“Garment makers are rarely in the business of making clothes that will work for actual people. Instead, they cater to a fantasy of who the customer hopes to be.” – 2.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: big butts, small butts… and all butts in between!

Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why? In Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out.

Spanning nearly two centuries, this “whip-smart” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) cultural history takes us from the performance halls of 19th-century London to the aerobics studios of the 1980s, the music video set of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” and the mountains of Arizona, where every year humans and horses race in a feat of gluteal endurance. Along the way, she meets evolutionary biologists who study how butts first developed; models whose measurements have defined jean sizing for millions of women; and the fitness gurus who created fads like “Buns of Steel.” She also examines the central importance of race through figures like Sarah Bartmann, once known as the “Venus Hottentot,” Josephine Baker, Jennifer Lopez, and other women of color whose butts have been idolized, envied, and despised.

Part deep dive reportage, part personal journey, part cabinet of curiosities, Butts is an entertaining, illuminating, and thoughtful examination of why certain silhouettes come in and out of fashion—and how larger ideas about race, control, liberation, and power affect our most private feelings about ourselves and others.

I saw this book somewhere, and I thought the title was hilarious, so of course, I had to add it to my TBR! I like to read books about random topics, so I didn’t think too much about it when I decided to pick it up.
We are warned in the beginning. The author especifically says this book is not an extensive science book about butts – which I was totally fine with, and I adapted my expectations while continuing reading the book.
Now, with that said… this was a little disappointing. I was enjoying it at first, but as the book progressed, the author started inserting herself (and her opinions) more and more into the book. But to me that wasn’t the biggest issue I had with this book – what I disliked most is how this is not really a book about butts. The chapters start with it as a topic (and kind of a justification of why the topic is being mentioned), but I noticed that the focus kept going to other things. I would describe this book more as a book about the female body throughout the years – and there’s also a lot about race too.
I found some chapters fascinating and informative, for example, Sara Baartman’s chapter – but other chapters like Miley Cyrus’s felt a little too biased and less relevant.
Even though I wasn’t expecting a full-on science book, I still wished the author focused more on informing the reader, and kept the butt topic as a main focus. I personally wouldn’t recommend this book – I’m sure there are better books on the subject.