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kelly_e's review
3.25
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
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
4.5
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Racism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Colonisation
Moderate: Slavery and Sexual harassment
jrae_miller's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, Slavery, and Sexual violence
Minor: Eating disorder and Sexual violence
chloemakesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Slavery, Medical content, and Colonisation
singsandreads's review
5.0
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Classism, and Medical trauma
Minor: Slavery
sophia_'s review
4.25
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Fatphobia, Slavery, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual violence
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review
4.75
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Racism, Classism, and Slavery
heydebigale's review against another edition
4.5
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.
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
zombiezami's review
4.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Kidnapping, Slavery, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Rape, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia
onlyonebookshelf's review
4.5
Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, Slavery, Homophobia, and Colonisation