US Model Jasmine Tookes walking the runway at the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Criticised for its objectification of women, Victoria's Secret in 2019 abandoned its famed fashion show, a globally televised event that saw women parade down the runway in barely-there lingerie replete with gems, feathers and lace. — AFP
PICTURE a fleet of merchant ships far out on the glistening Pacific, each one carrying about 600, 000 tons of freight.
The cargo is curious: candy-colored strips, strings and scraps composed mostly of synthetic polymers from factories – some say sweatshops in places such as Sri Lanka and Jordan. It’s all dignified with the posh word “lingerie, ” which is French for “linen, ” though linen is almost nowhere to be found in the heaps upon heaps of petroleum-based morsels.
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