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A review by podanotherjessi
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke
fast-paced
The short review of this book is that the topic is far too broad (no pun intended) to be covered in a book this short, and yet Radke barely sticks to the specific topic of butts.
If I were to explain what this book is actually about, I'd say it's a very, very thin overview of women's body standards in the 20th and early 21st centuries. While there are moments Radke zooms in on the specifics of butts, that is maybe half of the book. Much of it has a more general focus on women's bodies in their entirety.
Even if I were expecting that, I would still find this hard to recommend. A large portion of the book is given to personal anecdotes of Radke's own experiences, which she often then uses to assume the universal experiences of all women. She'll make a sweeping statement such as "nearly all women have attempted to transform their shape in some way" and then divert into a story about stuffing her bra or the first time she wore shapewear.
This wasn't the full overview of butts I was looking for. It was just a few observations many of us have already made (Western fashions cycle though periods of emphasizing the butt and periods of hiding it!) with little additional commentary. And you can hardly call it a backstory when - except for one brief section on a fossil - it starts off mid-19th century!
If I were to explain what this book is actually about, I'd say it's a very, very thin overview of women's body standards in the 20th and early 21st centuries. While there are moments Radke zooms in on the specifics of butts, that is maybe half of the book. Much of it has a more general focus on women's bodies in their entirety.
Even if I were expecting that, I would still find this hard to recommend. A large portion of the book is given to personal anecdotes of Radke's own experiences, which she often then uses to assume the universal experiences of all women. She'll make a sweeping statement such as "nearly all women have attempted to transform their shape in some way" and then divert into a story about stuffing her bra or the first time she wore shapewear.
This wasn't the full overview of butts I was looking for. It was just a few observations many of us have already made (Western fashions cycle though periods of emphasizing the butt and periods of hiding it!) with little additional commentary. And you can hardly call it a backstory when - except for one brief section on a fossil - it starts off mid-19th century!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism