No More Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Do you want to know how many tears I’ve shed? Let me count them. That would be zero.
I’ve never once watched the show, and I’ve often wondered why anyone (besides 13-year-old boys, of course) would want to. It’s a bunch of models who are much thinner than most women will ever be wearing lingerie more expensive than most of us typically buy, and some of them sport wings and are called angels. I don’t know what church believes that when you die you will go to Heaven and receive giant wings, perky breasts and glitzy bras, but count me out.
Oh, I’ve Shopped There.
I’m wearing one of their bras right now. I liked that their store was a place conveniently located right in the mall where I could get professionally measured and fitted. The salesladies were always helpful in making sure I got a bra that fit me correctly. I have, by and large, been satisfied with their bras.
But I didn’t really like that they emphasized sexy, sexy, sexy. Yes, I am saying this as a romance novelist who has been known to write a sexy scene or two or a hundred. But you know what? Romance novels are an escape. You do not live in a romance novel. You have more than that going on in your life, right? You probably have to go to work every day, and (just assuming here) you aren’t trying to be sexy at work. You might have kids to take care of, a dog to walk, a house to clean, laundry to fold. Are you a sex kitten 24/7? I am betting you are not.
Sexy Isn’t the Only Reason for Bras
Yes, there are definitely times for most of us when we do want to look and feel sexy, and for many of us, we enjoy wearing lingerie that helps us with that. But there are other times when we just want a well-fitting, comfortable, practical bra. And the relentless sexy-sexy-sexy drove me nuts. I actually wrote them a letter about it years ago, when my then-teen daughter was first wearing bras, and I resented that if I wanted to take her bra shopping there, we had to enter a space in which we felt overwhelmed with the “sexy” message. I just wanted my daughter to be professionally fitted for a few decent bras.
New Bra Companies Have a New Tone
There are a lot of new bra companies out there now that brand themselves as providing comfortable, high-quality bras that fit any body type. I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the advertisements, which show women of all shapes, sizes and races. It’s so refreshing.
I’m all about women feeling empowered to claim their sexuality, regardless of what kind of physical body they’re in. The way to do that, in my opinion, is not to present fantasy images that most of us could not meet even if we wanted to. The way we do that is to present images of real women happily owning the bodies they actually have.
Sophia Sinclair is Curvicality’s sex and relationships writer and the author of the Small-Town Secrets romance series, available on Amazon. Reach Sophia at sophia@curvicality.com.
