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Wednesday 21 August 2013

#DiversityInLingerie

Bikini by Kookai
This is not my most flattering photo. I am pretending that I am all earthy and beachy and yoga-ey, like some hip, healthy specimen of a human. I am not. Despite numerous deviations from the 'norm' of how a female should look (lack of stomach muscles, exaggerated lordosis of the spine, hyper-extended knees and WHAT is with my posture?), there are also aspects of me that conform to some unspoken 'norm' of beauty, the tan, the skinniness, and me being so young.

So what does this illustrate? That I am alive, healthy, and grateful for the body I was given. I am not pointing out flaws or good points as if they somehow define me, because they don't. I remember the first time I realized that ones body could be a 'flaw'. I was 14 and opened a magazine and saw an article which helped you make your 'flaws' more appreciated, or some other backhanded title. Was having thick eyebrows (like me) a 'flaw'. Was pale skin a 'flaw' that needed bronzing (at the time it hit me as reverse racism) a flaw? Why where chubby legs bad, did that mean that your genetics had programmed a lesser you with shameful legs?

I think that people everywhere have been making a stink about abolishing the representation of one kind of very white anglo-saxon, skinny 'normal' for too long, and it's time not for the representation of 'curvy', 'real' women at the expense of those WASPY models, because they are also real, but for a representaion of the population as a whole. Especially in lingerie. You either have a very Americanised, skinny, small-breasted model, like so:

Courtesy Victorias Secret
Or if you do not buy from a mainstream brand, with core sizes, and buy full busted bras (like me and my 28f/28ffs), then you have models with hips and breasts that are often over an F or even G cup. Yes, full bust brands may be representing ONE sector of the market, but what about girls who wear full bust sizes that DON'T have 'big boobs' (like me), or hips (me again), or who more voluptuous than the full bust models?

Courtesy Curvy Kate
 No, its time to quietly represent everyone, skinny or not, dark, tanned, alabaster white, eyebrowed, stretch-marked, hesitant and brash. It's time to stop making a big fuss over how 'diverse' a company is being, and how praiseworthy this is. Women are more than the sum of their body, diverse or not. Please just get on with offering what we, as the clients want; a representation of everyone (after all, a companies clients are not cookie-cutter people. Ewa Michalak, http://www.ewa-michalak.pl/, is especially good for this) within advertising campaigns, make a range of skin coloured bras for everyone (I have money. I will buy them! As a side point, it is Ewa Michalak's Toffi bra, http://www.ewa-michalak.pl/product-eng-91-Strapless-Toffi.html, that fits my darker than 'average' skin colour). And then let us quietly get on with our lives, in a world that is just a little more inclusive and pleasant.

Xoxoxox
Princess

2 comments:

  1. I've always hated how there are those "hide you flaws" or "fix your flaws" articles everywhere in the media. It seems to undermine what little diversity they have when they're constantly trying to minimize this, emphasize that, or slim (insert body part of choice). Glad to see more entries in this series!

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  2. I never realised why a flawed person had to be judged as so on looks alone, or for that matter why people think it necessary to proclaim others 'not good enough'

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