I absolutely love this. So a few weeks ago, Lane Bryant released this commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiGt6bjk0NM, which FOX and ABC banned because they deemed it too racy. Imagine that? A full, gorgeous, curvy woman being considered attractive. Not only attractive but too sexy to be shown on TV in her underwear. It may just be my imagination but I'm pretty sure I've seen Victoria's Secret advertisements all over various TV networks. Ones that look like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJAh8U11OsI&feature=related or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3thFA2Jmtc&feature=related .The problem isn't that American networks mind displaying women in their underwear. In fact, they do it all the time. The "problem" is when a certain kind of woman, one who is voluptuous and not abashedly so, is displayed as a sexy figure.
By banning this ad, these networks are sending very confusing messages. Is it that extremely slim women are not sexy enough to be banned from TV? Does that mean that stick figure women aren't actually sexy after all and that women with fuller figures are? Or does it mean that people aren't comfortable with the idea that curvy women not only enjoy their bodies but that many men love them, too? What I'm trying to ask is this: What are women "supposed" to look like? This sort of schizophrenic attitude towards the female figure drives many women crazy on a daily basis.
Now typically, if someone is advocating for plus size figures to be considered beautiful, they say that even women with "imperfections" are attractive. While I should be an advocate for body diversity and the worship of all shapes, I just don't buy it. Why can't anyone just say that curvy women who look built to reproduce are sexy? Why must we turn discussions of body types either into praise of "skinny, beautiful" bodies or, on the other end of the spectrum, a sentimental tale of loving yourself no matter what? Women with curves should be (and have for many centuries)considered ideal. I repeat: women with curves should be considered ideal. I hate the idea that voluptuous women say that they are happy with themselves in spite of not being the "perfect size 0". This assumes that they themselves aren't perfect the way they are. I think that this ad and the decision to pull shows us that women's bodies are constantly being policed both by men and by other women. I'm tired of it and I'm tired of the rhetoric of body acceptance and "being ok with not being perfect" Since when is starvation sexy or evolutionarily sound? Ladies, what's up with that?
