We’re Officially in the Era of the Big Booty- US Vogue

We’re Officially in the Era of the Big Booty- US Vogue

6031
Intermediate Jenology
6031

    Sep 11, 2014#1

    As we await the premiere of Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea’s new music video, it would appear that the big booty has officially become ubiquitous. In music videos, in Instagram photos, and on today’s most popular celebrities, the measure of sex appeal is inextricably linked to the prominence of a woman’s behind.

    For years it was exactly the opposite; a large butt was not something one aspired to, rather something one tried to tame in countless exercise classes. Even in fashion, that daring creative space where nothing is ever off limits, the booty has traditionally been shunned. Though nipples have long been a runway staple, the industry was scandalized when Alexander McQueen debuted his bumster pants back in 1996. And who can forget the horrified reaction to Rose McGowan’s barely-there beaded dress at the 1998 Video Music Awards? Today, Rihanna shows up to the CFDA Awards practically naked with her crack fully on display and walks off with a Fashion Icon Award.

    Perhaps we have Jennifer Lopez to thank (or blame?) for sparking the booty movement. When she first arrived on the scene in the late nineties, a lot of the buzz surrounding her focused on the back of her voluptuous body. Her derrière quite literally stood out against the other sex symbols of the moment, signaling a shift away from the waif era of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss and the outrageously large-breasted Pam Anderson. Lopez’s behind was so unique, and evidently so valuable, there were rumors she had taken out insurance worth millions to protect the asset.

    Around the same time, the look of pop music was set by Britney Spears’s over-toned abs. But the curvaceous bodies that made up Destiny’s Child had also started making waves on MTV. In 2001, they released “Bootylicious,” which posed the question: Can you handle this? The song was a hit, of course, and the video, a fun dance party without a twerk in sight, brought a new kind of figure into the spotlight. Still, it would be another decade before people were “ready for this jelly” to become the ultimate standard of beauty.

    Enter Kim Kardashian. With a truly singular figure, Kardashian and her family debuted their reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, in 2007. It made the entire clan famous, of course, but Kardashian’s behind was the real star, and was frequently employed as a plot device. In one season, Kardashian even X-rayed her body to prove her curves were real and not the by-product of artificial implants.

    Instagram, when it arrived, presented media-savvy Kardashian with yet another platform for her famous butt, and she, of course, went on to inundate followers with a steady stream of portraits, slowly redefining the Hollywood body. The picture of her and friend Blac Chyna displaying their booties after a workout garnered over 600,000 likes, while that infamous selfie in a thonglike white swimsuit, taken a few months after giving birth to baby North, received well over a million.

    Instagram also launched that other famous booty: the one on workout sensation Jen Selter. A civilian who just happens to do an obscene amount of squats, Selter is known for her belfies (just put two and two together) and every single one of her posts to her 4 million followers makes sure to include the bubble butt that launched her career front and center.

    Then came the total bootification of pop music. At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus proved you didn’t need to have a large butt to become a part of the conversation, you just needed to know how to attract enough attention to one. And now it seems pop musicians everywhere are baring their asses onstage or online. Shakira and Rihanna had a booty-off in their video for “Can’t Remember to Forget You.” Beyoncé surprised the world by dropping her Visual Album last December—and her good-girl image. The racy video for “Partition” has her in a bejeweled thong on a top of a piano, while “Rocket” begins with the lyrics: “Let me sit this ass on you.”

    Recently, Nicki Minaj remixed the original butt song by Sir Mix-A-Lot, “Baby Got Back,” into “Anaconda,” driving the point home with extreme twerking, blatant close-up shots of her booty, and cut-to-the-chase lyrics: “Fuck those skinny bitches in the club/I wanna see all the big fat ass bitches in the motherfucking club.”

    Which brings us full circle to J. Lo—the original trailblazing butt girl—and the imminent video for “Booty,” which she teased last week with the clip below. It features the 45-year-old doused in what looks like Vaseline or honey, prompting listeners to “Throw up your hands if you love a big booty.” It’s safe to say that, this time around, the world is thoroughly ready for the jelly.

    http://www.vogue.com/1342927/booty-in-p ... gy-azalea/


    12K588
    Doctor of Jenology
    12K588

      Sep 11, 2014#2

      I totally agree with what she writes about Jen. She single-handedly changed the world's perception of what a sexy healthy body is and gave curvy women a chance in a very tough showbiz. Showed people that girls and women with big butts, thighs etc don't have anything to be ashamed of and can be confident and sexy like every other woman!
      I know that this article has stirred some controversy but i don't agree... of course there are more women that could be mentioned but nobody helped to change this issue as Jen. Her career was a turning point for the world's beauty standards coming from the 90s and no woman can claim to have affected so positively such a difficult issue. Women all over the world should thank her imho.

      6,26479
      Doctor of Jenology
      6,26479

        Sep 11, 2014#3

        yep she changed the ideal of the perfect body ;)

        20K2,682
        Admin
        20K2,682

          Sep 11, 2014#4

          There's a lot of pushback on this article. Not on Jen's part though. Mainly on the
          BS that Vogue is using Iggy & Miley as examples of the booty now being acceptable.

          6031
          Intermediate Jenology
          6031

            Sep 11, 2014#5

            timmyd2121 wrote:There's a lot of pushback on this article. Not on Jen's part though. Mainly on the
            BS that Vogue is using Iggy & Miley as examples of the booty now being acceptable.
            The African American community are not happy with that as well

            Also it is common knowledge that kim ks ass is fake

            1,48641
            Contributor
            1,48641

              Sep 12, 2014#6

              Safe to say, Vogue is a lil tardy to the party

              6,973158
              Contributor
              6,973158

                Sep 13, 2014#7

                timmyd2121 wrote:There's a lot of pushback on this article. Not on Jen's part though. Mainly on the
                BS that Vogue is using Iggy & Miley as examples of the booty now being acceptable.

