So You're Not a Black Woman If You Don't Have a Big Butt?

By Shannon T. Boodram


Until recently, wide hips, thick lips and solid derrieres, common among many Black women, were passed over and deemed unworthy of even an honourable mention in the working definition of beauty.
But this year, Allure magazine announced there has been a milestone victory in the uphill battle versus beauty standards: no longer does mainstream media call for its sex symbols to be paper thin and powder white. Instead, juicy-lipped, curvy ladies like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez have taken the lead.
Good news for Black women? Think again. Today, the booty has gone from a fixation to a cultural punch line to a self-esteem issue so deeply rooted that for some it doesn’t just mean fitting into jeans, it is on the cusp of fitting into what it means to be a Black woman.

“Growing up, I was always naturally skinny,” says 22-year-old Eileen Bailey who recently moved to California to attend university. “I honestly didn’t feel like I was Black because I didn’t have the hips and ass to go with my brown complexion.”  READ MORE