Victoria's Secret has been on the Boycott List since the beginning of JooJoo Azad, but the recent 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London crossed a few more lines...
This overdue post was supposed to go up prior to the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London this year, but, alas, finals week is a thing and destroyed the relevance of anything that is not going to be in my final exams. (p.s. all went well, I think, so hopefully postponing this post was worth it)!
To be fair, I must first mention that I was boycotting the show and therefore did not watch it, but I did happen upon several photos from the show floating around my social media and on blogs that I follow, so I have the general idea. Let's just say, it was not pretty. Underneath the 10+ millions of viewers and millions of dollars supposedly raised for charity, Victoria has a few dark secrets that make the brand highly boycott-worthy. For the sake of your time, I'll stick with the top three:
1. UNETHICALLY PRODUCED
I mentioned this in passing here and there on JooJoo Azad, but just to reiterate, Victoria's Secret exploits child labor and financially supports an illegal military apartheid regime. Even the so-called "organic" and "free-trade" cotton that Victoria's Secret claims to use was hand-picked by child slaves. Physical, emotional, and psychological abuse is not uncommon in the 100+hr workweek that many marginalized workers face behind the scenes of Victoria's Secrets' factories. This is illegal, deceitful, and inhumane.
[Image source/More Information: Bloomberg]
2. FALSE IMAGE OF BEAUTY
[image source: victoria's secret]
Where are the plus-sized models? Hell, where are the models that are anything above a size 00? Again, I didn't watch the show, but I did look up the lineup of the models (exhibit A above)--not only are they all incredibly thin and, er, well-endowed, but most of the women are white. There were very little-to-none women of color, women of Asian decent, etc. Self-titled the "Sexiest Night of the Year," the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is essentially very narrowly defining beauty for the tens of millions of men and women who watch the show worldwide.
3. CULTURALLY APPROPRIATIVE
[image source: victoria's secret]
There was an "Exotic Traveler" segment? Really? Come now.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has appropriated traditional attire and symbols and hyper-sexualized their meanings. The endless allusions to various Middle-Eastern, Native American, and other cultures' traditional patterns or symbols (although maybe not as bad as the 2012 show) are incredibly offensive and distasteful and exploit the original meaning or significance attached to the image. (no, I still haven't forgotten my promise of a complete post on cultural appropriation in the fashion industry! That is still happening!). While the exploitation and sexualization of various cultures and sacred objects is not new to the fashion industry, it still cannot be tolerated.
For these reasons and more, Victoria's Secret is on the Boycott List. If you liked this post, I can put together more profiles of the brands on the Boycott List explaining why they are there (if you'd have any brands in mind on the list that you're particularly curious about, let me know and I can start with them!)
While I do try to make JooJoo Azad a very positive space, I don't think that the dirt of the industry I am a part of should be left untouched. As consumers, we have a right to know what we are supporting with our money, and should be able to enjoy the artistic and expressive side of our clothing without exploiting the marginalized, discouraging body positivity, and appropriating other cultures. While I apologize that I did not manage to publish this post prior to the show, I do encourage you to boycott their products (and show next year, too!) and share the details with your friends and families!
This overdue post was supposed to go up prior to the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London this year, but, alas, finals week is a thing and destroyed the relevance of anything that is not going to be in my final exams. (p.s. all went well, I think, so hopefully postponing this post was worth it)!
To be fair, I must first mention that I was boycotting the show and therefore did not watch it, but I did happen upon several photos from the show floating around my social media and on blogs that I follow, so I have the general idea. Let's just say, it was not pretty. Underneath the 10+ millions of viewers and millions of dollars supposedly raised for charity, Victoria has a few dark secrets that make the brand highly boycott-worthy. For the sake of your time, I'll stick with the top three:
1. UNETHICALLY PRODUCED
I mentioned this in passing here and there on JooJoo Azad, but just to reiterate, Victoria's Secret exploits child labor and financially supports an illegal military apartheid regime. Even the so-called "organic" and "free-trade" cotton that Victoria's Secret claims to use was hand-picked by child slaves. Physical, emotional, and psychological abuse is not uncommon in the 100+hr workweek that many marginalized workers face behind the scenes of Victoria's Secrets' factories. This is illegal, deceitful, and inhumane.
[Image source/More Information: Bloomberg]
2. FALSE IMAGE OF BEAUTY
[image source: victoria's secret]
Where are the plus-sized models? Hell, where are the models that are anything above a size 00? Again, I didn't watch the show, but I did look up the lineup of the models (exhibit A above)--not only are they all incredibly thin and, er, well-endowed, but most of the women are white. There were very little-to-none women of color, women of Asian decent, etc. Self-titled the "Sexiest Night of the Year," the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is essentially very narrowly defining beauty for the tens of millions of men and women who watch the show worldwide.
