(no subject)

[owlectomy]

The LJ ad that I got when I logged in this morning was Victoria's Secret sponsoring some contest asking me what I loved about my body because they are now promoting their "All New Body" line as having "a body for every body." I was all set to go off on a rant because last time I was there I couldn't hardly find anything to fit me, and it's not like you can really claim to fit EVERY body while only going up to 40DD (I am less than that, but they have a REALLY limited selection of sizes in store for most of their bras). And, in a more general sense, I'm upset that the very same companies that use body shame and body hatred to make sales will turn around and try to promote loving your body to make sales and pretend they're being socially responsible.

Yes, I'm talking to you, Dove. The same company that sells Axe to men and skin-lightening creams in India can't then turn around and sell a love-your-body message to slightly chubby middle-class women and expect it to have ANY authenticity.

So I was going to rant about that and then send it to them for the contest. But the contest prize is a trip to New York City, so. I guess I can just post it to Livejournal.

(VS is rather overpriced and poor quality anyway. Meh.)

Comments

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

Far be it from me to expect anything better from a mall lingerie store; it's just the talking out of both sides of their mouth that gets to me. Love your body but be just insecure enough to pay $60 for a bra. Love your body as long as it's within this span of 4 or 8 inches. (Because that is literally how limited their sizing is.) We're used to getting told, do this and that because it will impress or attract men, but it feels so much more insidious to claim that a woman who buys cheap beige bras or drugstore beauty products is guilty of loving herself insufficiently.

It sort of plays into this weird pattern where you're expected to burn yourself out taking care of everyone else and thereby justify spending lots of money to take care of yourself.