Victoria's Secret does indeed use the 'diverse' mannequins nationwide (I've spotted them in downtown Boston and suburban Maryland, at least).

This manequinn is so freaking ugly. I with we were represented a little better. If you see the other race manequinns there they are all attractive, exept for the Asian one whic is hidious. I cannot believe we are happy about being included when we are represented in this way?

I don't see how the other manequinns are more attractive. They all look the same to me -- they just have different wigs on.

i think it's the former: that they're trying to market to other groups. old navy had (and probably still has) "raced" mannequins. their consumer base is pretty much everybody. they're the intermediary step between buying at walmart and buying at boutiques. they're constantly losing middle/upper middle customers to affluence or age. so they have to market to immigrant groups, all working class groups and all middle class groups.one can only imagine what's going on with vic's secret that they need to start marketing to the other. but i'd bet dollars to you tiu that it's thoroughly about the economics of it, not an oblique way of hittin' the fetishes.

Any time Corporate America pays attention to the Asian American community, I am skeptical. It is not just that I am an occasional cynic, but that Corporate America does not have a great track record with the AA community. Even in my office I have a report from the Strategic Research Institute about “Marketing to Asian Pacific Americans”. Page 1. Compelling Market Facts: One Third of AA Families earn $75,000 or more, 96% live in metropolitan areas, 39% of AA women hold a BA or more, Highest Median Income! Is that the only reason why we are important to corporations? So Melissa poses a good set of questions. Given the fact that a tenth of Bay Area residents are women of Asian descent, around 750,000, maybe VS is trying to capture that niche. I think one would first need to see if VS stores nation wide have also incorporated this new mannequin trend. If they have done so in areas with low numbers of AA women then we can conclude that they are not targeting AA women consumers and have other motives. In regards to using them for their sexual appeal, I would not root that out one bit. But I think if VS was incorporating Asian sexuality into their marketing strategy you would also see an increase in VS models of Asian descent. But hey, there is nothing more attractive then beautiful Brazilian women right? It is tough to say. I would like to see what their official policy is. We must remember that whether or not they are doing so to be more diverse, or target consumers or exploit fetishes, the corporate bottom line is always Profit. That interest will always influence their actions.

Melissa,Why are you constantly thinking about race and representation, when race is a socially-constructed concept that has no real biological basis? Therefore ther is the potential to descend a slippery slope when you try to "represent" race, leading otherwise smart people to get worked up about mannequins. I understand that the physical features of human beings compounded with cultural and/or ethnic factors are often conflated to form our idea of "race," which is then used to sustain unequal power relations along the lines of group identity, but can't we start to imagine new ways of thinking about identity? If we try to move away from constantly critiquing "good" and "bad" representations of Asians (a "racial" identity composed of like 30 different ethnicities that span a widely hetergenous range! Being Filipino myself I'm Malay and Spanish with some Chinese...) and move towards seeing identity as a performance, something that is constantly negotiated and redefined and not static, what are the possibilities?

I just want to see one Asian male model (not the latest trendy Asian import like a movie star or a sports figure, but a regular model) in a mass-marketed, major fashion catalogue. Please post. I may have an Asian male child one day and he may never know that he can be whatever he wants -- including an Asian model.

Good grief. Don't look too much into it, dudes. Look, asian chicks are sexy -- to white guys like me, at least. Asian guys dig white chicks. Latinas are okay, but not my cup o tea. So let's get mannequins of all shapes and sizes and ethnicities and let the good times roll.

Mannequins of "all shapes and sizes and ethniticies"... Who can argue with that? The question is, has there ever existed an Asian male mannequin and will it ever?

Hey B. Takahashi.Go check out Old Navy and Hollister. I remember seeing some asian male mannequins there. I dunno if they still have them up though. Also there are Asian American Models out there. Example: Rick Yune, he was the first Asian American model to work for Versace and Polo Sports. And if you are taking about Asian male models, jezz just go to japan, china anywhere in asia and you will see them everywhere. On buses, malls store windows etc.

Old Navy? That's as American as American Pie -- not chichi, not tony -- middle-of-the road. Now THAT's what I'm talking about. I will forever shop at Old Navy. Yeah, I can't afford to travel overseas just to find a regular Joe Asian Male model, ya know? Who knows, maybe my grandchildren will be able to walk into Sears or K-Mart and see some Asian male mannequins... Too bad Rick Yune can't get a gig doing Lands End or something similar. Well, I guess Polo Sports is sorta middle-of-the road. Versace? That's too hoity-poity for me or for my future boys... Know what? I think I'll change my job. I'll become a professional Asian mannequin maker. That's right. I'm going to go around the country in my Chevy -- a dozen Asian male mannequins on the truck bed -- knocking on shop keepers' doors to see if they need a mannequin or two. Maybe I'll find a cutie-pie on the way, who knows? Some nice, middle-of-the-road Asian woman who don't mind an Asian fella like me...She could drive during the night while I hammer 'em mannequins next to her.Sleep inside the cab, maybe hunt some rabbits...We'll spread Asian male mannequins, my wife and I, and when we're done going coast to coast -- the country'll will be full of Asian male mannequins.My future son'll will appreciate that...

sounds like a plan! i don't know about mannequins, but macy's and target use asian male models in their glossy advertising inserts in the sunday paper.

One glossy advertsing insert, one Asian male model, one Asian male mannequin standing tall in a store -- one by one -- we shall spread the truth that all men are created equal. I dream of the day that my future Asian-American boys can break free from the chains of under-representaiton, join hands with boys of all other races, and smile his crooked yellow smile upon this great landscape of consumerable goods. On that day as I sit in my rocking chair on my porch, with the sun shining -- not in the afterglow of a setting sun, but in the illumination of a proud and glorious sun rising in the East -- I shall weep with joy and finally sing "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last..."

Yes, everything about this mannequin is intentional and VS is exploiting fetishes and targeting consumers. What seems to be a flaw in the unrealistic overly white skin tone of the mannequin is used to appeal to Asian women (not Asian American women) who grew up where, and still retain, the notion that whiter skin is valued as being the best. The body shape looks real, and the choice of body targets those who wish they had that body type. But what kind of gender and ethnic target are they going for? Asian women walking around the mall with their white boyfriends. The white guy looks at the mannequin because he is attracted to the scantily clad figure, and thinks "oh... the mannequin is also asian, nice!" The girlfriend deserves more of his attention and wants to make him more happy by wearing that also. So they go pick out some items, and of course the man will pay. She is sexy and he can take care of her so they are both happy. As they left, the clerk said, "Thanks guys!" Yes, Victoria's Secret is using Asian women to get white men's money and that is part of the secret.

you are right