3. CULTURALLY APPROPRIATIVE
[image source: victoria's secret]
There was an "Exotic Traveler" segment? Really? Come now.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has appropriated traditional attire and symbols and hyper-sexualized their meanings. The endless allusions to various Middle-Eastern, Native American, and other cultures' traditional patterns or symbols (although maybe not as bad as the 2012 show) are incredibly offensive and distasteful and exploit the original meaning or significance attached to the image. (no, I still haven't forgotten my promise of a complete post on cultural appropriation in the fashion industry! That is still happening!). While the exploitation and sexualization of various cultures and sacred objects is not new to the fashion industry, it still cannot be tolerated.
~
Update: Blogger-Friend JuJu at Tales of Whimsy just left a comment mentioning the book I'm No Angel that talks a lot about this topic, as well as the lack of ethics behind-the-scenes of being a supermodel.For these reasons and more, Victoria's Secret is on the Boycott List. If you liked this post, I can put together more profiles of the brands on the Boycott List explaining why they are there (if you'd have any brands in mind on the list that you're particularly curious about, let me know and I can start with them!)
While I do try to make JooJoo Azad a very positive space, I don't think that the dirt of the industry I am a part of should be left untouched. As consumers, we have a right to know what we are supporting with our money, and should be able to enjoy the artistic and expressive side of our clothing without exploiting the marginalized, discouraging body positivity, and appropriating other cultures. While I apologize that I did not manage to publish this post prior to the show, I do encourage you to boycott their products (and show next year, too!) and share the details with your friends and families!
UPDATE (June 4, 2015): We've also uncovered a bit more dirt on what Victoria's Secret (& others) are promoting...
I'd love to hear your thoughts--did I miss anything that you'd like to add? What are your thoughts?
<(')
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Let's keep it real if you want to sell lingerie from the VS that is known for everyone looking perfect is going to have skinny models and I did saw two beautiful black girls. As per where they get the garment done I agree is kind of shady.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for dropping by and leaving your thoughts! :)
ReplyDeleteYes I totally agree with you--VS sells clothing that is known for their incredibly beautiful/perfect models: Soooo if they start using women of different sizes in their campaigns, they would be a part of the movement against defining beauty based on weight! Because truly, beauty is not determined by size.
Also, yes there were a few women of color, but just a few races/ethnicity of anything other than white is rather disproportionate.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that "beauty" cannot be reserved only for thin white women. That is the false image of beauty that is being propagated in the media and resulting in so many eating disorders, whitening makeup, etc. Every color and size is beautiful and VS and other major brands needs to start acknowledging this.
The unethical production is the main reason I don't shop there any longer, but the over-sexualization of women isn't helpful, either. I know there are strains of feminism that embrace this, and I can see where they're coming from, but I don't think VS did anything to help my body image at all.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding, their definition of "beauty" is very shallow. It's disappointing to see and know they're such a successful, popular brand. Ugh. What does that say about us??
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is a great post raising awareness once again Hoda. I always read your articles and am never unimpressed with your quality posts!
The Dragonfruit Diaries
You make a good point--there are feminists that would support campaigns like this in the name of sexual independence, etc, but I think that that strain is almost counterproductive becuase again, the focus of the woman is on her body rather than encouraging independence and freedom in ideas or thought, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you--it is also difficult to label this under feminism if not ALL body types are being encouraged, which I think is important for the feminist movement--it definitely is not helping my body positivity, either!
Thanks for leaving your insightful thoughts, as usual! :)
Ahh thank you so much, I really appreciate your kind words! And oh my you're so right--brands are always trying to cater to the consumer, so if this is what the consumer wants, this does say a lot about us--great point!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm glad you liked the post! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, I totally agree with you--skinny-shaming is definitely just as wrong as fat-shaming. In fact, I just wish the image of women just became completely irrelevant of any discussion about her, and rather focused on things like intellect, kindness, etc. But, that is idealistic at the moment...
But I do hope that in my article I did not at all come off as shaming the VS models--I do agree that they are all beautiful in their own way, but rather I think that beauty should not be limited to what they are defining. VS models are beautiful, but they are not the only ones that "beauty" or "sexy" can describe--I hope that clears up a bit of what I was trying to get at in the article!
Thank you again for dropping by and leaving such a thoughtful comment! c:
I listened to a book awhile back called I'm No Angel, and the behind the scene process was pretty eye opening. It's sort of lost it's shimmer for me.
ReplyDeleteJust looked up the summary for the I'm No Angel book--it looks really great and I think talks about something that not many people think about when they think of the glamour of the fashion industry/modeling! I will update the post with a link to the book--thank you for your input! :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the models know about the child labor. You know what I was thinking, Hoda? I watch VSFS shows and even though the models are stick skinny fit Barbie dolls, they actually have quite pleasant personalities. What if they ask THEM about it? Start a movement publicly through social media with the help of many other people or bloggers? What if the models DON'T know that it's happening and we LET them know? We should act for change, this can't happen while VS is rising to bigger and bigger success every year! They make everything seem so extravagant and luscious and perfect and gorgeous, but I do NOT like that they're hiding this.
