A review by displacedcactus
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

I found this book so entertaining and thought-provoking! Radke brings together issues of race, body image, art, style, cultural appropriation, the specter of eugenics, and so much more, all to focus on one fraught part of the body. I learned so much -- not all of it pleasant, obviously, but all of it fascinating. Well worth a read (whether you read with your eyes or ears -- I found the audio to be pretty good).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism

There is ample discussion of Sarah Baartman, how her body was displayed in life and in death. This includes many uses throughout the book of the word "Hottentot" in reference to her and other women of the Khoikhoi people, a word which is now considered quite offensive. The author is quite clear on how she believes Baartman's treatment was not okay, but she doesn't address the use of the slur.