by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
When it comes to the demise of the annual Victoria’s Secret show I’m reminded of Oliva Wilde’s movie Booksmart. I fucking hated, hated HATED that fucking movie, but I also knew I wasn’t the audience. The audience was a GenZ bi-curious girl living in a purple suburb.
So, obviously not me.
And, in all honesty, it’s not like I actually sat down and watched the Victoria’s Secret show on TV. I was aware of it each year, saw clips on YouTube and that was it. But something about it becoming culturally untenable rubs me the wrong way.
I totally get that wealthy liberal women in metropolitan areas are now so woke that they now either spend money on a Peloton or, in general, just want lingerie that is more representative of how most women really look. Ok, I can accept that.
And, yet, it makes me sad that “lingerie needs to be more representative” is mutually exclusive with the glamor and allure of Victoria’s Secret. Why can’t all the various body types — including the traditionally hot ones — be celebrated? Why, by definition, is a stunning woman in lingerie a bad thing?
Anyway, no one listens to me. But the people who want to “slay the patriarchy” are doing themselves no favors by “canceling” something as popular and easily-to-understand as the Victoria’s Secret show. While it might allow “woke” people to feel smug that another oppressive aspect of the patriarchy has been felled there are a lot of men — and women — who are like me.