ReplyDeletehttp://thoughtsintiffanyblue.blogspot.com/
Hey there! Thank you for reading and leaving such a thoughtful comment, Joanne! Also, can I just say that I LOVE your enthusiasm and activism--I think we are going to get along so nicely ;)
ReplyDeleteI think starting a campaign to tell the VSFS models (whom I'm sure have wonderful personalities--I hope I was not implying anything less of them in this post, but rather only that they are not the most diverse group of women...) about the unethical practices would be a brilliant idea. Unfortunately though, I think it might get a bit complicated: as unfortunate as it sounds, a lot of these women will not stop participating in the fashion show even with the knowledge of what the company is doing (I mean, someone rejecting a position that earns incredible amounts of fame & money under the argument that people far away you don't know are being exploited is not going to cut it for many people--just think about how hard it is for me or you to stop shopping at a store we love that makes it to the boycott list! The VS models have much more at stake than the ability to buy cute clothes).
Also, another reader (JuJu from Tales of Whimsy) mentioned a book called I'm No Angel which is written by one of the models and goes in-depth into the lack of ethics in her industry :/
I do think that action is important though! For now, I've just been encouraging a consumer boycott (VS is also on the international Palestinian boycott list as they support Israel in their apartheid & destruction of Palestine, so they are already being heavily boycotted by activists around the world). It's just so difficult to organize action as a smaller blogger let alone with classes and jobs, etc. But hopefully, we will be able to do it! :)
I also would just like to say that I think you are awesome and I'm so honored to have someone as passionate as you as a reader! xx
Thanks for the kind compliments! I do adore your blog and your honesty. I get excited when I see blogs that are different than others.
ReplyDeleteYou made some really good points, and I suppose it is going to be very hard. But yes, let's just hope that at some point, the media, or just the rest of the Internet, takes notice of this! The facts shouldn't be cast aside just because VS has turned into an empire today.
I will totally check out that book, I might even buy it. Thanks for letting me know about it!
Have a wonderful day.
no, thank YOU! Comments like yours are what gives me the motivation to keep on going! I really appreciate your readership and your spirit!
ReplyDeleteYes, alas, bringing about change in large corporation is rather difficult, but that is definitely not to say that it cannot be done! It just requires a looot of awareness and public participation--which is partly the objective of this blog, however little reach I may have. I encourage you to help spread this information via word of mouth as well, with friends and family--grassroots organizing and public awareness is the first step!
And hooray! Glad to hear! And don't thank me, thank thank @Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com ! She's the one that recommended it! Please do tell me how it is, if you like it! :)
ooh, this is a good post! I had no idea they used children to make their items! Fortunately, I do not buy from Victoria Secret. I didn't like the fact that they discontinued some of their larger sizes. VS is in almost every mall it just makes sense for me to buy bras from there until they do not carry your size, which sucked for me. I have since found plenty of other options- better options. I get VS magazines all the time, and I used to wish I had a smaller chest to fit into their bras but after reading your post and knowing about the child labor that goes on to make these bras, I won't wish for it any more and I'll be spreading the word to my friends because that is absolutely disgusting!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the post! Also, I'm glad to hear that you didn't let VS's models' unrealistic body sizes stop you from getting the right bra--the fact that they discontinued their larger sizes is reason enough to stop supporting them!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for helping to spread the word on what is going on behind the scenes at VS! It's really important for consumers to know where their money is going!
Great post! I didn't realize they used child labor. I'm beginning to wonder who DOESN'T use child labor? I don't want to support large companies that are exploiting children. Thank you for this awareness piece. I feel guilty about my VS lingerie but going forward I won't be shopping there.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that this post impacted you, and you have made the conscious decision to avoid unethical brands! That's really great, Lisa! Unfortunately, faaaar too many brands exploit children for profit (and do other horrible things--I have a complete boycott list on my menu bar, if you're interested) but on the positive side, there are many beautiful brands out there that not only do not engage in such malpractices, but actually work to support marginalized people around the world! I like to feature these brands, so if you'll looking for alternatives, you might want to take a look at those posts (like this one: http://www.joojooazad.com/2015/03/6-ethical-stores-youll-love-as-much-as-zara.html) Hope you find it useful!
ReplyDeleteIn any regard, thank you for your comment Lisa! Welcome to the blog :)
Oh my goodness. I had absolutely no idea about the child labor. Literally all of my bras and underwear are from them.. and now I feel terrible! :( Definitely will not be purchasing anything else from there again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this!
No need for feeling guilty if you've already decided to boycott the brand! (which, is a major step if you are a loyal buyer, so I commend you on your dedication to ethics, Kailey!) I was guilty of shopping at GAP before I found out they were part of the Bangladesh factory collapse, so I totally get you! Excited to hear that you've decided to boycott, though! If you have any friends/family that you think also needs to hear this, please do spread the word!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for dropping by, welcome to the blog! ;) xx
*snaps in support*
ReplyDeleteSo true, Alexa!
wow www.robesdemariee2013.com
ReplyDelete