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mikaylawood's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Racism, and Fatphobia
kelly_e's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
Title: Butts: A Backstory
Author: Heather Radke
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: November 29, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Interesting • Thoughtful • Cheeky
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Butts was never on my TBR until it was selected as one of the featured curated titles for the A-Z challenge in my online book club. Would I have read it otherwise? Probably not. Did it make me pause and offer up moments of reflection? Absolutely.
This cultural history covers a lot of ground - nearly 200 years of cultural, evolutionary, political and anatomical history of the butt, particularly the female butt. I don't think I have ever really took such significant time to reflect on everything the female butt has come to symbolize. I enjoyed getting an in-depth look into how trends have changed over time and the aspects that have helped changed these standards over the eras. There are quite a few pop culture references and talk about the butts that have defined modern generations.
Butts is definitely a unique look into one specific body part, and I would highly recommend the audio, which reads like an in-depth report. I am not sure if I would be able to get through eye-ball reading such a book. It may have been a step outside of something I would normally read, yet it has sparked a different kind of awareness into the sexualization of butts that I think will stick with me.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• cultural history
• investigative reporting
• butts
⚠️ CW: racism, cultural appropriation, body shaming, fatphobia, misogyny, sexism, classism, colonization, slavery, eating disorder, sexual assault, medical content, medical trauma
Author: Heather Radke
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: November 29, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Interesting • Thoughtful • Cheeky
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Butts was never on my TBR until it was selected as one of the featured curated titles for the A-Z challenge in my online book club. Would I have read it otherwise? Probably not. Did it make me pause and offer up moments of reflection? Absolutely.
This cultural history covers a lot of ground - nearly 200 years of cultural, evolutionary, political and anatomical history of the butt, particularly the female butt. I don't think I have ever really took such significant time to reflect on everything the female butt has come to symbolize. I enjoyed getting an in-depth look into how trends have changed over time and the aspects that have helped changed these standards over the eras. There are quite a few pop culture references and talk about the butts that have defined modern generations.
Butts is definitely a unique look into one specific body part, and I would highly recommend the audio, which reads like an in-depth report. I am not sure if I would be able to get through eye-ball reading such a book. It may have been a step outside of something I would normally read, yet it has sparked a different kind of awareness into the sexualization of butts that I think will stick with me.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• cultural history
• investigative reporting
• butts
⚠️ CW: racism, cultural appropriation, body shaming, fatphobia, misogyny, sexism, classism, colonization, slavery, eating disorder, sexual assault, medical content, medical trauma
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Classism, and Colonisation
Minor: Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma
kathrynreading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
A really interesting look at the European and North American female body, in particular the butt over the last 200+ years. From anatomy and evolution to antiblackness to standardized clothing sizes to exercise crazes and the women whose butts defined fashion. This book is a really interesting and thoughtful investigation of the butt and all it means culturally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Racism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Colonisation
Moderate: Slavery and Sexual harassment
jrae_miller's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
A really entertaining look at the butt through history! I think the author kind of lost the thread of the book by the end, but it's possible that it just felt like a lot of repetition for me by the time I got there. I think there would be plenty more to write and read on the subject in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, Slavery, and Sexual violence
Minor: Eating disorder and Sexual violence
podanotherjessi's review
fast-paced
The short review of this book is that the topic is far too broad (no pun intended) to be covered in a book this short, and yet Radke barely sticks to the specific topic of butts.
If I were to explain what this book is actually about, I'd say it's a very, very thin overview of women's body standards in the 20th and early 21st centuries. While there are moments Radke zooms in on the specifics of butts, that is maybe half of the book. Much of it has a more general focus on women's bodies in their entirety.
Even if I were expecting that, I would still find this hard to recommend. A large portion of the book is given to personal anecdotes of Radke's own experiences, which she often then uses to assume the universal experiences of all women. She'll make a sweeping statement such as "nearly all women have attempted to transform their shape in some way" and then divert into a story about stuffing her bra or the first time she wore shapewear.
This wasn't the full overview of butts I was looking for. It was just a few observations many of us have already made (Western fashions cycle though periods of emphasizing the butt and periods of hiding it!) with little additional commentary. And you can hardly call it a backstory when - except for one brief section on a fossil - it starts off mid-19th century!
If I were to explain what this book is actually about, I'd say it's a very, very thin overview of women's body standards in the 20th and early 21st centuries. While there are moments Radke zooms in on the specifics of butts, that is maybe half of the book. Much of it has a more general focus on women's bodies in their entirety.
Even if I were expecting that, I would still find this hard to recommend. A large portion of the book is given to personal anecdotes of Radke's own experiences, which she often then uses to assume the universal experiences of all women. She'll make a sweeping statement such as "nearly all women have attempted to transform their shape in some way" and then divert into a story about stuffing her bra or the first time she wore shapewear.
This wasn't the full overview of butts I was looking for. It was just a few observations many of us have already made (Western fashions cycle though periods of emphasizing the butt and periods of hiding it!) with little additional commentary. And you can hardly call it a backstory when - except for one brief section on a fossil - it starts off mid-19th century!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
singsandreads's review
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
An excellent read about butts in society. How we think of butts from the Victorian Era to Baby Got Back.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Classism, and Medical trauma
Minor: Slavery
sophia_'s review
informative
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Fatphobia, Slavery, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual violence
bookobsessedmommy's review
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I saw Butts on the GRCA, and was intrigued by the title. Radke takes us on very interesting history lesson with tons of intersectionality. I was pleasantly surprised by how much scientific and sociological research was presented, and how well it all tied together. There were a lot of stories I'd heard in part before, like Sara Baartman, but getting more of the details brought into stark relief how long female bodies, especially black female bodies, have been objectified and moralized and how it never stops. The reality is sobering but also freeing in a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Body shaming, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
A very interesting overview of society’s perception of butts with an analysis of racism, class, fashion, music and evolutionary biology. This book looks at butts from both a historical and contemporary U.S. perspective, and isn’t intended to be an all-encompassing review of the topic. But overall, I really enjoyed this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Racism, Classism, and Slavery
heydebigale's review against another edition
informative
reflective
4.5
(4.5 stars)
I liked this one—a very good mix of history, pop culture and a bit of science. Fashion, fitness, drag, and music! I primarily listened to this one on audio and thought the narrator Emily Tremaine was good!
The bulk of this book focuses on the racial politics of the butt in the United States and England. I was hoping we would get a bit of perspectives outside the west… but that’s just not what this book is.
I was also hoping for more information about the recent trends in fitness to lift heavy to achieve bigger butts.
I liked this one—a very good mix of history, pop culture and a bit of science. Fashion, fitness, drag, and music! I primarily listened to this one on audio and thought the narrator Emily Tremaine was good!
The bulk of this book focuses on the racial politics of the butt in the United States and England. I was hoping we would get a bit of perspectives outside the west… but that’s just not what this book is.
I was also hoping for more information about the recent trends in fitness to lift heavy to achieve bigger butts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism