria’s Secret ad campaign may have had good intentions with the message they were trying to get across, but from where I stand, it doesn’t read.
Comment by Diane D — December 1, 2013 @ 9:52 pm
Unfortunately, Victoria’s Secret missed a huge opportunity. The idea of a woman accepting her body is an absolutely fantastic notion but when there is such limited depictions of what is acceptable not only on a personal level but on a social level, creates a vacuum for what women should be accepting. When women are portrayed in commercials to be a certain way, then how could women reclaim their own body. Yes, the models on the Victoria’s Secret commercial are supporting a positive message but it is packaged in a very narrow and specific way.
Comment by Albert A. — December 2, 2013 @ 2:10 pm
I completely agree. It seems like nothing more than a marketing strategy on Victoria Secret’s part to combat the constant criticism that their advertisements are made for men, despite their actual products being sold to women. It is not enough that a group of nationally revered supermodels – many people’s examples of the ideal female – love and respect their bodies. It is not enough, especially in such a heavily mediated culture that teaches girls and boys that the only way to be attractive is to first be thin. So with this new ad campaign, not only is the media influencing girls and boys to adhere to our culture’s rigid beauty standard, but it is also telling them that ONLY once they get to that target weight will they have the capacity to love themselves. It cultivates an entire generation of self-loathing, self-blaming human beings who can’t allow themselves to “love their bodies,†as the models do, until they achieve model status. This, as we know from Dove’s “Evolution†video , is an impossible, unachievable feat. I suppose the masterminds behind Victoria’s Secret ad campaign may have had good intentions with the message they were trying to get across, but from where I stand, it doesn’t read.
Comment by Diane D — December 2, 2013 @ 3:26 pm
Our society has been so accustomed to images that have skinny, perfect, attractive looking women in our media that having a plus size model just won’t cut it. The advertisements we see in our culture won’t use plus size models because they believe it won’t sell their product. Instead, the advertisements will use a women who meets the cultural standards of beauty and Photoshop her to look perfect. The image that is created becomes unrealistic or “fake” and it is this image that women are pressured into looking like. Our culture is attracted to this type of women that is created by computers/cosmetics and that is why these skinny body types become utilized for their products.
Comment by Leor M — December 2, 2013 @ 11:14 pm
Seeing skinny and flawless looking models on the covers of advertisements and magazines has become such a norm that putting a “curvier†or “plus-sized†model for an advertisement would be considered out of the ordinary. The Victoria’s Secret ads portray their models in a way that is accepted by society, even though they already have those kinds of bodies to begin with. Watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show always makes me ashamed of my body and makes me feel the pressure to look a certain way when I know that, genetically, my body is not made to look that way. The message the ad is trying to portray is that a woman would only love her body, if they looked like how the models do in the advertisements. If they put more plus-seized models, then the message would be a little different. The messages portrayed by the media depicts unrealistic body types and the addition of more “plus-sized†and “curvy†models, would help sway away from this single-minded society’s expectations of how women should look.
Comment by Ashley B. — December 3, 2013 @ 1:48 pm
These advertisements of Victoria’s Secret campaign “I Love My Body†is sending the wrong message to viewers and readers. It wouldn’t have hurt to not use a model that is a size zero without an ounce of fat on her body for these advertisements. I can see why this new campaign started controversy. Using more plus size models who are a bit thicker and would actually fit in with the norm would change the message that the add is trying to portray. These models seen in the campaign are being used to once again pressure women into looking a certain way and don’t resemble a “real†woman.
Comment by Daniella S. — December 3, 2013 @ 1:56 pm
After reading this article, it was really easy to identify that Victoria’s Secret and hundreds of other marketing campaigns know exactly how to fool the consumer into believing something unjust. Although these models “love their body”, they are only exposing super thin, “perfect”, and beautiful women… so does that mean women who are thicker or curvy don’t have the same promotion to “love their body” as well? If Victoria’s Secret were playing its cards right, they would have added a diverse collection of women; but then again, where in the media do we ever see diversity? Some things will never change, and the media is one of them.
