Victoria Secret's Racist Lingerie?

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URL to the story: http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/victoria ... 00394.html

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It takes hundreds of employees, thousands of hours and millions of dollars to launch a mass market lingerie line. And one blogger to take it all down.

"I never thought they would pull the Geisha outfit off the market," Nina Jacinto tells Shine. "I imagine there were a number of factors that went into that decision."

Two weeks ago, Jacinto, a 26-year-old Bay Area blogger and non-profit development manager, most likely became one of those factors. It all started here. "I saw a link to [Victoria's Secret's Go East] line on the blog, Angry Asian Man," she says. "Hooray for exotic orientalist bull----," wrote the blogger who included a link to the "Asian-inspired" lingerie line's centerpiece: "The Sexy Little Geisha," a mesh teddy that comes with an obi belt, chopsticks and a fan.

Immediately Jacinto sat down to write an insightful post on why she found the outfit, and the line in general, offensive. "It's the kind of overt racism masked behind claims of inspired fashion and exploring sexual fantasy that makes my skin crawl," she wrote in article published September 6 on the blog Racialicious, a site for commentary on the intersection of culture and race.

"There's a long-standing trend to represent Asian women as hypersexualized objects of fantasy," wrote Jacinto. She also took umbrage with the lingerie description as "your ticket to an exotic adventure" and the fact that none of the models for the collection were of Asian descent.

"The lack of Asian women here simply exposes the deep-rooted nature of the Orientalist narrative, one that trades real humanness for access to culture," she wrote. "Besides, it can only feel sexy and exotic if it's on an "American" body—without the feeling of accessing something foreign or forbidden, there can be no fantasy."

One week after Jacinto posted her piece, the feminist website Bust picked up on the story. When the Bust reporter went to check out the teddy described in Jacinto's story, it had disappeared from the site. According to Bust, a Victoria's Secret rep suggested the teddy had simply "sold out." A week after that, The Frisky's Jessica Wakemen wrote about the offending and mysteriously missing teddy in question. "Considering the complicated history of geishas, repurposing the "look" for a major corporation to sell as role-playing lingerie seems a bit tasteless," she wrote.

By the afternoon, major news outlets like the Huffington Post began calling blogger backlash to Victoria's Secret a "controversy." The Daily Mail noted that the teddy and the Go East line in its entirety had been removed from the company website and replaced with the main product page.

The company still hasn't released a statement or confirmed its decision to remove the line, and had not returned Yahoo! Shine's request for comment at press time.

Over on Twitter, the audience is divided on the issue of whether the geisha teddy is offensive. "Can we please stop fetishizing Asian cultures?" asks one Twitter user. "I'd still wear it," adds another. On the brand's Facebook page, a VS superfan asks when the line is coming to Australia. Don't expect it too soon.

Companies pay attention to the blogosphere, and hard-learned lessons have taught them that they're not immune to the power of a strong and well-crafted opinion. In June, Adidas pulled its plans to create a line of shackle sneakers when over 2,000 commenters on Facebook complained of the design's racist overtones. And last year, American Apparel's plus-size modeling contest was taken to task by a contestant who taught the marketing company a thing or two about women with curves.

Jacinto, meanwhile, has gotten a lot of responses from commenters questioning why she cares so much about some bras and underwear. "It's important that companies like VS know that capitalizing on a stereotype and on a culture is tasteless and offensive," she explains. "The messaging we insert in our culture shapes people's attitudes—so questioning clothing like this is important."

Questioning is one thing, seeing results is another. Whether or not Victoria's Secret confirms it, Jacinto's impact on a massive multimillion dollar line seems obvious. But she still sees room for improvement. "Their Cherry Blossoms line [another Asian-influenced VS line mentioned in her blog] still exists and still contains language such as 'indulge in touches of eastern delight,' " she says. "The clothing itself may not be as overtly distasteful as the Geisha piece, but the language makes it troublesome to me. Surely there must be another way to advertise that line that doesn't exoticize Asian women."




Is anyone else on here offended by the seemingly implicit racial stereotypes portrayed by the company? If so, why? Would it be offensive if it were marketed in another manner?

