The Victoria's Secret Party Is Over, So Is Women's Fun

The recent demise of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show created barely a ripple in the maelstrom of Trump’s America. Which seems like a comedown for a phenomenon that was a signpost of 1990s America. The parade of leggy models wearing scant lingerie across the runways of Fashion Week was the dream of every young man and, in a bass-akwards way, a proud declaration of independence for women.

How’s that? Women in pushup bras and micro thongs a pillar of feminism? 

People with short attention spans— which includes virtually anyone working the corridors of today’s culture industries— do not remember that at one time libidinous independent behaviour from women was seen approvingly by feminists. In the thrall of the current Church Lady penumbra, they pretend that today’s inquisitions have been going on since the time of the pharaohs. 

But television shows such as Sex And The City (1998- 2004) celebrated the ability of modern women to determine who they would sleep with and how they would do it. Women of the 1980s and 90s, supported by second-generation feminism, played the field in the same manner as men. The characters on the TV show were unapologetic about their choices, enjoying their sexual independence. 

One of the philosopher queens of this movement was author Eric Jong, whose Fear Of Flying popularized the ”zipless fuck”, random coupling and no regrets. ““The zipless fuck is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game . The man is not "taking" and the woman is not "giving." No one is attempting to cuckold a husband or humiliate a wife. No one is trying to prove anything or get anything out of anyone. The zipless fuck is the purest thing there is.”

It was an enabling time for women— and for men, too, who discovered women could be as transitory about sex as they were. The bacchanalian details of “Mr. Big” Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are as much a product of this era of freedom as are the conquests of Carrie, Samatha, Miranda and Charlotte. And the appearance of Victoria’s Secret stores, catalogues and fashion shows was a cheeky by-product of women exercising their freedom of sexual choice.

Indeed, it was celebrated as such by many of the same women who now pass their stern virtue judgments on The View or The Social. These social critics saw The Vagina Monologues (1996) as a river crossed for modern women’s guilt about their bodies. Likewise, abortion was celebrated as a liberating antidote to unwanted byproducts of hookup sex.

But somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century modern feminism decided that ’twas better to explore their victimization than their vaginas. In colleges and universities around the West, the literature of choice for the modern feminist movement suddenly went from Fear of Flying to The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian drama about the subjugation of women by men. In a scant few years the ecstasy of eros gave way to gloom about women being harnessed to the evil schemes of the patriarchy.

For a time this Third Generation feminism stayed hidden in the labyrinths of gender studies majors and Marxist thought. Hollywood still churned out mindless sexual content. The body politic functioned in the manner it has long functioned when it came to women. 

But the Obama years loosed the whirlwind of victim politics for women. Those nights of hookup sex now had to be seen as hours of oppression at the hands of exploitive men (see: Kavanaugh, Brett). Abortion opponents were people dooming women again in back-alley operations and death. The fun of browsing the latest Victoria’s Secret catalogue was extinguished as acceding to sexist subjugation.

What really doomed second-generation feminism was the marriage (as it were) of all the guilt groups under the Obama banner in a united show of intimidation. The political wings of many causes learned the power they wielded if they united as one against the evil empire represented by Donald Trump. Employing their willing fellow travellers in the progressive media they hunted down victims of EvilThink. 

Cake bakers. Pizza parlours. Climate skeptics. Anyone who stood against the SJW armies was crushed and their supporters ostracized. Corporations caved and politicians blanched when the call came for them to take a stand on the oppression of women. 

So little surprise, then, that skimpily clad models of Victoria’s Secret, with their hedonistic appeal, would be similarly dispatched by the hyper-serious forces of guilt as a sellout of The Cause. Its “perfect Body” slogan was replaced by the guilt-free "A Body For Every Body”. And now the fashion show is a victim of the victim culture. 

In time, when this outing takes on the wrong victim or dissipates from the weight of its hatreds, maybe they’ll resurrect the glam and temptation again. But for now, Erica Jong knows who to blame. “Women are their own worst enemies. And guilt is the main weapon of self-torture…Show me a woman who doesn’t feel guilty and I’ll show you a man.”

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the publisher of his website (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). He’s also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also a best-selling author whose new book Cap In Hand: How Salary Caps Are Killing Pro Sports And Why The Free Market Could Save Them is now available on brucedowbigginbooks.ca.