Among the many memorable scenes from the mockumentary “Spinal Tap” there is a moment when not so bright guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by the great Christopher Guest) confuses “sexist” with “sexy”. His confusion is born of male ignorance, of poor education at a time when the media and advertising was littered with sexist imagery; a time when women did not have much of a voice in the media.

Much has changed since, even though sexism is still clearly prevalent in the music and film industries, and in advertising imagery. Indeed, local feminist groups held a march on International Women’s Day, 8 March, to raise awareness of the lingering culture of sexist imagery and to call for more respect and diversity in how women are portrayed in the media.

But two days later they were up in arms over a talk held by lingerie designer Murielle Scherre at Mudam. Scherre was the guest of Design Friends and was asked to talk about her label La Fille d’O. Her designs not only marry sexuality and feminism, they also are made specifically with real body shapes in mind and even include special pieces for women who have undergone a mastectomy.

“Sexism Friends”

But the Centre d’Information et de Documentation des Femmes (Cid-Femmes) was having none of it. The group accused Design Friends, Mudam and Paperjam (Delano’s sister publication, which carried an interview with Scherre) of “outraging and insulting” them. Design Friends should be relabelled “Sexism Friends”, a statement on the group’s Facebook page read. They dismissed any claims Scherre made that her designs were about female empowerment and said instead that the photos on her website were “simply pornochic”. They argued that her work was a fine example of what they call a “neofeminist approach”, which seems to advocate self-determination and sexual freedom for women, but which sees them only as consumers, at best, and, fundamentally, as a mass of flesh to be modelled.

But Scherre has made clear that her lingerie is about accepting different body types--for instance the brand’s sizes do not follow the big traditional brands but reflect the different physiology of the women who wear the lingerie. She says some aspects of her work are about recognising sexuality and spirituality and the fact that every woman has different needs with their partner. What’s more, La Fille d’O is unique in that Scherre makes ethical, organic and sustainable lingerie using Belgian manufacturing skills and materials sourced in Europe.

La Fille d’O produces avant-garde lingerie and swimwear

“Beautiful, inspiring”

One attendee of the Design Friends talk called Scherre’s presentation “beautiful, inspiring, interesting, convincing!”. Upon hearing about the Cid-Femmes complaints, reaction was swift. Scherre’s supporters argued that it was the victory of feminism that enabled women like her to design and talk about lingerie, and that her healthy attitude towards the female body was necessary in a world of fakes.

It seems that there are plenty of women out there who feel they can be sexy and also be feminists--a message that will shock some women’s rights groups as much as it would the fictitious Nigel Tufnel.

UPDATE: Cid-Femmes has filed a formal complaint with the Luxembourg Commission for Ethics in Advertising (Clep) against Domaines Vinsmoselle, a winemakers cooperative that includes Poll Fabaire crémant. On 29 April, the commission asked Domaines Vinsmoselle to withdraw the “Poll on Ice” campaign, saying the images were sexist. As of this writing, the cooperative has declined to do so.

A screenshot from Domaines Vinmoselle’s “Poll on Ice” campaign