Is this sexy or another example of oppressive racism?

[Danno 1,228]

Victoria's Secret Geisha Lingerie Sparks Controversy: How One Blogger Took on a Brand

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.

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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.

Shackle sneakers spark outrage

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."

http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/victorias-secret-geisha-lingerie-sparks-controversy-one-blogger-201500394.html

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

We are going to need a list of approved fantasy attire.. I have a feeling my Wife's beloved French Maid outfit is a goner but the super-girl outfit should be OK. I have a feeling she is going to say you can have her western stripper seven inch high-heels with insert-able goldfish when you pry it from her dead fingers...

[Danno 1,228]

We are going to need a list of approved fantasy attire.. I have a feeling my Wife's beloved French Maid outfit is a goner but the super-girl outfit should be OK. I have a feeling she is going to say you can have her western stripper seven inch high-heels with insert-able goldfish when you pry it from her dead fingers...

Yeah I suppose they could make the case that "all" sexy garb actually reduces women to sex objects and is sexist... if you can find a cultural influence then you have two areas to be offended over.

More censorship from the Left. (with more to come)

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I'd hit it.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Sounds like you're saying the Right has no cultural sensitivity Danno. How do you know the complainant doesn't vote Republican?

[Laveau 67]

I wonder if this offended woman is hot enough to wear that. Lol!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I wonder if this offended woman is hot enough to wear that. Lol!

Probably not. She's offended because she is jealous.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Sounds like you're saying the Right has no cultural sensitivity Danno. How do you know the complainant doesn't vote Republican?

Five minutes with google and you will know her general views. I wont demonize the woman, she spoke her mind and the I understand her point I just think she is going overboard in this instance.

There is a whole subculture in Japan that dresses up in sexualized western fashion, cartoon characters, etc.. I've been to more than one club in the Caribbean and South America on western/country nights where they all wearing cowboy hats and cut up daisy dukes in the most provocative method possible. This is all stereotyping. I am not offended nor do I think these people are unable to form real opinions of western life because of a little fantasy play.

On a related note.. My wife was planning on dressing as a woman in a harem for Halloween.. I think I will request she go as an Orion Slave girl from Star Trek instead.

Edited September 30, 2012 by OnMyWayID

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Silicone breasts are not sexy. Neither are they racist.

[Danno 1,228]

Sounds like you're saying the Right has no cultural sensitivity Danno. How do you know the complainant doesn't vote Republican?

This isn't cultural sensitivity it is silliness..... which is exactly how we know the women politics.

[Darnell 8,478]

back to post #1.

I'm sorry, Asian women (to the best of my knowledge, which is vast)

don't wear that particular style.

So it really wasn't targeted towards them, but I 'get' the fetishization of the 'Asian look' for non-asian women.

It's a pity the marketing research team at VS not do some real work, prior, though.

FWIW, several years back, they had a nice qi pao cut a 'different way' that did NOT get this type o backlash,

and came in the larger sizes. IIRC, it sold out within the first few weeks.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Silicone breasts are not sexy. Neither are they racist.

While silicone is a CHOICE, most VS models are not surgically enhanced. They do have quite the HEAVY photoshop hand though in their print ads, and their models' bras in their shows are just about as heavily padded as an NFL linebacker, just padded in different places. Lots of smoke and mirrors.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

back to post #1.

I'm sorry, Asian women (to the best of my knowledge, which is vast)

don't wear that particular style.

So it really wasn't targeted towards them, but I 'get' the fetishization of the 'Asian look' for non-asian women.

It's a pity the marketing research team at VS not do some real work, prior, though.

FWIW, several years back, they had a nice qi pao cut a 'different way' that did NOT get this type o backlash,

and came in the larger sizes. IIRC, it sold out within the first few weeks.

I say just skip trying to put lipstick on a pig and get a real Asian if that is your thing. I prefer the Slavic/Eastern European look myself. I could be biased.

But nnsense like this IS one of the reasons to go for the real thing.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

This isn't cultural sensitivity it is silliness..... which is exactly how we know the women politics.

I absolutely agree that in my opinion the complaint is silly. The complainants politics are beside the point however and not obvious merely by the complaint itself.