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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
boba_n_books's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Besides the fact that “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot was in my head for days, I really enjoyed this book!
Radke takes readers through generations of butts and what was found attractive and what wasn’t. As is common, the focus was specifically on women’s butts. They seem to be the cause of attention as soon as girls hit puberty, and Radke adds in a lot of her personal experience as a large-butted woman throughout the dialogue surrounding the history of butts.
I genuinely learned a lot about the butt and how it functions within our society. Especially how butt “trends” are culturally appropriated from the Black community. It was a very eye-opening book to me in that way.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about butts or just wants to understand why they’re such a big deal.
Radke takes readers through generations of butts and what was found attractive and what wasn’t. As is common, the focus was specifically on women’s butts. They seem to be the cause of attention as soon as girls hit puberty, and Radke adds in a lot of her personal experience as a large-butted woman throughout the dialogue surrounding the history of butts.
I genuinely learned a lot about the butt and how it functions within our society. Especially how butt “trends” are culturally appropriated from the Black community. It was a very eye-opening book to me in that way.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about butts or just wants to understand why they’re such a big deal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexism, and Colonisation
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Eating disorder
litematcha's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
erebus53's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Any sociopolitical commentary on body image and fashion is likely to be a bit navel-gazey.. and backward looking.. but parts of this are a bit far up its own butt.
The first few chapters of this book, while offering very little to anyone who already knows a bit about evolution, are a solid exploration of the physiology and selection pressures that probably lead to the development of the unique human bottom. I was getting my hopes up when Radke champions the scientific expectation that the conclusions should be based on the data, rather than hunting through information to find proofs for useful ideas you have had; I had hoped that this book was going to say interesting things that I hadn't heard before.
We are introduced to a history lesson of Sarah Baartman, a South African woman who was used as a freakshow act because of her large bum and dark skin. She was called the "Hottentot Venus" and became an iconic stereotype (whose remains were defiled and displayed in museums for years after her death). A lot of the exploration of beauty norms and White centric fashion is unpacked by looking at the Bustle and other clothing items, designed to enlarge the bottom... but I think that Radke is reaching when she tries to equate the use of sexualised bum padding in dresses in "trying to look like a Black woman" or cultural misappropriation. She seems to have hunted for a while to find any record of these ideas being linked, and has found one article in an Irish publication where a journalist cracks a joke about it. If this is cherry-picking your sources, that cherry may in fact be a dried sourcherry.. not really satisfying any proof of your clever idea.
From eugenics to Mylie Cyrus, from Mix-A-Lot to Kate Moss, bespoke fashion to production-line sweatshops, and Late Stage Capitalism, this book tells a story of marketing, status, Colonization, and the control of women's bodies by men, women, and society in general. There are a lot of good points made, and so much {White people doing cringey stuff}, and sick, awful stuff. Apparently this book was banned in some places. I can't see any good reason because it's not what I would call inflammatory, but then,
I don't tend to buy into a lot of normalised beliefs, and I don't think that people with the most power necessarily get there because they are good.
The first few chapters of this book, while offering very little to anyone who already knows a bit about evolution, are a solid exploration of the physiology and selection pressures that probably lead to the development of the unique human bottom. I was getting my hopes up when Radke champions the scientific expectation that the conclusions should be based on the data, rather than hunting through information to find proofs for useful ideas you have had; I had hoped that this book was going to say interesting things that I hadn't heard before.
We are introduced to a history lesson of Sarah Baartman, a South African woman who was used as a freakshow act because of her large bum and dark skin. She was called the "Hottentot Venus" and became an iconic stereotype (whose remains were defiled and displayed in museums for years after her death). A lot of the exploration of beauty norms and White centric fashion is unpacked by looking at the Bustle and other clothing items, designed to enlarge the bottom... but I think that Radke is reaching when she tries to equate the use of sexualised bum padding in dresses in "trying to look like a Black woman" or cultural misappropriation. She seems to have hunted for a while to find any record of these ideas being linked, and has found one article in an Irish publication where a journalist cracks a joke about it. If this is cherry-picking your sources, that cherry may in fact be a dried sourcherry.. not really satisfying any proof of your clever idea.
From eugenics to Mylie Cyrus, from Mix-A-Lot to Kate Moss, bespoke fashion to production-line sweatshops, and Late Stage Capitalism, this book tells a story of marketing, status, Colonization, and the control of women's bodies by men, women, and society in general. There are a lot of good points made, and so much {White people doing cringey stuff}, and sick, awful stuff. Apparently this book was banned in some places. I can't see any good reason because it's not what I would call inflammatory, but then,
I don't tend to buy into a lot of normalised beliefs, and I don't think that people with the most power necessarily get there because they are good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Trafficking, Body shaming, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
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