Comment by Melody S. — December 3, 2013 @ 2:04 pm
I completely agree with the author. I mean when you have a body like the ones these models have, especially when we live in a society where being thin, tall, and beautiful is the end all and be all, then of course we should all love ourselves. But that’s not reality. We aren’t all that tall and thin, and it is disappointing for companies like Victoria’s Secret to not include all women of all shapes and sizes. They aren’t really targeting what they should be and giving the message that they should be. Instead they are just reinforcing all of the messages that the media throws to girls, making them feel worse about themselves.
Comment by Tatiana Kohanzad — December 3, 2013 @ 5:22 pm
Not only should these companies use a better variety of models based on size, but they should use a more ethnically diverse group as well. In the end of that commercial ad, you can see that the ethnically diverse models from the focused white women, are brushed off to the side and not featured as the focus, while several of the blonde haired models are shown to be in the middle. Plus I don’t think you even hear a word from the African American model in the commercial. I honestly do not even understand why more average/plus sized women are featured. There is such a huge population of women that do not fall under the skinny/impossibly crafted bodies of these supermodels. I feel if that there are more ads geared towards the larger masses of people, there will be a more loyal fan-base for these companies, they would have a better reputation, and there will be a more positive outlook on the image of the beautiful women.
Comment by Nathan P. — December 3, 2013 @ 6:11 pm
Victoria’s Secret has been the center of the most beautiful women in the most provocative lingerie over the past couple decades. From the pageants to the racy magazine advertisements, Victoria’s Secret is everything beautiful, right? Wrong. The women in these ads so-called, “love their bodies,†but how can this be possible if they abuse their bodies to get to the way they look every day? Women see these ads and just imagine that they will one day look like this if they continue their unhealthy habits of binging and purging, anorexia, etc. Victoria’s Secret models may be beautiful on the outside but only they know the pain that they have endured to get to this physical point. The media teaches us and wants us to look like this, but the fact of the matter is, that it is virtually unattainable.
Comment by Michael S. — December 4, 2013 @ 2:53 am
This is a lame attempt at creating acceptance of a variety of body shapes and sizes. Interestingly enough, most of the models in this ad were stick thin. I didnt see an ounce of body fat, yet this company makes a shameful attempt at a body image video. I agree that the Dove ad reaches a larger audience and displays its message quite clearly. It seemed as though Victorias Secret wanted to test the waters, except there was a pretty obvious type of woman in the ad. Its also interesting that there is so much hype placed on the body, I personally dont understand it.
Comment by Zachary L — December 4, 2013 @ 10:39 am
I think it is horrible that these models are trying to promote the fact that they have such thin bodies. The average woman does not have a body like this, and I’m sure they still love their body. The fact that there is such a huge emphasis based on beauty and the word love, promotes the truth that women are assessed on beauty now more than any other factor. Also, most women do not have the time to or money to spend on making themselves look more attractive to men, but the since they are bombarded by advertisements countless times each day about beauty causes them to have more stress.
Comment by Gabriel P — December 4, 2013 @ 1:26 pm
Victoria Secret super models are gorgeous. But to be honest this doesn’t apply to every women in the world. Even for men not everyone is born with perfect gene. I think its wrong and unmoral to post “I love my body” with the 7 most beautiful women in the planet. Its more of a common sense, if I was put in that kind of situation. Of course I’ll love my body if I was a woman that had a standard size breast, small waist, thin and long legs, and an attractive face. Our society has made that the standard of beauty and people are dragged into that one dimensional image. THis evidently leads to lower self esteem and possibly have eating disorders. But the reason why these companies are doing this is because they know women will be attracted to these kind of things. When a beautiful person of their same sex wheres a magical bra and pants, ordinary women will think they’ll become attractive as well. But in the real world, unfortunately it doesnt work that way.
Comment by Hiro K — December 4, 2013 @ 6:01 pm
Of course you love your body, you are models! This ad had the potential of being so revolutionary if it had featured “ordinary” people. Ordinary, by society’s stand point I mean, which is curvy girls with imperfections, blemishes, colored women, tall women, short women, etc. Then this had could have sent the message to girls and women everywhere that they should love their body. But the women in the video are tall, toned, and beautiful, so of course THEY love their body! Are they implying that since the rest, and by rest I mean the majority, of us do not look like that we shouldn’t love our bodies?
