Recently, we posted on this site
comparing Victoria's Secret and Playboy. It struck me how many women in the comments section seemed to prefer Victoria's Secret on the grounds that their models were less fake.
Now, this wasn't all the women commenting. There were a large number calling out how fake Victoria's Secret is. But there was an overall sense in the comments that Victoria's Secret was much more preferable and much more "real."
This was shocking to me because I don't think I've seen a picture of video of Victoria's Secret models that didn't look airbrushed, padded, photoshopped, or "surgically enhanced." I'm certainly never going to argue that Playboy models are in any way representative of what real women look like, but I'd never argue that for Victoria's Secret either.
I keep wondering why this is. I think the answer was revealed within the comments section itself.
There was a constant refrain about Playboy's preference for blonds. I think this is the driving force behind the idea that Victoria's Secret is more "real." You look at Playboy you see blonds, you look at Victoria's secret you see all hair colors and skin colors and in a way I guess this is more representative of the varying colors and shades women come in, but their models still aren't any less air brushed or "surgically enhanced." And they certainly don't reflect real women any more than Playboy does. So I find this all perplexing.
Can you guys clear this up for me?
Why do women think that Victoria's Secret is less fake than Playboy?
Comments (51)
I KNEW nprospect was the one going to give this one. But on another note, I don't have an inch of a clue. I got bored right around the time I grew tired of looking at their bras at aroun 8 or 9 years old.
well, because women wear victoria's secret bras, and not playboy bunnies.
duh. :]
I feel like I've heard somewherethat Victoria's Secret doesn't take models that are "surgically enhanced". Maybe that's why? Also, I think it might be because women feel kind of partial to VS because they buy shit (or at least can) from there, and are therefore biased toward it, even if this is subconscious. That, and you're right about the blonde thing I think. In Playboy, all you see is nasty, white, blonde bimbos. At least in VS there are women of different colours and hair colours, and not EVERY one of them look like they have implants.
Seriously good question though.
As a female I have worn my share of Bunny products. I had a night shirt for years that had the Bunny logo and an 88 on it(my graduation year).
I have used Victoria Secret products and have worn VS perfume. I have not chosen these items because one was less "fake" than another. The night shirt was something I bought for myself after high school and the perfume was a Christmas gift. Again, I am neither blind or mentally challenged.
Advertising is advertising no matter how you slice it. It doesn't matter if it is the actress is hawking cosmetics or tampons. They are air brushed and honed and everything else. That is the truth.
It is kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. They are both on the stove and they both have soot on them.
For some reason the Victoria Secret Models are more respectable then Play Boy Bunnies.
Reasons being
1) Playboy Bunnies are a little bit more trashy
2) Playboys main focus is on girls with huge boobs, where as Victoria Secret has models with all different sizes.
3) I see more innocence in VS then Play Boy which makes girls want to buy their products. But then again they do sell sexy stuff too.
This is just my opinion though
im sure victoria secret models all work for their bod, not surgery it.
I heard that somewhere.
as for padding.
umm VS sells padded bras and pushup bras! DER
Victoria's Secret models are more relatable to me. Airbrushing aside, (since everybody gets airbrushed - even the Geico gecko) I would rather see a woman in underwear who has a softer body - like mine. With centerfolds, it's like "ribs...ribs...ribs...topped off by silicone mounds" and it's distracting. Growing up, I loved looking at Tyra Banks in the catalogs. She had huge boobs and a butt, too, and it was all natural. I felt less awkward seeing that.
And then there's this: I was watching "Friday the 13th" recently. The newest one. And one of the actresses took her top off. 20 years ago, there would've been a little saggage with the act of removing one's breasts from a bra, but not now. Those things were standing at complete attention. It wasn't arousing or exciting. I really felt disgusted and wanted to look away.
Victoria's Secret says "We'll help you look like this."
Playboy says "We wish you looked like this."
@songbird27@xanga - you said it perfectly ^__^
@songbird27@xanga - Couldn't have said it better myself.
Playboy is pornograpy.
