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nelesnotes's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
I definitely found this informative, did not expect to learn this much about racism in a book about butts, but it makes sense!
Unfortunately I found it a bit dry and boring in writing, so it took me pretty long to get through it. Still would recommend because of the valuable lessons it contains!
Addition: I thought about it a little longer and I agree with a review I read, that said that it felt a bit bodyshaming towards skinny people. At least in the chapter about Kim Kardashian, I would have expected a mention about how that also puts pressure on people with a small butt, to look like that and how harmful that can be in terms of unhealthy gym promises or plastic surgery. On the other hand I can totally understand, that skinny people where the ones that profited throughout history and that it's important, to tell the side of the story from people, who got opressed and mistreated for centuries. Still the women of today, who are naturally skinny (and might be reading this book) are not the ones to blame for history and here and there it felt a bit like that in this book. I suppose it just wasn't super clear for me at the beginning, what the purpose of and for who this book was written.
Unfortunately I found it a bit dry and boring in writing, so it took me pretty long to get through it. Still would recommend because of the valuable lessons it contains!
Addition: I thought about it a little longer and I agree with a review I read, that said that it felt a bit bodyshaming towards skinny people. At least in the chapter about Kim Kardashian, I would have expected a mention about how that also puts pressure on people with a small butt, to look like that and how harmful that can be in terms of unhealthy gym promises or plastic surgery. On the other hand I can totally understand, that skinny people where the ones that profited throughout history and that it's important, to tell the side of the story from people, who got opressed and mistreated for centuries. Still the women of today, who are naturally skinny (and might be reading this book) are not the ones to blame for history and here and there it felt a bit like that in this book. I suppose it just wasn't super clear for me at the beginning, what the purpose of and for who this book was written.
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed reading this thought-provoking book. It got me thinking about so much that I'd never really considered before, like why humans have butts in the first place.
ambergamgee's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book super interesting and well written. This cultural history of the butt is very much wrapped up in race and racism. I also appreciated the inclusion of LGBT+ communities and drag queens.
I will warn future readers that it is not entirely body-positive. At times it reads as overly critical of skinny women and women with small butts. I felt it was pretty unfair to praise one woman’s natural figure in one breath and scorn another’s in the next. The pursuit of either body is problematic if it means unhealthy eating habits, low self esteem, or fighting your natural body. Just because our society has been obsessed with too skinny does not mean those in skinny bodies are unnatural in some way.
I will warn future readers that it is not entirely body-positive. At times it reads as overly critical of skinny women and women with small butts. I felt it was pretty unfair to praise one woman’s natural figure in one breath and scorn another’s in the next. The pursuit of either body is problematic if it means unhealthy eating habits, low self esteem, or fighting your natural body. Just because our society has been obsessed with too skinny does not mean those in skinny bodies are unnatural in some way.