Victorias Secret and Womens Sexuality In-store - Essay Example

inserts his/her full Victoria’s Secret and Women’s Sexuality in-store Public space has since long been used to either reinforce or undermine traditional gender roles. Victoria’s Secret represents a space that has reinforced the stereotyped view of women as sex objects. The company’s orientation towards women is reflected in its depiction of women's sexuality by using provocative images for visual merchandising, flashing colors such as hot pink and realistic mannequins to portray women's sex appeal in store. Victoria Secret’s line of products has reinforced woman’s sexuality especially since these products are marketed through provocative displays and an inherent sex appeal that supposedly makes its products attractive. At the very least this is based on the premise that BIOLIGICAL DETERMINISM holds true for women since their biology or sexual attractiveness is necessary to be accepted by men (Shaw and Lee). While essentialism states that men and women are inherently different and that women’s different physical form make them suitable for certain functions, constructivism counters this by claiming that sexuality arises out of the beliefs and attitudes governing religion and culture (Houston). Although the biological differences between the genders are present, social constructivism has a great role to play in how women are ‘perceived’ as sex objects as suggested by Victoria’s Secret’s use of space. This perception is reflected in the company’s store design and layout. The design team’s rejection of the conventional candy box color scheme of pink and gold colors was based on the premise that the company’s dominant color (pink) was being overused. The use of the ‘pink’ theme across its store is dominant which reasserts the stereotypical association of this color with women. Nevertheless, the need to tone down the pink color is apparent by the use of black and cream colors with the use of flashing pink lighting in store displays. Therefore, the overwhelming use of the pink color has been made subtle by the use of black and cream colors. This is not because the company attempts to divulge from its primary market of women. The color scheme has been altered to include black and cream to make the already pink merchandise “pop out”. GENDER SOCIALIZATION suggests how humans learn appropriate behavior with respect to their gender (Shaw and Lee). This follows that women are expected to maintain their physical beauty to remain acceptable in the society. Women’s worth in the society is often reflected in how ‘beautiful’ they are perceived by the society unlike men whose worth does not depend on their beauty (Shaw and Lee). This is often referred to as DOUBLE STANDARDS. This concept has been used by Victoria’s Secret which uses glamorous images of women throughout its store so that women feel they will look like those idealized images after wearing those products. A small fraction of women who are physically attractive are used throughout in-store photography which reflects the stereotypical belief that a woman’s worth is through her body and attractiveness. This is linked to the OBJECTIFICATION of women whereby their bodies are considered separate from the context (Shaw and Lee). This, in turn, is closely tied to the fragmentation of women when their bodies are separated from their personalities and are thought to represent the woman. The way in which specific body parts are highlighted in the photography reflects how the woman as a whole is discarded and how women are considered as objects that can be touched, “ogled” or even bought. The focus on specific parts such as breasts and other genital organs in these ads is reflective of the SURGERIES including VAGINAL SURGERIES that women undergo in the name of beauty. Only younger models are used in stores which suggest that as women grow old they lose their sexuality and beauty and can therefore be discarded. The appearance of women as a SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP TOOL has been time and again emphasized by Victoria’s Secret’s photography and mannequins. The focus on perfect body shapes has even prompted photographers to use cameras with a “slimming feature”. The emaciated models wearing Victoria’s Secret’s bikinis, for instance, tend to reinforce this paradigm suggested by Valenti. Although the typical “bust forms” mannequins have been replaced by ones which are more realistic, these new mannequins are not any better. These mannequins are placed in sexually attractive and stimulating poses with majority of their ‘flesh’ visible since lingerie wear requires such displays (William). They are particularly positioned inside and outside the changing rooms to which reflects the perception of beauty that the company claims to create. These mannequins possess attractive body shapes which highlights specific parts as standing out from the rest. This is not surprising given that the GENDER EXPRESSION with which most women are projected is having the perfect figure and lean bodies. These skinny models are termed as SKELETAL and SICK-LOOKING by Valenti (Valenti). The emaciated life-like mannequins reinforce the madness surrounding the need to remain thin and giving priority to staying slim rather than staying healthy. This fad is described in these words by Valenti under the paradigm of BEAUTY CULT: “Women would rather live shorter with skinny bodies than live longer with full fat ones” (Valenti 198). They also reinforce how MACHISMO reflects the traditional gender roles of men as aggressive and being stimulated by women’s sexuality (Shaw and Lee). Although these mannequins come in five different skin tones, none of them is dressed like an African American or a Hispanic. None of the mannequins possess curly black hair typical of the African American race. This is not surprising because of the stereotyped belief that African American women suffer from “racially oriented ugliness” or unattractive physical features as opposed to the traditional association of beauty with fairness, sleek features and blond hair. Furthermore, Victoria Secret’s store features separate rooms for each product such as undergarments and lingerie. The products are displayed in cubicles built inside the walls with each undergarment being illuminated individually from within these cubicles. Such walls have been built on both sides of the outlet to create strong visual impact to the buyers as soon as they step off the escalator. The signage indicates the styles to customers, which allows for easy identification of the products displayed. Such strategies where aesthetics are strong and particular feelings are stimulated by the in-store environment are particularly useful when appealing to women since the traditional gendered roles describe women as being emotional as opposed to rational which is referred to as the “gender science dichotomy”. Upon visit to the Victoria’s Secret’s store, I discovered that this is one of the reasons why one corner of the store features a mannequin with relaxed expressions against the backdrop of a large plasma-screen display. The screens display rose petals that gradually drift apart which draws the linkage between women’s delicacy and sexuality. Although the relaxed expression of mannequins was not a relatively new concept, the use of digital screens showing rose petals was. Furthermore, be it lingerie or undergarments, the use of red color throughout the store was apparent. This is because red has been associated with the color of romance, love and eroticism which are essential components of Victoria’s Secret’s brand identity. The color red has been particularly known to enhance women’s attractiveness in the eyes of men. Victoria’s Secret particularly aims to familiarize its female shoppers to the store environment through its use of the “decompression zone” whereby the customers tend to absorb cues from the store’s atmosphere and ambience (Rogers, Vrotsos and Schmitt). The environment is intensified with the use of flashing pink lighting that highlights the mannequins and cultivates an attitude of looking beautiful amongst the shoppers. Victoria’s Secret Beauty store lies at the heart of the floor beneath the front floor. The furniture parts are clamped together in a curved manner to specially appeal to women and add a feminine and sensual feeling. Ultimately, this too can be related to the idealized “curvy” body shapes of women. Mostly lively and bright colors are used such as in the case of illuminated shelves. Furthermore, the sensual shapes of beauty products and bottles are reflected in the mirrors used in the Beauty section. To conclude, Victoria Secret’s in-store layout and design including the emaciated mannequins with hourglass figure, use of pink and red colors and excessive display of flesh in its in-store display of large photographs reinforce stereotypical beliefs of viewing women as sex objects. The exclusion of African American women and women of minorities further testifies the growing emphasis on physical attractiveness as the passport to women’s acceptance in the society. Works Cited Houston, Larry. "Chapter One Essentialism or Social Constructionism." 26 May 2007. Web. 25 June 2013. Rogers, David L., Karen L. Vrotsos and Bernd H. Schmitt. There's No Business That's Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004. Web. Shaw, Susan and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: Mc Graw-Hill, 2011. Print. Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. New York: Seal Press, 2007. Web. William. Victoria's Secret Mannequin Fetish. 12 February 2007. Web. 21 June 2013. Read More