Do women really want their models plump and showing all their flaws?
According to the BuzzFeed female staffers who dressed up like Victoria’s Secret swimsuit models and subjected themselves to a photo shoot on a beach in Malibu, yes, they really, most definitely do.
Big kudos to the BuzzFeed women who decided to do this. This is a fantastic story idea. Pretty ballsy of them really.
But why do they have to ruin it with their opinions?
“As girls we grew up idolizing the women we saw in magazines, and hoping that maybe someday, when we finally grew up, we would look in the mirror and see that same beauty in ourselves,” they wrote. “Every summer we are exposed to the flawless pictures of Victoria’s Secret models. And every summer, we wonder why when that bathing suit arrives in the mail, we put it on and don’t feel flawless.”
The BuzzFeed ladies think it’s vital to show women as they really are — in other words, as they are. It’s the Dove commercial all over again.
“We think it’s very important for women of all different shapes, sizes, and colors to rock these bathing suits and give an accurate depiction of what a beach body really is,” they wrote. “So that’s what we did.”
The women get pretty explicit about things like their boobs and their period.
Nina Mohan claims to have large breasts. But does she?
“I have fairly large boobs and it’s really hard to find a suit that lets me move around and NOT flash people,” she said.
The BuzzFeed feature has six women in Victoria’s Secret suits running on the beach toward the camera in various states of sexy poses, some of which include cleavage.
Many of the women complained about the sand hurting their knees, the pain of sucking in their tummies, and how freezing the water was.
This being BuzzFeed, where everything is painfully politically correct, Nina even turned the whole thing into a racial matter.
“Looking at these models was just a constant reminder that never in my adult life have I been that skinny or white, so I can’t pretend that I relate,” Nina whined. “It sucks because there are different ways to represent ‘bikini bodies’ and beauty in general, but we’re force-fed one image. I wish I could see someone like me in a magazine, but I’m still waiting.”
Next up: Allison Bagg. She’s in a pretty paisley one-piece.
But she’s also complaining.
She says she feels exposed in bathing suits, even when she’s not posing for a fake Victoria’s Secret photo shoot. “Everyone has cellulite, stretch marks, and pudge,” she said, explaining that only “you” are focusing on your problem areas. (Actually, most woman notice every other woman’s problem areas. We like to compare and contrast.)
Kristin Chirico, one of two plus size models in the shoot, probably has the best sense of humor of them all.
“First of all, this bathing suit was the tits,” she said of her dark plum strapless one-piece that fully covered her breasts.
Like any good BuzzFeeder, she takes selfies.
“I’m not really in a pose that really demonstrates how kick-ass it felt, but ask around, I spent this whole day wiggling around and taking selfies and generally enjoying myself,” she said.
When Krisin attempted to pose like her model, she says she got her hand stuck in the vicinity of her boobs.
Sheridan Watson, the other larger model, is also hilarious in that she loves to drop the f-bomb. She said her boobs felt like they were trying to escape from prison.
“Imagine just how excited I was when I had to put on a fucking swimsuit on a fucking beach with my fucking photo posted next to that of fucking Behati Prinsloo, a Namibian supermodel who married fucking Adam Levine.”
Lara Parker is probably my favorite BuzzFeed model in that nothing is off limits in what she’ll admit. It’s like a car accident. Except for BuzzFeed, this is a feature. She’s actually the journalist who most resembles her Victoria’s Secret model, but she’s too busy talking about her period and her bloating to let any arrogance come through.
“I have a lot of abdominal pain with bloating, and because of that I am very self-conscious when it comes to my stomach. Thinking about doing this beforehand made me squirm. Also, BIG SHOUT OUT TO MOTHER NATURE FOR BLESSING ME WITH MY PERIOD MERE HOURS BEFORE I HAD TO WEAR A WHITE MESH BIKINI.”
Lara says she wants a magazine where the women look like her. “I want a magazine that I can pick up and look at the women and say, ‘Oh my god, that’s so me,’ not ‘Oh my god, I wish that was me.'”
The funniest thing about Kristen King — who wears a beautiful black bikini — is that she didn’t even bother to take the photo shoot seriously — she ate a whole pack of Pop Tarts before the cameras began rolling.
“I didn’t think I’d be splashing around in the waves or tossing my hair in the wind while a Calvin Harris song played in the background,” she said.
Kristen says magazines just make you feel “like crap.”
Above all, these women want you to know that you’re all fabulous … no matter your size and shape.