“Since when did a different body become synonymous with ugliness?” That was one of the criticisms sparked by the words of Chilean writer Axel Kaiser after he commented on an image from Victoria’s Secret featuring models with different body types and skin tones.
Kaiser claimed that this type of representation is part of the “decline of the West” and questioned efforts to “normalize ugly bodies”. According to him, societies need standards and models that people can aspire to.
His words sparked backlash precisely because the fashion industry has been criticized for years for showcasing a very limited standard of beauty. Victoria’s Secret, in particular, built much of its image for decades around extremely thin models, until it began incorporating women with different bodies, ages, and backgrounds.
For those who criticized his statements, showing that diversity does not mean saying that one body type should become the new ideal, but rather recognizing that real women do not all have the same size, body type, or skin color.
Because expanding who can appear in a campaign does not take away anyone’s beauty. It simply stops telling millions of women that, to be considered beautiful, they first have to look like one another.