Victoria's Secret fashion show: A dangerous ‘perfection’

Victoria Secret, the lingerie brand that made around $6 billion in sales in 2013, concluded its first show in London last week. But the event, which featured some of the biggest names from the entertainment business, has failed to impress the international media. Far from its glitz and glamour and the show’s very famous “angels”, the show has been described as “a downright objectification of women”.

More importantly, the show was “criticised for promoting an idealistic view of what a woman’s body should look like”; which is unrealistic and bound to encourage young women to follow in the same path.

In a previous interview, one of the most famous angels, Adriana Lima had admitted that she would stop drinking water 12 hours before a show to avoid bloating. ‘No liquids at all so you dry out — sometimes you can lose up to 8lb (3.6 kg approx) just from that,’ she was once quoted as saying. According to recent reports and much to the surprise of everyone, model and actress Cara Delevingne was considered “too bloated” to walk the ramp for the show. And models back home are wondering why would a human being go through such extremes to look fit for a catwalk.

“I have interacted with models from Mumbai and Delhi; yes, they are very particular about their diets and go to the gym regularly... but never have their regimes shocked me,” says city-based model Deborah Doris Fell. Dr. Diana Monteiro, a Hyderabad-based psychologist explains how shows like Victoria’s Secret can have an adverse effect on young minds.

“When you have such a popular brand that keeps telling you that you need to be a certain way to look beautiful, then it can very well be the first step that leads to eating disorders, body image issues etc. I have heard parents complain about how their children, some as young as five, obsessing about hair on their upper lips. And where do you think they are they getting that from?” asks Dr Diane.

Meanwhile, celebrity blogger Malini Agarwal feels that one cannot look up the Victoria Secret models as role “models”. “They are just a product by the end of the day. Looking up to them and trying to emulate them is never going to work,” she says.