Who Are the New Angels?

by Elizabeth Lemuz

Lane Bryant

This week there was a lot of talk about the Lane Bryant ad campaign titled “I’m No Angel”. Lane Bryant is a fashion company that dresses women sizes 14-28. In the media there was a lot of heat concerning the campaign, which definitely caught the public’s attention.

According to an article “Lane Bryant Ad Campaign Takes Aim At Victoria’s Secret Angels” from CBS New York, this ad is “to prove that all women are sexy regardless of society’s traditional or stereotypical views on beauty”. The ad campaign was just recently released and it already has all the major news outlets writing about it and all the social media outlets are trending this subject.

The “typical woman” has been hard to define for some time now. There is always something that may put down women of some shape or size. Victoria’s Secret has been around for a long time and has caused controversy everywhere because of its super skinny models. This brand has been very successful and continues to succeed aside from all the hate that they get from people. Women’s body shape has evolved so much over time. Here is this video on BuzzFeed showing the change over time and listing what women’s bodies looked like before and how they are now.

I personally like to see the new ad campaign’s like the one Lane Bryant just released. It’s refreshing to see something new out there, other than your typical “skinny is best” or “skinny is perfect” type of mindset. Women on the street don’t look like Victoria’s Secret models. Just like before, women’s bodies are changing again and there isn’t one specific type of body anymore.

In an article titled “How Lane Bryant might be ‘bullying’ skinny women” in The Washington Post, it discusses how Lane Bryant is “skinny-shaming” women now with this new campaign. IT goes on about how women that are bigger can still wear cacique, but don’t necessarily have to have such aggressive approach.

There will always be two sides to everything and this is why it’s good that people can voice their opinions. Like I said before, I don’t think that the ad is “skinny-shaming” women at all. I think that one brand is finally stepping forward, taking a risk, and stating something that in recent time has needed to be mentioned. Today this, like many other topics, is very controversial. I don’t believe Lane Bryant created this campaign to go against Victoria’s Secret. I think they wanted all the women out there that don’t feel comfortable with the way they look because of today’s ideal look of women, and instead is giving them that extra boost of confidence and security.  

Citations:

“Lane Bryant Ad Campaign Takes Aim At Victoria’s Secret Angels”. CBS New York. CBS Local Media, 2015. Web. 9 April 2015. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/04/07/lane-bryant-ad-campaign-takes-aim-at-victorias-secret-angels/

“How Lane Bryant might be ‘bullying’ skinny women”. The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2015. Web. 9 April 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/08/lane-bryant-imnoangel-ad-campaign-might-be-bullying-skinny-women/

“Women’s Ideal Body Types Throughout History”. BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, 2015. Web. 9 April 2015. http://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/womens-ideal-body-types-throughout-history#.aiQd9ko3X