Comment by Yasmin Khalifian — April 29, 2014 @ 6:16 pm
These models are the epitome of societies “perfect body”, little girls, women, young ladies all strive to look like that. What they don’t know is this is unattainable. Their jobs are to take care of their bodies with the help of thousands of dollars a month on trainers, facials, creams, hair make up, and even more. Of course it is easy for them to say “I love my body”, and their supposed attempt to make other women love their bodies when they look nothing like that is actually making girls hate their own bodies.
Comment by Daniella S — May 13, 2014 @ 12:38 pm
There has never been one Victoria Secret commercial I have watched that has made me feel better about my body. Even after numerous lectures about media distorting what we think is the right body image, and knowing these bodies have been photo shopped, I still think wow I need to hit the gym, after watching these commercials. Adding the words “I love my body” has made the media’s message so much clearer. The idea that if you stray away from what these models look like, you should not love your body. This not only brings girls and women to feel ashamed of their bodies but can push them into adapting eating disorders or excessive dieting and exercising in order to look like these models. Looking like these models is not even possible. I’m sure they are beautiful, thin, and tall in person but these images have been photo shopped for hours, having every pixel changed by the time of the final image. This one-dimensional view of real beauty is being constantly thrown in our faces by the media, and brings girls to have lower self-esteems and confidence. Girls and women need more realistic body images shown in the media, bodies that would make them feel confident in their skin, rather than wanting to change their look.
Comment by Jasmin Lavi — May 13, 2014 @ 9:12 pm
This Victorias Secret commercial communicates a very negative message. After watching Jean Kilbourne’s “Killing Us Softly 4”, I was able to watch this commercial and realize that the negative message can subconsciously affect young girls. The effect that this commercial can have on young girls can really jeopardize their body image and cause them to pick on “flaws” that these victoria’s secret models don’t apparently have. In the commercial above, the girls keep repeating “I Love my body” and “My body is sexy.” This will instill into women that this “flawless” body is the definition of “sexy” and the only way you can love your body is if it looks like these unreal models. We can only imagine how much photoshop and work went into making these models look like this. In addition, another thing wrong with this commercial is that it looks like it’s objectifying men and selling sex to men, instead of trying to sell a bra. Without media literacy skills, I would not be able to identify the problems with this commercial but now that I am aware, I can say this is a very disappointing commercial
Comment by Ariela R. — May 14, 2014 @ 9:06 pm
I agree that this commercial is definitely a “little insulting.” These women are beautiful, as every other woman is, but they fit that perfect standard held by our society. These women are tall and thin with big boobs–all characteristics valued by the media. There is no variation in size or shape of these women who all love their bodies. The commercial promotes a push up bra because women are expected to have large breasts, and if you don’t, they want you to buy this product so you can. Why is it that we are expected to find our self-worth through male attention? I agree that this seems to be more like selling sex to men than actually selling something comfortable that we wear all day.
Comment by Vanessa R. — May 20, 2014 @ 9:12 am
When reading the title of the article and also of the campaign I automatically thought well of course the Victoria’s Secret models would love their bodies since they are what society sees to be the perfect woman physically. Once again girls and women are shown the same pictures and videos of what society says a woman should look like so this supports Cultivation Theory. It gives the idea to girls and women that only if you look like that you can love your body. The commercial should have women of all different shapes and sizes to capture the variety of bodies not seven models with similar body types. This ad can cause physical and mental health issues among girls and women in order to achieve these body types in order to love their body. This commercial seems more to focus on the female body than on the product they are trying to sell in order to grab the attention of men.
Comment by Pablo D — May 27, 2014 @ 2:18 pm
This advertisement not only depicts what society demands look like but also emphasizing that only the people who meet those demands should love their body. Young children are seeing these types of ads and changing themselves to live up to the glorification our society endures in this patriarchy world we live in today. Even this ad clearly shows how ads for women are not even fully for women but for these women to look sexy for men. Also, women see men looking at/admiring/posting statuses about these 1% of the women proving to all the rest of the women that you have to look like this to get attention or even be looked at as sexy or appealing. The media is one of the main key factors of why children especially women are being sexualized at such an early age. A human being cannot step into this society without seeing sexual ads. Look at a bus, billboard, commercial, soda cans, movies, television shows, and even schools.
