Oh, the hypocrisy

197 pounds

Some of you may have heard already that last week ABC and FOX refused to air a Lane Bryant lingerie ad during Dancing with the Stars and American Idol at 8 p.m., saying it was inappropriate. (The ad is pictured above on the left, and you can watch in its entirety in this You Tube video.) The networks said this DESPITE THE FACT that FOX was airing a Victoria's Secret commercial (pictured above on the right) at the same time.

Why were they willing to show one lingerie commercial and not another?

Wait for it . . .

Apparently, the plus-size models who appear in the Lane Bryant commercial are TOO sexy for eight o'clock. Even sexier than the women in the Victoria's Secret ad.

Well, I could have told you that.

Still, in all seriousness, the double standard is disturbing.

According to Lane Bryant, the networks said that the cleavage in their ad was excessive. FOX News correspondent Gretchen Carlson says,"With plus-size models, you're gonna get more cleavage," which is apparently what makes the Lane Bryant ad too risque for family programming.

Or . . . maybe we're just totally used to seeing skinny models with big breasts but not at all used to seeing regular-sized women showing off their assets?

I have a feeling it's the latter.

I know that I don't even blink anymore when I come across a Victoria's Secret ad because I've become completely desensitized to seeing skinny women without their clothes on, but when I see a real woman in her underwear, it gets my attention every time.

I think that's why the networks balked—it's just an unusual thing to see.

And until we make it more common to see regular-sized women looking beautiful and sexy, all of us are going to feel bad about our bodies and keep going to unhealthy extremes to make them match the images in the media.

As one commentator says, "What does the double standard say to young women—that it’s okay to show skin if you are leggy and lean and not if you are curvy and plump? . . . That the only time you can wear beautiful lingerie is if you have what society deems a beautiful body?"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

On the other hand, kudos to Lane Bryant for making plus-sized woman look incredibly gorgeous and sexy (and for giving away free underwear!). If we had more commercials like this one, I guarantee that we would all feel better about ourselves.