Erick-Christian Ahounou photos
‘White America’ has now caught up with the idea that a pert posterior is a turn on.
After years of skinny being in fashion, this summer, even Hollywood agrees that if your hindquarter looks anything like Kim Kardashian’s or Beyonce’s then you are an official owner of summer 2010’s hottest trend.
Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, loves shorts that make her butt look bigger, and huge amounts of women are getting butt implants, or at least buying this bizarre piece of clothing (might be comfortable though lol). For what?
Happiness? I don’t think so.
I admit that I’ve not always (as I now very much do) escaped media brainwashing. I have at some point in my life wished for bigger breasts, a smaller butt, thinner thighs and lord knows what else.
Nevertheless, I was upset to see comments in black forums (wrongly) claiming that the trend benefits us, as we are naturally more curvy.
The trend does not benefit us, so please let’s ignore the bum steer (pun). Black women are even more sexualized in the media than other women so the last thing we need is for every Tom, Dick and Harry to feel free to comment on our backsides as though they were accessories. No woman of any race should be proud to be primarily recognized for having a big butt, so please, let’s not aspire to be the lead figures of this ‘trend’. Let’s instead show more respect for natural beauty and its variations, and by all means carry our curves proudly. Look after yourself and stay healthy. Most importantly love yourself as God made you, with perfection in mind.
Let’s share thoughts with each other too, what is body confidence? I was recently interviewed by a lovely lady who writes a delicious baking blog for FAB Magazine. She was asking about body confidence and my answer to a question – why I love my body? – is down in the comments section of this post.
Also in the Afrosphere news this week is the African Fashion Week currently taking place in NYC. Unless you are lucky to be there experiencing it first hand, you can follow the top labels and see the fabulous clothes here, on Obaasema, one of my favourite websites by a fellow Afropolitan woman.
Female African entrepreneurs of all sorts are getting me VERY excited at the moment. Reason being that I’m in the process of launching The MsAfropolitan Boutique, an online boutique, which will feature a handpicked selection of Afrolicious products by Afropolitan women.
Don’t miss it!
By the way, I’ve got a tumblr blog, where I post my poetry, photos and inspirations every so often.
Anyway, what do you think about the whole big butt as a fashion accessory thing?
I have come to love my body not just for its attributes, but for its functions. I am tall and slim with curves in the right places, but I am confident about my body primarily because it’s my temple, as the saying goes. It has always functioned healthily: it lets me know if I’ve neglected it and it works in wondrous ways. For ex, in healing a wound or allowing me to carry out my hobbies.
Well, as a buxom woman, I’ve never fit the societal stereotype. LOL! However, I am strong and healthy, and that is what is most important to me. I am troubled, however, that so many of us as women of color look to media images to tell us what is beautiful. Just in the same way so many of us have embraced our natural hair texture without looking to the media for validation, perhaps the same can occur with the way in which we embrace our bodies.
Oh amen! I really hope so.
Keep strong and healthy 🙂
I wouldn’t say white America has just caught on… i’d say the whole of the world has just caught on, and that, in my opinion is a good thing. it means that the world now recognises that black women are beautiful too. Big curves, big boobs, small boobs, tiny waists, big bums.. the lot. Beauty!
“No woman of any race should be proud to be recognized for having a big ass, so please, black women let’s not aspire to be the lead figures of this ‘trend’.” –
Why not? Surely it is better to be proud on ones “big ass” than it is to be reviled for it? After all beauty they say IS in the eye of the beholder. So i say, “behold your “big ass” and and flaunt it like you would any other beautiful object.
But on a more serious note… (the stuff above was serious too but this is even more serious) Would you argue that the availability of clothing cut specifically for the “black woman’s” form such as jeans, bra’s etc is not as a result of this media frenzy? if it is, is it not therefore “beneficial?” after all.. black women and their “big asses” existed long before Kim and Beyonce?