Comment by Amber Winter — May 27, 2014 @ 8:53 pm
Last year, I would watch advertisements like these on television and wish that I could find a woman who looks like the Victoria Secret Models. My friends would always talk to the girls who were physically beautiful and were slim. But after understanding that the women we see in these advertisements are unreal, because of the fact that they are photo shopped to look flawless and they watch every ounce of food they eat, I am disgusted to look at such women. They claim that they love their bodies, but is that the independent woman talking? The woman who has to watch what they eat everyday, exercise for hours upon end just to have a slim body? The media produces an image of a beautiful woman and they influence other woman to adapt. The models most likely have eating disorders and suffer from bulimia. It is impossible to have the same skin tone throughout your entire body, which makes this advertisement seem ridiculous. If they really wanted to advertise to the average woman, they would know that woman come in all sizes, and it is their choice if they want to be slim, not the media. As discussed in class, very few woman have the “ideal” body which include skinny legs, a large butt and breasts. Most women have plastic surgery to compensate for their small butts and breasts. I find this extremely disturbing because when the time comes for me to look for a woman to marry, I can only hope she is not influenced by these advertisements. So many women strive to achieve the “perfect” body and statements like “I love my body” when all the models are paper thin influence women to become skinny, then they will start loving their body.
Comment by Arya A — May 28, 2014 @ 6:31 pm
I have never been a fan of Victoria’s Secret. I tried, but they won’t want customers like me. I am on the bigger side when it comes to my breasts. Not by choice but by natural genes. This has caused to always have issues, as they feel there are too big for my body. With this conception of myself when I went into Victoria’s Secret, they didn’t have anything bigger than a D cup. This was about 10 years ago. It doesn’t surprise me that they would have an ad like this, because the models they are showing is the customer they want. They don’t want the Dove girls, but the anorexic girls or the girls suffering from bulimia to look like Heidi, Gisele and Adriana. A couple of years ago, they did come out with a like for bigger chested women. Heidi Klum now older was plastered as the spokesperson. I naively was convinced by my sister that I should give them a try again. I went and yes, they had a bra my size that didn’t have to be special ordered! However, after two wears- the strap broke. I brought it back, it was replaced and the next one was just the same. I’ve come to the conclusion that this particular bra line was not made for people like me, that are naturally bigger chested, but for those girls that have fake implants since implants weigh and feel different that a natural breast. This ad from Victoria’s Secret doesn’t surprise me, what surprises me is how a company that promotes an unrealistic physical image of a woman, a company that it’s products are just as badly made is still in business? I consider Victoria’s Secret the Forever 21 of lingerie. Yes, there stuff is cute, but you can only wear it once or twice. It’s not made to hold up longer than that. It’s made up to conjure an image of something that truly doesn’t exist. Physical perfection and beauty provide by what you wear.
Comment by Rosa G. — May 31, 2014 @ 8:57 pm
I have never been a fan of Victoria’s Secret. I tried, but they won’t want customers like me. I am on the bigger side when it comes to my breasts. Not by choice but by natural genes. This has caused to always have issues, as they feel there are too big for my body. With this conception of myself when I went into Victoria’s Secret, they didn’t have anything bigger than a D cup. This was about 10 years ago. It doesn’t surprise me that they would have an ad like this, because the models they are showing is the customer they want. They don’t want the Dove girls, but the anorexic girls or the girls suffering from bulimia to look like Heidi, Gisele and Adriana. A couple of years ago, they did come out with a bra for bigger-chested women. Heidi Klum now older was plastered as the spokesperson. I naively was convinced by my sister that I should give them a try again. I went and yes, they had a bra my size that didn’t have to be special ordered! However, after two wears- the strap broke. I brought it back, it was replaced and the next one was just the same. I’ve come to the conclusion that this particular bra line was not made for people like me, that are naturally bigger-chested, but for those girls that have fake implants since implants weigh and feel different that a natural breast. This ad from Victoria’s Secret doesn’t surprise me, what surprises me is how a company that promotes an unrealistic physical image of a woman, a company that it’s products are just as badly made is still in business? I consider Victoria’s Secret the Forever 21 of lingerie. Yes, there stuff is cute, but you can only wear it once or twice. It’s not made to hold up longer than that. It’s made up to conjure an image of something that truly doesn’t exist. Physical perfection and beauty provide by what you wear.
