One of America’s most treasured holiday traditions — a prime time television fashion show where the models walk around in just their underwear and giant fake wings — is under attack from leftists over its “cultural appropriation” (because that‘s the worst thing about it).
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show airs Tuesday night on CBS, but feminists say they won’t be turning in, not because the show is a gratuitous display of female objectification designed to entice and delight male viewers who have no intention of ever walking into the eponymous lingerie store, but because some of the underpants looks steal from other cultures.
Teen Vogue, of course, is leading the charge against Victoria’s Secret’s “cultural appropriation.”
“The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show each year is made up of themed segments. This year, the one in question was dubbed “Nomadic Adventure,” featuring a flurry of looks that seemed as though they had been inspired by tribal and Native American dress,” the magazine whined.
Others chimed in on Twitter: “Apparently the theme of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show this year was cultural appropriation,” while another echoed, and “So now Victoria’s Secret is totally ok with cultural appropriation. Wow. Ok.”
It is all, of course, intensely problematic, even though it’s not immediately clear that Victoria’s Secret intended to copy the Native American nomadic culture as opposed to a series of nomadic cultures indigenous to Asia, where the VS Fashion Show actually took place. Not all Native American tribes were nomadic, either, though stereotypical “Indians” seen in entertainment are often portrayed as nomads.
In fact, it’s not clear that the underwear manufacturer thought that deeply about what kind of culture its looks might evoke — and that’s perhaps the best explanation when you consider that the underwear sets are accompanied by giant, fake wings. And the focus of the show isn’t necessarily the underpants artistry — it’s mostly the models, or “angels.”
Teen Vogue pointed out that, despite the outrage expressed by social media users urged on by Twitter feminists and fueled by promotional shots of the lingerie fashion show, Victoria’s Secret has stubbornly refused to cave to their demands and banish the “offensive looks.”
The lingerie brand didn’t even give Teen Vogue the time of day, refusing to comment on what the magazine labeled a “controversy.”