Now there is stereotyping and there is actual reality.. its takes awhile for the two to disengage and become their own entities.. eventually when things tip over the edge, you will start seeing white women trying to look like black women (butt implants)and looking odd with em too, just as we saw black women trying to look like white women (straightening their hair).. but hang on.. didn’t someone say black women relax their hair to make it more manageable? hmmmm i must be stereotyping.. best stop… besides… aren’t there various shades and types of black women too? :o)
jmtpw!
I disagree that it means that the world has caught on to black women being beautiful, I say this firstly because two women in the limelight for the big booty trend are not black, JLO and Kim Kardashian and also because the world does not recognize black beauty (or beauty in general) in all shapes and forms but rather, the fashion is that a woman should have a bubble butt, which is a body part, and not a fashion accessory 2010.
I wouldn’t argue against clothing being available for women of all shapes and sizes, but not at the cost of women being objectified. ‘The road to hell is paved with good intention’you see..
As far as stereotyping and reality – once the damage is done, it can almost be irreversible
what’s jmtpw? 😉
Thank you hun for the very flattering shout out! 😀
Clearly I’m very fashion forward as I’ve had my big ass for a few years now ;p I think it’s great that curves are finally being embraced but I agree with your statement that:
No woman of any race should be proud to be recognized for having a big ass, so please, let’s not aspire to be the lead figures of this ‘trend’. Let’s instead show more respect for natural beauty and its variations
It just seems the media and society always embrace one body type/look/hair colour etc at the expense of all the others. Now, curvy with big butt is in so if you don’t have that, how are you supposed to feel? In the early 90s it was heroin chic, so what was considered attractive was the gaunt I-haven’t-eaten-solid-food-in-months look and you had/have women starving themselves left, right and centre. At other times, it’s the Malibu barbie look. How about we embrace difference instead. I think Kim Kardashian has a lovely figure but so does Jessica Alba even though they’re completely different. And what about Cameron Diaz or Jessica Biel – sorry to use celebrities but it’s just to make the point that these are all very different looking women and yet equally attractive in their own way. I think you said it best, we should aim to be the best and the most heathful we can be and love ourselves for it!
Oooh well done on the business venture! Very impressive, can’t wait for it to start!
In life, I generally like to be entertained and informed simultaneously – I guess that’s what I look for in a blog.
You’re very welcome, looking fwd to next culinary voyage..:)
You are absolutely right, J Alba is just as beautiful as Kim Kardashian or Beyonce as Jessica Biel. Whomever out of these celebs just like real life women loves themselves the way they are also has an inner beauty.
Inner beauty is unbeatable!
Fed up with the media targeting women trying to say otherwise.
Entertainingly informed sounds about right for me too.
Great post and insightful message about women of color not buying into this latest “bootylicious” madness.
As a woman of color, I’ve grown quite accustomed to what the world seems to be hypnotized by lately – curves! I’ve always been surrounded by beautiful women with smooth chestnut skin, full lips, small waistlines and hips, thighs and ass for days. It’s nothing new and by no means nothing to get excited about.
Your worth as a woman isn’t in your thighs, your hips, your ass or your lips. It’s in the strength and confidence you exude from within.
Hear that ladies and remember 🙂
Hi Roschelle,
Thanks for your comment – I love this
“Your worth as a woman isn’t in your thighs, your hips, your ass or your lips. It’s in the strength and confidence you exude from within.”
