The most ridiculous of dust-ups in the history of dust-ups happened over the weekend, when a British tabloid — The Sun — alleged that Victoria’s Secret had dumped star model Cara Delevingne from its 2014 show lineup for being “bloated.”
Okay, first of all, Victoria’s Secret understands a good social media moment when they see it, and Cara — along with anyone whose surname is “Hadid” and/or “Jenner/Kardashian” — is guaranteed press for the brand.
Second of all, everyone who has been following Cara’s career for have a millisecond knows that during that time, she was already beginning to concentrate on her acting career. She was likely filming Paper Towns during the 2014 the fashion show’s taping. (It adds up if you creep Wikipedia.) The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show happens once a year, but the chance to star in a John Green-adapted movie is a once-in-an-aspiring-actor’s-lifetime opportunity.
The man who produces the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Edward Razek, wrote a letter to the model refuting the allegations, which she then posted to social media. In it, Razek invites Cara to this year’s upcoming show, “no casting necessary!” The Sun has since deleted its article, though the url — “victorias-secret-blast-bloated-cara-delevingne-as-fat-flat-models-come-under-fire” — pretty much tells you what you need to know.
So that’s the gossip. Roll your eyes at the fact that a woman’s weight is, once again, the topic of discussion despite that topic being no one’s business. Shake your head that canning someone for gaining weight is probably a very real thing that happens in the world of modeling. (And also, is a bloat really such a bodily horror, so much so that it merits tabloid discussion? What’s so wrong with being bloated?)
For as long as limiting societal beauty standards and tabloid magazines exist in unison, this kind of crap is likely to keep cropping up. Isn’t it amazing, then, that in a matter of internet minutes, the lion at the center of the circus, who was probably just trying to live when the article went up, had a platform for her roar to be heard so loudly that the issue was addressed right away? For all of social media’s downfalls, it’s a powerful microphone when used correctly.
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