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A review by mauraruth
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke
3.0
I was so excited to read this book, and really enjoyed the first half! Radke begins by writing about humans as endurance runners, thanks to our butts. This crossed over well with Christopher McDougall’s ‘Born to Run,’ which I read earlier this year. I especially found her chapters on Sarah Baartman, bustles, Norma and Normman, and the ever-changing opinion on what exercise should do for butts well researched and fascinating. I truly recommend it!
The second half of the book—not so much. In her pop culture references, she doesn’t try to hide her personal disdain for certain celebrities. For example, Radke spends an entire chapter writing about Miley Cyrus’ 2013 VMA performance with Robin Thicke, which I did find absolutely appropriate to mention in the context of this book. However, instead of focusing on the broader issue of culture misappropriation and moral panic by white audiences at the time, she leans more toward blaming Cyrus almost entirely, all while adding in little digs at her wherever there’s room.
A real quote from the chapter titled ‘Twerk’ goes like this:
“Cyrus danced athletically and provocatively: bending over and shaking her butt (more in the manner of an animal shaking off bathwater than a practiced twerker)”
Felt unnecessary…
This (and much more, including takes on Beyoncé’s ‘Bootylicious’ and Kim Kardashian) felt out of place for a book that was so well-researched and thoughtful in the first half, to suddenly include surface-level takes on more current pop culture trends.
Radke’s follow-up chapter to this is titled ‘The Year of the Butt,’ which refers to 2014, following Cyrus’ VMA performance. At the end of the chapter, Radke quotes Nicki Minaj, who’s commenting on the aftermath of the VMA performance:
"If a white girl does something that seems to be Black, then Black people think, ‘Oh, she's embracing our culture, so they kinda ride with it.’ Then white people think, ‘Oh, she must be cool! She doin' sumpin' Black.’ So it's weird! But if a Black person do a Black thang? It ain't that poppin’.”
I personally think Radke would’ve done well to let that quote speak for itself.
The last chapter (before the conclusion) is titled ‘Reclamation,’ and follows Kelechi Okafor, a Nigerian twerk instructor based in the UK. Okafor teaches the history of twerk in her classes. I found this chapter on twerk much more compelling than the previous ones, that Radke centered someone who understands the importance of cultural authenticity in twerk.
The second half of the book—not so much. In her pop culture references, she doesn’t try to hide her personal disdain for certain celebrities. For example, Radke spends an entire chapter writing about Miley Cyrus’ 2013 VMA performance with Robin Thicke, which I did find absolutely appropriate to mention in the context of this book. However, instead of focusing on the broader issue of culture misappropriation and moral panic by white audiences at the time, she leans more toward blaming Cyrus almost entirely, all while adding in little digs at her wherever there’s room.
A real quote from the chapter titled ‘Twerk’ goes like this:
“Cyrus danced athletically and provocatively: bending over and shaking her butt (more in the manner of an animal shaking off bathwater than a practiced twerker)”
Felt unnecessary…
This (and much more, including takes on Beyoncé’s ‘Bootylicious’ and Kim Kardashian) felt out of place for a book that was so well-researched and thoughtful in the first half, to suddenly include surface-level takes on more current pop culture trends.
Radke’s follow-up chapter to this is titled ‘The Year of the Butt,’ which refers to 2014, following Cyrus’ VMA performance. At the end of the chapter, Radke quotes Nicki Minaj, who’s commenting on the aftermath of the VMA performance:
"If a white girl does something that seems to be Black, then Black people think, ‘Oh, she's embracing our culture, so they kinda ride with it.’ Then white people think, ‘Oh, she must be cool! She doin' sumpin' Black.’ So it's weird! But if a Black person do a Black thang? It ain't that poppin’.”
I personally think Radke would’ve done well to let that quote speak for itself.
The last chapter (before the conclusion) is titled ‘Reclamation,’ and follows Kelechi Okafor, a Nigerian twerk instructor based in the UK. Okafor teaches the history of twerk in her classes. I found this chapter on twerk much more compelling than the previous ones, that Radke centered someone who understands the importance of cultural authenticity in twerk.