"Indulge in touches of Eastern delight." Hmm. I guess it can incense some folks. If the ad read, simply, "Indulge in touches of delight", the Asian reference would be missed and the ad would be a bust. I'm thinking three's just no way around it. How about Jade delight? Is that racist? If the VS ad was in reference to, say, Hawaiian women, and it made a mention of "pineapple delight" would that be racist? Women are, traditionally, the weaker sex and the objects of men's desire. That's not a secret. Why pretend it isn't so? It could be worse. They can have an African-American product line and advertise men to "indulge in touches of fried chicken delight." Can you imagine the uproar?

No one fetishizes asian culture more than asians, who started it, then exported it, and then someone gets butthurt when the idea catches on.

mmmm. I would so delight in said fried chicken touches (on my tongue). I think about food too much.

I have to agree with JB that there is a degree of blame to place on the culture itself. When tourists visit some areas in Japan, there are stores that sell (fake) "used" panties (stains are made with mustard or colorants) and kinky Anime figures. Cartoons depicting acts of rape, incest and/or beastiality, often involving characters dressed in "stereotypical" Asian schoolgirl garb are also marketed for foreigners (mostly American males). If Jacinto wishes to point out the flaws in our culture, she needs to take a good long look at the culture pandering the material and imagery.

Why seek blame for it at all...?

Ughh, I just hate these "politically correct" censorship people. The lingerie made her skin crawl...? That is a pretty strong statement. I truly wonder what *doesn't* make her skin crawl, if *this* does. How the hell can some lingerie make one's skin crawl...? Incredible. What is even more incredible, however, is Victoria's Secret's utter lack of backbone.... how the hell can you cave in for some tiny group that displays extremist views regarding *some lingerie*...? That, to me, is the greatest mystery, here. I think people should think twice about shopping there, again, due to their lack of backbone and their evident embracement of self-censorship. If one doesn't stand up for what one expresses, such as through releasing lingerie of this kind, then soon one will not be able to express it, at all.

I'd like to point out that I am someone who is a great lover of a lot of the Japanese culture.... not that it should matter in the slightest. I wish I could send these politically correct censorship lovers out on a forced one-year trip to Japan, where they would have to regularly visit maid cafes and cosplay conventions, and such.... that'd just be too funny. :) Either they would have made a 180 degree change in opinion, afterwards, like so many others of these extremists do, with time, or they would be rambling on their blogs about germ warfare against Japan.... haha.

I am simply stating that if she wanted to put blame on anyone, she needed to look at the origins of "Orientalism" first before pointing the finger (like everyone else does) at the "westerners." Sure, "western society" is far from being perfect and has more than its fair share of wrongdoings and campaigns of oppression, but when it comes to some issues, the blame is not unidirectional.

i simply dont see the racism.its just marketing geisha and other asian under garments to americans.where is the harm

I know, market a line of redneck costumes in asia and call it it even!

I suspected that you only meant that. I meant my question to merely be seen as rhetorical. I agree with what you are saying.

I think my words should have been chosen more carefully (it does seem confrontational -- I wonder if I should put in parentheses the intended tone of a statement). The bane of typing is that tone isn't implicitly known, hence conversations could go in an undesired direction (I initially thought I was being accused of blaming a certain culture). Sorry for any offense. Your initial reply showed that I should clarify what I said so as to not let others think I am pinning the blame anywhere.

"The Deliverance Package"
Includes:
1 Pair tattered/stained overalls
1 green open-collar shirt
1 stained ball cap
and of course:


Optional Extras:
1 can Budweiser
1 pack of cheap cigarettes

...Real Hillbillies don't wear shoes...

Real rednecks can't afford Bud,I think Busch is the beer of choice.
I'm more offended by Victoria' s secret's use of women with a body type that even if I starved myself I would never attain.My legs will never grow to that length with dieting.I'll always look like a short white dumpling.

Nothing wrong with desserts (presuming that's the kind of dumpling you mean).

I heard this saying somewhere(can't remember where) meat is for man,bone is for the dog.Wish the fashion industry thought that,maybe less anorexic teenagers.

If the lingerie were described as Asian Elegance or referring to Exotic Silk from the Orient or lovely Chinese styling there would not have been offence. "Sexy Little Geisha" is extremely insulting as true Geishas have never been prostitutes, and that is an insult to their culture.
Victoria's Secret has enough money, staff, and brains to do a little research into possible negative reactions to ethnic references.
This 'Asian Line' is more Frederick's of Hollywood than Victoria's Secret, which used to have more class.

Sylkat