Question :
The annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show hit the runway last November, as global news headlines relentlessly reminded us. Yet the company faces declining revenue and continues to alienate customers via exclusionary beauty norms and ad campaigns catered to the heterosexual male gaze. The brand has recently come under fire in the media for transphobia, lack of inclusivity, and rigid definitions of which bodies should be viewed as “sexy”. In light of feminist debates about global beauty politics, what do you think has (or have) the most significant potential to challenge hegemonic beauty norms and internal colonization on a global scale, and why? You may discuss any of the following: legal and professional codes within the modeling industry to ban underweight, under-aged, and heavily Photo-Shopped models; re-designed Barbie dolls that incorporate a more inclusive range of body sizes and types; body-positive social media sites, campaigns, and events like the recent “Guerrilla Fashion Show” in Times Square; feminist consumerist campaigns such as the “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty” ; model exposes, including Cameron Russell’s TED talk; reality TV such as America’s Next Top Model; and/or documentaries like Never Perfect, Beauty Culture, Thin, and A Girl Like Me Discuss at least 3 of the following readings: Jeffreys, Mernissi, Rhode, Johnston & Taylor, Bartky, Urla & Swedlund, Davis, Musin, and/or La Ferla. Also include at least one of the following multi-media sources: Kiri Davis, A Girl Like Me; Dove, “Evolution”; Lauren Greenfield, Beauty Culture & Thin; Cameron Russell’s TED talk (2017); Miss Representation; Never Perfect (trailer); “The Real Catwalk: Guerrilla Fashion Show” (Times Square)
