Fashion

This Model's Missing An Entire Butt Cheek

Another day, another Photoshop fail, and Victoria's Secret is the victim this time. Listen, everyone loves shopping for pretty lingerie, right? Or fun workout clothes? Or pajama sets that you most definitely don't need because you usually sleep in old T-shirts anyway? Right? Right. It makes sense that Victoria's Secret is so popular. It's a fun place to shop, you know, once you get past the hundreds of images of near-perfect models lining the walls. It's not that I have anything wrong with gorgeous models. I mean, hey, I like masochistically watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show as much as the next person, but I know that those images are often altered and retouched, presenting me with an opportunity to negatively compare myself to women who aren't even real. Most times, the Photoshopping is hard to spot (making everything even more confusing), but other times? It's obvious, painful, and incredibly concerning. This week: A model on Victoria's Secret website who quite literally looks like her entire butt has been removed.

I mean, here I was thinking that butts were good, and boom: They just take the entire left butt cheek away. I mean, what good is a right cheek without the left to keep it company? Besides, didn't we just leave the year of the booty? Granted, some women have more of a booty and some women have less — all beautiful, of course — but the main point here is that the booties are there. They exist. There is no absence of it entirely. It's just a part of people's bodies. But this model? Nope. Not anymore. Not to mention, her hips have been slimmed down to nonexistence.

Granted, there's always humans behind Photoshop and hey, even humans with the best butts make mistakes. It's a part of our DNA to screw up every now and then. So this Photoshop fail? OK, we can let it slide. Maybe. It happens. But here's an idea, an idea that a few other brands are exploring and capitalizing on: No Photoshop. At all. Ever.

Intimates brands like Aerie, an American Eagle line, and Dear Kate (who you may have seen in the news a time or two because, yes, it's awesome), have made major statements by promising to never Photoshop or alter their models' bodies. What a concept, right?

We're all always going to love Victoria's Secret and its famous models, I think. But wouldn't we all love them a little more if their bodies stayed the way they naturally exist in photos? I don't think a stretch mark here or there — not to mention a butt cheek or two — would ever make me think less of the brand.

Image: Victoria's Secret