On Dec. 10, 2013, Columbia Broadcasting System aired the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion show.  The elaborate event showcased skinny models flaunting the lingerie-giant’s latest collections.  The show repeatedly receives a lot of hype– some coming from the musical acts featured such as Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy, but a lot coming from the revealing costumes and incredibly fit VS angels.

 Everybody seems to have an opinion on the show, whether positive or negative.  Some girls feel that the angels are too skinny, even borderline anorexic; while others feel that the show is all about fun, and the guys, well often times they are just being guys.

 A lot of people feel threatened or uncomfortable with blown-up pictures of VS angels on billboards with perfectly airbrushed stomachs and insane thigh gaps.  Victoria’s Secret did make an attempt to improve this year by featuring snippets of the angels’ workout routines alongside the show.  Despite this, many feel that the VS image is neither healthy nor realistic to constantly be viewing and making comparisons to.

  Sophomore Ryan Wells did not watch this year’s show, although he admits he wishes that he had.

 “It’s just a bunch of girls in underwear.  I mean I have three older sisters and stuff, so I respect women, but they [VS Angels] choose to do that,” said Wells.

 Senior Sammy Wahl did not watch this year’s program because she feels strongly that the models trigger great insecurity in young women.

  “I think that it [the VS fashion show] is degrading to women because it shows women what society wants them to look like, and lot of them [typical women] can’t achieve those bodies; it makes them feel that they have to have a certain image to be good enough,”  said Wahl.

 Wahl is not the only one who believes the show can be a little too in-your-face.  Sophomore Maggie Duke questions the show because of how she feels it can damage girls’ self-esteem.

 “I just don’t think it’s right because so many girls in the world struggle with weight, and then you have a fashion show flaunting skinny girls who starve themselves,” said Duke.

  Social media saw millions of tweets related to the show and an increasing number of posts are made each year as more people and businesses become connected.   Twitter was the most used website of the occasion, and according to digimind, ninety-four percent of the social media posts were expressed through Twitter.

 Wahl took to social media to express her opinions regarding the show and actively tweeted and retweeted things related to the show.  Some things she saw surprised her.

 “There was just a lot of negativity,” said Wahl.

 Tweets sent the night of the show were very diverse.  Some people poked fun at themselves or the fashion show, while others were truly upset about the event and subsequent tweets.

“I was on Twitter that night and there was a post comparing a VS model to an anorexic person, like severely and emaciated…Saying, ‘There’s a difference between VS models and anorexics’, which I don’t really think there is, but it was an emaciated anorexic person on the left and a VS model on the right and the guy quoted the picture and said ‘The girl on the left tho.’  The girl that was emaciated and he did  a heart-eyed emoji,” said Wahl.

 Posts  like this were abundant that night, yet there was a solid mixture of positive and negative posts.   Junior Cassie Hazlett watched this year’s show and tweeted in a positive way about the event.

 “I did a two-section tweet where I was like ‘ready for the fashion show’ and had a picture of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and then the next picture said ‘put the ice cream away and got carrots within the first four minutes,’” said Hazlett.

 Hazlett watched the show for fun, and from a more fashion-oriented perspective.

 “I just think it’s fun to see the costumes and the shoes and how everyone reacts to it. You would think more guys would be talking about it, but it’s usually the girls,” said Hazlett.

 It is hard to know who plays a larger role in the VS hype.  Some feel that it is the VS marketing strategies, while others believe that social media turns the show into something larger than the company’s intent.

 Duke blames both, but thinks the company could tone things down a little.

“Every girl wants to have a perfect body,” said Duke.

 The fashion show provokes thought for many people, and it is easy to wonder how the United States has become so obsessed with body-image, particularly being thin.

 “I think it’s because it’s been learned; it didn’t used to be like that.  I saw an old advertisement that was like ‘add this yeast to your smoothies’ to make you more appealing for people too thin.  They would add yeast product to their food to make them gain ten pounds,” said Wahl.

 Similarly, Hazlett linked the past to healthier ideals for women.

“In past [VS] fashion shows, like the one with Tyra Banks, they were a lot healthier looking,” said Hazlett.

 Knowing that body variation and unhealthy looking models is a common complaint among women, a popular company for young women is making some changes.

 On Jan. 17, American Eagle’s lingerie brand, Aerie, launched a line that will feature models whose photographs have not been retouched.  Although the new Aerie models are still skinny, they are intended to appear far more real and now expose any imperfections, blemishes, or tattoos they may have.   This comes in interesting contrast to the over the top bodies many believe the VS models have.  The company is promoting this line with the hashtag, #AERIEREAL, and the slogan, “The real you is sexy.”

 “If we didn’t have these fashion shows, then women would be free to listen to their bodies instead of listening to the media and all the stuff it throws at us,”said Wahl.

 Between the three ladies interviewed, one opinion was consistent.  Most girls feel that Victoria’s Secret should do a better job of varying the angels’ body types. It would likely be of less concern to women if the fashion show was less publicized.  The show is not necessarily good or bad, but is going to get a larger and more mixed reaction as social media gains users and VS continues it’s current marketing strategies.

 “I think it’s good [the fashion show] in that it’s giving them more publicity, but it’s not really anything uplifting,” said Hazlett.