I heard and I will remember
i really wish that women could aspire to a little more than just being ‘body parts’. i would hate to be known for my body. far it be from me to denounce anyone who is proud of their curves or bootyliciousness, i just hope that the body confidence comes from within and isn’t just a reaction to the fact that the rest of the world now accepts it. I actually am more bordered by the magazines suddenly all cheering on the ‘curve trend’. i just wish they will just advertise the clothes and not the women wearing them. it has now become a ‘statement’ to put anyone over size 2 in the magazines. Why does it have to be made into such a spectacle? it’s not as if curvy women haven’t existed since the beginnings of time? Would they dare put a curvy woman on the stands without her having to go thru hours of crazy airbrushing?? not really. so they all really need to SHUT it! on the one hand they tell women to accept their curves while also placing them in a mold where they have to compete with the perfect type of curves.how can they win. each season, a specific type of curves is celebrated, it is never the full spectrum now is it? this is ‘big butt’ season but trust that this is not going to be the norm. in a way i can’t help but feel cynical, at the end of the day we will all go back to the real reality: Alot of women really still want to be skinny, otherwise why else would these magazines be hawking us wares that will get us to feel so. no matter how mainstream the trend becomes…big butts will never fully become the norm in the collective sense, well not as long as these magazines cotinue to churn out articles telling us how to downplay and hide our flaws. you ‘ve seen it “how to dress a pear shape” 99% of which tells you exactly how to disguise the very curves that they are championing? this is then followed by words telling you to stay away from clothes that make you butt look bigger? what?? why even bother?!
i really wish for a day where every woman big butt or not could be featured in magazines without their body type being an issue. i wish for a time where body types are not just as trendy as the clothes that cover them….this i fear won’t really happen i don’t think. As a girl, i really hated the attention my butt would get, i hated the way it was objectified and most of the time i still wish that the butt would just step aside and stop getting in the way. but at some point, i realized i was stuck with this body type, i could sit about whining about my butt or i could get over it and stop over analyzing it.I am not my butt!! LOL
i have always had a problem with the standardization of beauty. every woman has the right to feel beautiful in what ever shape they come in….i wish alot of women could feel this without seeking out validation from the mainstream…but we all know that doesn’t always happen. Women ‘overanalyze’ themselves, and when that gets old , they ‘overanalyze’ each other…that’s the way it is. we spend so much time blaming men for obejectifying us that we forget that we as women also contribute to this, we put so many impossible standards on one another that we all ultimately never win…
you know what? Self confidence and body confidence isn’t something someone else can give you…you have to find it in your own way at your own time. but still… If we are being real, i bet you alot of curvy still bemoan their big butts every now and again. funny though init?, the ppl who don’t have it want it, and the ppl who have had it am sure sometimes wish they can give some of it away…i kno i do.lol
“I am not my butt!”
Brilliant.
You address the topic in a free and aware manner that one can feel that you love you’re body because it’s a body that is yours and does what you like for it to do! That’s a wonderful thing. The only problem when you get to that stage is you can’t stand people trying to objectify your body, and ironically that happens more because you’re loving yourself.
Wow, many thoughts re your comment. Thanks for sharing.
I’m celebrating the big beauty of the African woman’s booty!!! It’s big, it’s round, its gorgeous, and it’s MINE!!! Now it’s a sad state of affairs, when other booty challenged women got to wear booty pads. But what’s more sad, and maybe a bit disturbing, is that white women like Kim Kardashian are getting those Brazilian butt lifts, (her bum is fake, y’all) and some black men are falling all over themselves in awe!! IT’S FAKE!! (I got the comparison pictures for those who don’t believe it) I’m not hating on black men, not by a long shot. We all are victims of the media, black men included.
That’s why we black sisters cannot depend on or even consider what the media or Hollyweird or anyone says or think–we have to do that for ourselves, define ourselves for ourselves and love everything about our bodies! Get in shape if you need to, but never stop loving your special beauty!! Just as we did concerning our hair is the way we are doing concerning our bodies!!
Thanks Ms Afropolitan for alerting me about my RSS feed. I’m going to try to figure it out. 🙂
Hi Anna Renee,
The African woman’s beauty is a hell of a lot to celebrate, but let’s celebrate all forms of it – the round bootylicious figure and ancestrial heritage from certain African tribes and the slender athletic figure of others, the soft curl inherited from some ancestors and the thick kinkiness from others. All are beautiful! When we confine to the stereotype that there is one type of black female figure (although it is a truth that black women are naturally curvier than most others) we risk what’s happening in commercial hip hop videos or in Brazil, where a large amount of black women too are getting butt implants. ie black women suffer from the stereotypes in the end
I just wanna say to all women love your special beauty because it’s you, not because it’s in fashion (because we all know that trends come and go)
Keeping this one short and sweet.. after all i am at work! as with everything, there are two sides to every story (and every opinion) given 2 options, one will take one side over the other. change the options, and one is likely to change sides. Such is life, cest la vie.