Victoria Secret (for its main purpose) is a collection of lingerie shots.I said it in the last post, and I'll say it again, it's because Bunnies are much more likely to be riding an old man's wrinkly nasty penis. Not that they ALL do, or that NONE of the Victoria's Secret models do so. But take, for example, Adriana Lima, who was a virgin until she got married at 28 (she says, I can't know for sure, just trying to give an example). When I think of VS, I think of big-breasted women in sexy lingerie. When I think of Playboy, I think of big-breasted women, probably naked, who like to sleep with Hugh Hefner. This could be why VS seems less fake? Idk. Personally I don't think it's less fake, just slightly less skanky.
@cornyonacob@xanga - I like this. Haha
Because Playboy is all blonds and have no variation in races or colouring. And like someone else said, Playboy focuses on huge fake tits while VS has all different sizes of models.
Guys always seem to forget that VS exists for US to buy nice underwear, while Playboy exists for you to jerk to. So, Playboy is more of a fantasy, therefore fake than VS is.
THANK YOU.
This is exactly what I was thinking when I read that last post. Seriously, you guys think that Victoria's Secret models are more "real"? Yeah right. None of them look like the average woman.
Also, I was really confused about the post comparing Playboy and Vogue models. Many, many women said that Victoria's Secret was the perfect balance between the skinny Vogue models and the curvier Playboy models. But hello - Victoria's Secret models are just Vogue models with boobs. So basically, everyone said they want to be unhealthily thin but still have boobs.
@songbird27@xanga - Nicely put.
I didn`t even know Playboy sold stuff. I thought they were just a magazine and a reality show on TV. Last I heard, there wasn`t a Victoria`s Secret Angels mansion.
because playboy is a magazine and victoria's secret is a store in the mall?
because vs models seem to work for their bodies instead of being surgically enhanced, but idk
Anyone who thinks VS models haven't had boob jobs is naive. BUT I'll give VS credit- I've seen some models for their swimsuit line who have obviously not had boob jobs (some even "flat").
But I think (don't know for sure as I haven't seen a playboy in like 10 years), I think some Playboy models are natural too?
I just don't seem to have an opinion either way. lol
cause the VS models are women of diferent colors and shapes modeling victoria secret brand clothing lingerie and bathing suits.......
whereas playboy is a porn industry..........with porn we automatically assume fake.
and im pretty sure none of the VS models have implants.....they are def more natural. and the fact that those models are also runway and Playboy models are just magazine.
i just think it has to do with what the models are associated with. porn something not so respectable and VS, selling a purchasable product for the average consumer.
and theres something like...naturally exotic and beautiful about the VS models.
@songbird27@xanga - @FallenOuttaPlace@xanga - @nineteen80sixx@xanga - But they aren't making you look like that. Because THAT isn't real. This is Joe The Plumber syndrome.
@Cheerleader_prostatus@xanga - VS isn't innocent. A lot of girls here seem to have bought into 3 myths:
1) That VS models aren't "surgically enhanced"
They are. Period. This year actually they've gone with smaller breasts in their latest swimsuit catalog. But Victoria's Secret was one of the driving forces behind the breast augmentation boom.
2) That VS hires girls of all different sizes
Look at the picture above. They all have the same exact body. Their models are known for their big breasts.
3) That VS is more innocent because Playboy is icky porn
VS is pornographic too. Just because they have tops and bottoms on most of the time doesn't mean these images aren't meant to illicit the same exact reaction the Playboy ones are. In fact, they're trying to use that reaction to sell something to you and they've managed to convince you that they're on your side while they're doing it.
Playboy is trashy. Victoria Secret has great underwear and bras. The end.
@nprospect - you are right for the most part, i was just stating to what meets the eye.
@nprospect - It's the thought that counts, right? Lol.
When it comes down to it VS is a catalog selling products whereas PB is the product. The VS models may not come in all shapes and sizes, but the product does. So we tell ourselves that VS in empowering because the product is for real woman. That's why we can see pretty much the same pictures and call one good and the other evil.
To be honest, I don't buy Victoria's Secret and I don't mind Playboy. I don't find either more or less offensive than the other.