Kudos To >> https://www.jimmyjane.com/blog/victorias-secret-perfect-body-campaign-faces-backlash/

Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Perfect Body’ campaign has stirred much controversy and debate in recent press. The new campaign features an image of ten Victoria’s Secret models in lingerie with the words “The Perfect ‘Body’” inscribed across the models’ so-called “perfect” bodies.

The campaign has received quite a bit of backlash, and rightfully so, as it promotes unrealistic body expectations and beauty standards. The Underwear company Dear Kate responded to the advertisement by creating their own alternative to the Perfect Body ad, and asked people to tweet the hashtag #iamperfect to @VictoriasSecret in protest and to raise awareness about the controversial advertisement. As the Dear Kate website reads, “As if women need a reminder of our society’s homogenous definition of beauty, the ad features ten models with almost identical body shapes. The creators of the ad probably didn’t think twice about the message it is sending, and to us, it’s irresponsible marketing.” Although Victoria’s Secret has yet to respond the Dear Kate, more than 16,000 people have signed a U.K petition asking Victoria’s Secret to apologize for an “irresponsible,” “body-shaming’ ad.

A 2004 study conducted by Dove collected data on women and how the percieve beauty in the media. This research found:

• More than two-thirds (68%) of women strongly agree “media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.”

• Almost half of survey respondents (47%) agreed “only the most physically attractive women are portrayed in popular culture.”

• (75%) of the study participants also wished that, “The media did a better job portraying women of diverse physical attractiveness, age, shape and size.”

This Victoria’s Secret ad campaign along with many others out there can have serious implications on women’s health and negative body perceptions. The average women in the United States is 5’4, 140 pounds, while the average model is 5’11 and 117 pounds. Here at Jimmyjane we feel that these Victoria’s Secret bodies are not only unobtainable, but the ad itself was uninspiring. We feel that beauty is found within diversity, diversity in body size, sexuality, gender, orientation etc. Thus, our team at Jimmyjane are all strong advocates of the #iamperfect campaign.