Lana Yoo
Victoria may or may not really have a secret, but she sure stirs
peculiarities ““ one of them being the significance of the
Victoria’s Secret Semi-Annual Sale, currently going on until
the end of January.
It’s pretty bizarre, really. How can a lingerie
chain’s sales be calendar-marking events? Yet, we find women
piling into the stores during these sales.
The root of VS’s peculiarities are the VS models
(“Angels”), the revered fashion icons of a lingerie
monopoly.
Indeed, female sexuality permeates marketing campaigns because
it works, albeit being commonly accused of objectifying women.
However, a new connotation of female sexuality is emerging.
Given its influence, impact and power in society, today’s
female sexuality in advertisements defies its previous position of
dehumanizing objectification.
It is a common view that female sexuality is exploited to lure
men into buying masculine products such as cigarettes, cars and
alcohol.
Interestingly, ads geared toward women employ these images too,
including Victoria’s Secret, which aims at an exclusively
female market.
Flip through a woman’s magazine and you’ll find ad
spreads similar to those targeted toward men: women in seductive
positions, half-naked, promoting makeup, perfume, clothing and
other beauty products to women.
“Female sexuality sells. It sells to men who want to have
it, and to women who want to emulate it,” said Rocio Rosales,
a student coordinator for UCLA’s Sociology of Gender Working
Group and graduate sociology student.
So why are women perpetuating these advertisements by responding
to these “objectifications” ““ memorizing
Angels’ names and idolizing them?
And it’s true that VS models are objectified ““
we’ve all seen men ogling outside a VS store. But why do
these models not suggest the vulgarity associated with
objectification? What is the difference between these models and,
say, prostitutes?
VS Angels occupy prestigious positions in society as elite
supermodels. Today’s lingerie models, seen as respectable
individuals and not as dehumanized sex objects, reflect the
expanding freedom of female sexuality.
In the streets, women wear shirts with “Can’t Touch
This” written across their chest. On Halloween, merchants
report that promiscuous costumes account for the highest sales,
according to the New York Times.
Perhaps these bolder assertions derive from growing female
independence, with more women attaining higher education, leading
governments and high-powered companies ““ which adds to
clashes over conventional ideas of marriage, sexuality, and the
overall ideal of femininity.
“The new young women … brazenly enjoy their sexuality
… (and the) absence of finding a husband is countered by sexual
self-confidence,” Angela McRobbie wrote in an article titled
“Post-Feminism and Popular Culture.”
The difference between Angels and prostitutes is that Angels
have more or less chosen these paths ““ symbolic of the modern
woman’s autonomy ““ whereas prostitution is a sign of
desperation and being victimized by financial crises.
Of course, there’s always the controversy over only a
subset of women ““ the unnaturally tall and thin ““ being
represented as sexually empowered and desirable.
Regardless, it is interesting to see female sexuality’s
grip on society alongside growing female independence.
Perhaps this is Victoria’s biggest secret of all: that the
men ogling outside her store, the millions of shoppers in her
stores and her women admirers are all reflections of the
controversial, but provocative, face of the changing modern
woman.
If you’re a victim of the lingerie monopoly, e-mail
Yoo at jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.