As an editor at a women’s magazine, I receive my fair share of stupid press releases, but today’s took the biscuit. Titled (aggressively in all caps) ’NATIONAL CLEAVAGE DAY’ it promoted a ‘tempting, provocative range of lingerie to enable women to feel elegant, exude confidence and feel empowered, from day to night’ in which to celebrate this ludicrous ‘holiday’.
Since 2002 Wonderbra - the maker of push-up brassieres - has been promoting NCD. It’s not the only farcical special day that unsurprisingly is about consumerism, J.Crew has national stripes day (31st March) and Ben & Jerry’s has free cone day (10th April). Yet, this one really sticks in my craw.
Far be it from me to turn my nose up at the news of a new lingerie collection, I am paid to write about fashion after all, but as the co-option of feminism marches on while the needs of the marginalised get lost in the capitalist struggle to sell slogan t-shirts I feel perturbed. Strike that, I feel angry. Angry that it's 2018 and we're still fighting this same old battle and angry that a brand thinks they can own the celebration of a woman's body.
Sex may sell, but it shouldn’t. In a time of #metoo and conscious rejection of what the ideal woman’s body should look like promoting cleavages and the reveal of them is missing the point. I’m all for the diverse global female-identifying movement embracing their bodies any which way they want but dictating when and how is doing nothing for the insectional movement.
In a nutshell, wear your granny panties and a greying bra or lacy lingerie if you like tomorrow, but hit spam on this holiday
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.