Am I being prudish, or do I have a point?

[AmIJustAPrude]

NC for this.

I've just sent the following email to a company I ordered underwear from:

I've just received my order confirmation and was quite shocked by the accompanying image. I don't want to screenshot it to resend, so hopefully you can work out the image I mean: it is of two women/girls lying on their fronts outside wearing black pants.

The woman (I hope) or girl on the left is very thin, which immediately made me assume she was a teenager. One of her breasts is clearly visible.

I'm not prudish about breasts at all, but it made me extremely uncomfortable to receive an image of what appears to be an almost-naked teenage girl. Given you also sell bras, it seems totally unnecessary for her to be completely topless.

I recommend you review the images you send out to your customers, as this has put me off using your company again.

As I say, I don't have an issue with breasts- I've breastfed in public many a time. It was mainly the fact that, based on her body shape, the woman/girl in the photo looks very young (post-pubescent, but pre-adult) and the exposed breast was completely unnecessary.

So what do you think: did I overreact?

You've made a right elbow of yourself.

It depends on what device you are viewing the image on as to whether or not it gets cropped. An easy mistake though - her elbow does look like a breast!

Here is the image in full.Here is the image in full.

like it’s the norm for women to go cavorting in their knickers whilst simultaneously shaving their nethers

That’d be some trick - I imagine shaving with knickers on would be quite difficult.

Ooh, and NOW I've seen the updates 🤣 I never learn!

I agree with you, OP. Using virtually naked women for advertising is almost always unnecessary. Fair enough to show a woman in her pants if pants are on sale, but she can (and often is, to be fair) wear a vest or T shirt as well, or only be pictured from the waist down. The extra flesh on display is for marketing/titillation purposes only. Even worse if the model looks like a very young girl.

I couldn’t buy from stripe and stare unless I remortgaged ….

To advertise underwear though shouldn't the models be wearing some?

I am also a lesbian and I CANNOT see how that isn't a boob!?!

Ah-I've seen the image in full now and can tell it is an elbow! However I couldn't tell from the cropped version!

I think they've done it on purpose!

@Boardgamedust

The image is on their website and pretty sure it's her elbow 😂😂😂

Best diagram ever!!

I'm not sure that's right re their demographic tbh.

Their 'usp' is based on how comfortable their underwear is together with a sustainability angle so I would say not aimed at younger market. Also their prices, and interestingly the influencers they work with, are indicative of a MC demographic.
Which makes the image the OP described even more surprising.

Btw OP - go to the top of the class for your image 😂

I did look twice it is her elbow not her boob. Thought it was her boob 1st time around. Thinking about it probably got tiny boobs as she is so slim. Even if it was her boob not really a big deal. The majority of models are lovely in wide range of demographics nice to see real women modelling.

Very much a prude, to be so offended by an elbow 😂

I’m glad it’s been pointed out that it’s an elbow, not a breast. I don’t think I’d email them again though

Elboob 😀I love it.

Just had a look at their website and all the images I saw look the standard appropriate diverse with size and colour - so all good

but you did the right thing , the more of us that challenge overly skinny / young models especially when their main customers are older, fuller figured women is a good thing
I love the fact that most companies now use normal sized women for advertising

£18 for one pair of knickers!

Not thinking out side of the box, Amy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arm-Sling-Vive-Subluxation-Dislocation/dp/B01LXYEEKZ

@AmIJustAPrude This is all the more funny for me as I was showing my friends last night how you can play "Arse or Elbow" by taking a picture of your folded arm and (suitably cropped) the photo could be either. 😄Ridiculously childish I know but that was the point of our joke.

This thread has made me chuckle. Just pondering now how the person that found the actual photo actually got it. Do you think they tried a google lens search of the OP's drawing and it came up with some suggestions of what an oddly drawn nipple would look like? 😂

Fabulous thread!!!

but there was no-one "overly skinny" anywhere?

Do you object to 39 year old Keira Knightly too? (only naming her because she famously thought against being told she needed fake boobs or photoshopped boobs to be "a woman")

Slim and skinny women are just as much "real woman" as fat ones!

It's funny how on threads about Kate Middleton, she's always described as a perfect figure woman, but any other women? Not a woman!

It’s an intentionally confusing photo.

My thoughts, too. Where is the overly skinny woman?

I received plenty of comments from overweight women in my 20s telling me to gain weight when I was perfectly healthy and in shape. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed, especially receiving these comments from 'curvy' women with their rolls and muffins spilling out.