I was getting my girls ready for school this morning and my oldest daughter says to me (as my back was turned)...mom is that bad? My response was, is what bad? And then I turn around to see this on my television.
I obviously completely disagree with this kind of advertising. But who am I? I am just a 35 year old mother to three little girls that has battled poor body image almost my entire adult life. Sadly, this ad campaign reminded me of a time when I had just given birth to my middle daughter (Keris). She was maybe 8 weeks old at the time when I saw a commercial for the Victoria Secret fashion show- I instantly felt fat and far from pretty- I am sure I wasn't the only female that felt that way. I am sure many women were rushing out to buy those tiny little panties and push-up bras... hoping to even slightly resemble .5% of the world population. Although the Victoria Secret models are very few and far between...that's what our advertising world deemed as the ideal body. And today, it is now considered the perfect body.
This is disturbing to me. Does Victoria Secret have the right to classify them as perfect... of course, we live in a free country (kind of). But to me this message is telling me and everyone else that looks NOTHING like these women... that we are FAR from perfect.
Thankfully, I don't have a desire to be perfect and I hope you don't either. I am 5'3" and weigh more than these women. I rock short hair, stretch marks, and leggings that are usually covered in child size cheese puff finger prints. I lift weights and chase my girls on the soccer field. I feel my sexiest in my workout clothes.
Dear Victoria Secret, I may be far from perfect, but I am enough.