In 2010, Victoria’s Secret launched a new campaign to advertise their new line of lingerie entitled “Love Your Body”. The company used their own models to represent their brand. However, since the models were meant to embody ideal women, this triggered much controversy within the American female population.

This gives rise to the question, what are the characteristics of an ideal woman? Even though the title “Love Your Body” sounds empowering, it can only be empowering if the woman reading it considers herself to have a body she loves. In the case of the Victoria ‘s Secret models, this would clearly only apply to a small number of women. Almost all forms of advertisements nowadays bombard women with what is supposedly the “ideal body”. The fact that their bodies seem ideal is solely due to a vision society has created and for most females, this stereotype is unattainable. Most models in advertisements look unrealistic and this is due to the fact that they are far below a healthy body weight. This gives an implicit message that to be beautiful one must be unhealthy and it makes it difficult for any woman to feel content with their physical appearance. Hence, it effectively lowers women’s self esteem rather than inspiring them to feel powerful.

This first image portrays a Victoria’s Secret model on a white carpet. There is a seductive connotation to it. Her hands are placed between her legs, possibly hiding her genitals. Her arms are used to push her breast forward to