Dear Victoria's Secret,
I have been a customer of yours since I bought my first sexy bra in college (before then, bras were merely a matter of function, not seduction). I have watched you go through many transformations and hundreds of models. I have stuck with you even when you went trampy and your catalogs looked like soft-core porn. I did this because yours was one of the few stores that carried cute bras in my size. Now, the relationship is over.
While shopping with my sister, mom and nieces over the weekend, we walked into Victoria's Secret and browsed. Now, perhaps I could have been a more informed consumer to begin with. I didn't look at the Pink line of Victoria's Secret because when it was launched in 2004 I was three years out of college and apparently, it was college-aged women that were the target audience for Pink.
From the July 4, 2004 CNN/Money:
The boudoir behemoth, famous for its sexy, romantic and provocative lines of intimate apparel, this month rolled out its more colorful and playful 'Pink' fashion line chain-wide after a limited launch late last year. Victoria's Secret is marketing the new lower-priced collection as 'fresh, fun and free-spirited,' catering to a younger 18-to-22-year-old clientele.
All good. All fine. Women over the age of 18 can wear whatever kind of underwear they want.
The problem is, the girls I saw perusing the Pink line this weekend were nowhere near 18, not to say 22. They were maybe 13 or 14. They were there with their boyfriends. They were looking at underwear with "I Get Around", "Can't Get Enough" and "Just Visiting" written across the butt. They were babies. They were babies looking to seduce their baby boyfriends. Barf.
And then the fact that I am a parent of a girl became so painfully clear. What I wouldn't do to raise a daughter who looks at these messages and says, "No thank you. I don't need to market my sexuality." A girl strong enough to know that she deserves better than to give herself up before she even has a sense of who she really is. I recognize my responsibility as a parent in helping to make this happen.
But I don't want companies marketing to girls and women like this. Aren't we supposed to be raising self-confident and empowered girls? Aren't we there yet?
Apparently not.
So I've decided to boycott Victoria's Secret. I know they won't care. I know I'm just one person. But I have to do it. For my daugther's sake.
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2 comments:
Hey Cousin,
I know the feeling. I have a 12 yr old girl. Over the past few years since we've had "the talk". She has started growing into her body (slowly, she is my child after all:) and seeing the advertising to kids her age (they say it's for the older crowd, but let's be honest, it's not) is horrifying. I won't even step foot into A&F and VS is somewhere I'd never let her buy anything. I'm trying to raise a girl who will respect herself, is comfortable in her own body, who can see the beauty in differences and who will not let anyone tell her she's not beautiful because she isn't "perfect". It's a huge challenge but it is nice to know that there are other moms out there doing the same. So good for you!
I lost my tolerance for Victoria's Secret sometime around the time they 1) launched their prime time "fashion show" on TV, 2) I spoke with a woman who worked there who said she was regularly stalked and harassed by men in the store,and she and her co-workers were often escorted to their cars after work 3) a woman in Minnesota was abducted, raped and murdered after leaving her job at VS.
I know that VS is not responsible for the derelict behavior of deranged individuals, but any association is enough for me to say, "I want nothing to do with supporting this corporation's interests."
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