Comment by Rosa G. — May 31, 2014 @ 9:04 pm
These kind of advertisements really kill me. These pseudo-accepting messages of “Love your body! (but only if you look like this)” are part of the problem. I’m a huge fan of advertisements that feature a wide range of body types and skin tones, like those featured in the Dove Real Beauty campaign, as they actually promote self acceptance. The issue here isn’t that these women shouldn’t be loving their bodies- everyone should love their body!- but it’s the fact that according to society, these bodies are perfect. There’s nothing not to love. Everyone strives to look like them. Young girls starve themselves in hopes of one day looking like these models. For real body acceptance, let’s start using images of real women. Let’s have a size 8 model on the runway without labeling her as plus sized- she’s average! I can’t stress how import proper representation in media is for all genders, races, and body types. If we want a generation of girls who love their bodies, this is the way to make it happen.
Comment by Maya K — June 1, 2014 @ 10:44 am
I almost burst out laughing at the last line of the video, “There’s a body for everybody.†This line is said just as the camera pans on seven identical looking girls, all skinny, beautiful, with their hair and makeup done – probably air brushed a bit, and whose jobs revolve around working out and modeling lingerie. Of course, these girls and women love their bodies! Who wouldn’t? I think the main important idea to glean from this article is the author’s homage to the Dove campaign. I have viewed, with pleasure, in class and outside of class, many of their videos and have felt empowered and ready to change the world afterwards. They have inspired me to really feel like I am worth something, within just two minutes of a video cut. As opposed to this Victoria’s Secret video – it all looks to me like some sort of big joke. Can we all just step back for a moment and think; none of us look like those girls, so why should we love our bodies? Isn’t that the message that is being sent to us? The message I’m getting is that I need to try harder to look like them and then maybe I will get the same attention and compliments as they do and achieve the same success that they have achieved. It just hurts to see how terrible our situation has become that we consider something as ignorant as this video become an object of praise, and discussion, and the center of genuine interest.
Comment by Pnina O — June 2, 2014 @ 11:46 am
Victoria Secret’s models have always been the “ideal” image of what a “perfect” woman’s body should look like. The images of Victoria Secret models have made many girls feel insecure about their bodies starting at a young age. These girls have been brain washed by the media and the Victoria Secret commercials that if a female’s body is not quit similar to the bodies of these models, then their bodies are no where near the idea of “good enough”. I believe when Victoria’s Secret models say that they love their bodies, it makes younger girls believe that if their bodies are not similar to the models’ bodies, then they could not be confident nor like their own bodies. This campaign makes females believe that there is only one body type that is accepted for admiration and love. If the company wanted to prove that woman should love their own bodies, then the campaign should not only focus on one body type of the models, but also other different kinds of body types. Therefore, this campaign is not helpful, but instead harmful to the female society.
Comment by Shahab Naimi — June 2, 2014 @ 12:11 pm
I can not think of a time where I have looked through a Victoria Secret magazine or watched a Victoria Secret commercial and feel good about myself and my body. I was not at all surprised to see only skinny minnie supermodels in the “I Love My Body” campaign because obviously you love your body and are going to flaunt it. They are not presenting the everyday body image to the world otherwise we would all “love our bodies.” By putting out this ad, Victoria Secret is making already self- conscious women even more self-conscious because nobody comes close to looking like these women and how media portrays them. Why not stick to natural and what everyday like consists of? is it because it won’t sell or is it because we are all so immune to the image of women media wants all women to look like. I think it is a bit outdated and nobody is buying it anymore.
Comment by Dorsa Mehrannia — June 2, 2014 @ 10:41 pm
Plenty of criticism has been thrown Victoria’s Secret way in the past few years. They’ve been criticized for advertising that seems to be made for men instead of their female customers.
A lot of women used to find their body decent looking, but after watching that commercial, I think most women changed completely. I am sure that Victoria secret models would love the way their body looks. All of them are skinny and tall. It sure doesn’t make a woman feel good and it brings a woman’s self esteem down. It is possible for a women to be skinny and tall and more beautiful than those models. Victoria’s Secret should teach women to love their bodies; no matter what size a woman is, she is still a woman,
Comment by Michael C. Henary — July 30, 2014 @ 9:23 pm
[…] the line of fire, and it’s not even the first time that they’ve sparked controversy surrounding their use of the word “body.†The lingerie brand’s 2010 “I Love My Body†campaign earned itself similar […]
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