“I am not my butt” is probably the best line i’ve heard in forever. I love it. And i cannot agree with it more. But the capitalist in me will now put that on a tee-shirt aimed at specifc type of person :o)
Sterotyping – as soon as a reresentation falls below 20% of a population stereotyping occurs. (known fact in social psychology) raise the representation above 20% it suddenly becomes normal. So for all of the ladies who feel objectified by their “big butts” worry not.. respite is at hand. With all this media frezy on bootylicious-ness, bubble butt madness and bum implants your representation will soon pass 20% of the population and having a big butt will be the norm and everyone can live happily ever after… (until having a small butt or big breasts becomes the next craze)
After all… “The road to hell IS paved with good intentions’you see..”
🙂
JmtPw
JustMyTwoPenceWorth
Side note:
So much for keeping it short. Im loving this.. i really am.. so much insight.. reads like a Malcom Gladwell novel. Keep the thought provoking posts coming!
Thanks for the encouragement 🙂
It’s a dangerous issue that women are urged to find their self-worth in body parts, and one can only hope that women of African descent will rather say hey, listen, I am not my butt (or hair or whatever the trend might be) whether she got a badonka donk or not lol
Furthermore, even though trends come and go, we need to stop seeking approval from Western ideals and love ourselves always, not only when hollywood says so.
The world will have caught on when any woman of any size is able to find clothes without fighting. Most of the time my boobs, waist and ass are fighting for top billing in clothes.
Hollywood is far from celebrating curvy women. And when they refer to someone being curvy they usually are politely trying to refer to an overweight or obese woman. So those of us who are normal, the right size for our bodies but aren’t on a diet of celery and water, are left out because we aren’t trying to fit the unattainable ideal of Western beauty and aren’t abusing our bodies at the other end of the spectrum either.
African women ( & other brown cultures) have always had more prominent features: big head, eyes,breasts, butt. But it wasnt in style.
Yet when lopez and kardashian get fameand then tout their butts, all over a suddent it is in.
WHY?
Another example of white is right, black get back.
& IMO, Kim yes bt jen and beyonce dont have big butts.
Love this blog, keep the good tips coming! I thought this article was good!!
Hello from a white guy in Sweden.
I love women with female curves, and i hate skinny, bony females. Colored and MiddleEastern women are the most beautyfull women in the world.
Hello I love this blog too. I am in the middle of writing a book called [‘Be Ramrkable – Be Yourself’ This should be out as the first ebook by Christmas. I am advocating that we all forget the Hollyweirdness of plastic surgery, and learn how to connect with the importance of basic health, inner beauty and being thankful for what we’ve got as we all have individual qualities that make us special.
In particular I love the fact that imperfections are our true beauty otherwise you get Barbie – no thanks, it is like the difference between the hand-made and the mass-produced. What I particularly love is the fact that I know I can change personal perceptions, what you Black women face is replayed in miniature within all colours. Eg I having red curly hair, blue/white skin and lots of freckles, I feel like a sister to you all as I had my share of taunts and stuff as a kid. I think we are all incredibly beautiful in different ways – black women make me gasp sometimes when I see their beauty. We gotta stop all this and get real, coz real is really remarkable.
“I am more than just my body” look out for my book it is for women of all shapes, sizes, colours and it is about simple affordable style x
quote: I am in the middle of writing a book called [‘Be Ramrkable – Be Yourself’ This should be out as the first ebook by Christmas
Maggi : If you are writing a book you should spell words correctly.
R E M A R K A B L E.
Secondly, ebooks have been in existence since 1971, got promoted in 98, & took off in 2010. So your book wont “out as the first ebook”.