                Because they're blonde and light skinned

                20K2,682
                Admin
                20K2,682

                  Sep 13, 2014#8

                  Yup

                  3,531189
                  Master of Jenology
                  3,531189

                    Sep 13, 2014#9

                    Huffington Post wrote a response to the Vogue article.

                    Actually, Vogue, The Era Of The Big Booty Began A Long Ass Time Ago

                    Well, it happened: Vogue discovered big booties. In a post earlier this week, they declared that we are "officially in the era of the big booty" ... With "J.Lo to thank (or blame)." Absurd, yes, but when you get done face palming yourself, there's something really icky there. The post skips around the obvious racial overlay with the dexterity of a cricket playing hopscotch. And if refusing to directly acknowledge women of color wasn't offensive enough, the idea of a body type trend piece is as troubling as the ready image of several tiny, white models debating the merits of large behinds. If moving past the thin ideal means fetishizing body types to the point that they are "en vogue," we've missed a step on the path to body positivity. Having and embracing big butts is not "new" just because you've never seen them on a runway.



                    There's a lot to unpack here, so let's start with the fact of discussing the "big booty" without referencing women of color. To do so "perpetuates the idea that curves are new, trendy, covetable accessories, thereby dismissing women of color whose curves existed long before it was fashionable to have them, and whose bodies have been critiqued throughout history" (as Carimah Townes wrote for Think Progress in response to Vanity Fair's Jen Selter story). Author of the Vogue piece, Patricia Garcia, even goes so far as to include Miley Cyrus in the movement, saying she "proved you didn't need to have a large butt to become a part of the conversation." It's bad enough to ignore African American and Latino women who have proudly been part of this butt "conversation" since the dawn of humanity. Giving credit to an individual who actively accessorizes herself with these women is just irresponsible.

                    Probably the most egregious aspect of the whole thing is that Vogue alleges a big butt is something women have been required to try to get rid of. "For years it was exactly the opposite," Garcia writes. "A large butt was not something one aspired to, rather something one tried to tame in countless exercise classes." That statement buys so whole-heartedly into the idea of a societally dictated body type it should make you want to drown in an over-priced kale smoothie. In spite of Vogue's lack of approval, there are plenty of women who have not spent all previous decades aspiring to whittle themselves down via Soul Cycle.

                    Overall, the daunting reality is that what's most visible in pop culture -- on our magazine covers, television shows and runways -- often becomes the desired look. The way Vogue participates in this (i.e. that they feel they should be applauded for discovering that other bodies exist in 2014) is hugely problematic. Their role in culture contributes to and reflects a very real (and totally myopic) world view. All of the white people who think twerking is a 2013 invention also probably see the celebration of big booties as a newfound thing, because it is suddenly being embraced and recognized by white culture. That sucks, and we can (and should) make fun of it, but maybe there's a glimmer of hope in all the offensive ridiculousness at play here.

                    We don't need Vogue to believe in big booties for them to exist. We don't need Vogue's acknowledgement of any body part or type. That's the real power of J.Lo's role as a "trailblazing butt girl," as Garcia called her. She represents not just the glory of her backside, but the confident presentation of a form that falls far outside the size zero standard. Reducing that to the idea that a specific body part is something that's really hot right now just creates one more box for women to be placed in and ignores the value of all other bodies. That's precisely the kind of thinking we need to break from in order to truly be free of the unrealistic images we've been bombarded with since the premiere issue of Vogue. Body diversity is important whether the aesthetic ideals of the fashion world choose to acknowledge diverse bodies or not. Anyone who doesn't understand that is welcome to kiss our big, small and medium-sized butts.

                    huffingtonpost.com

                      Sep 13, 2014#10

                      And another blog did it too:

                      We've Been In 'The Era Of The Booty' For A Long Time

                      A link to a Vogue article recently shimmied down my Twitter timeline, aiming to make a case for how now we have entered "The Era of the Big Booty."

                      Pardon me. I've got to go retrieve my eyes as they've now rolled down the street, around the corner and toward the subway.

                      Weaving through an anemic tale that begins and comes "full circle" with Jennifer Lopez, I found myself looking for my people: those of us who know a very different history of booty in pop culture and were aggravated by its exclusion.

                      To be fair, Nicki Minaj and her ode to those of the "fat ass" persuasion did receive a mention. In Minaj's bright and colorful music video, there were cheeks everywhere, and it's a wonder the camera was actually able to stay still in the room with all that vibrating.

                      Speaking of shaking rumps, "Rump Shaker" didn't get a mention. For many of us, booty has been a part of music for decades. LL Cool J, always targeting a "round brown," rubbed in our faces the fact that apparently Tina, Brenda and Lisa had bigger butts than us, and that's why we couldn't keep our man. "Bonita Applebum" had enviable measurements, certified "Brick House" status. And, c'mon — even white folks play "Brick House" at barbecues now. I've seen it with my own two eyes.

                      No, none of this contributed to "The Era of the Big Booty," or the culture that created it. Instead, we get mention of Butt Selfie Gawd Jen Selter, a lady who basically learned what I've been trying to tell y'all for years and used that knowledge to get into the pages of Vanity Fair. We get mention of Destiny's Child and "Bootylicious" (a bit of marketing brilliance — a song about booties that doesn't actually show anyone doing much of anything with theirs in the video). We are forced to remember Rose McGowan and her barely there MTV Video Music Awards gown; not to mention someone else's VMAbomination: Miley Cyrus, because you don't "need to have a large butt to become a part of the conversation, you just needed to know how to attract enough attention to one."

                      These are our signifiers that "The Era of the Big Booty" is upon us. Miley Cyrus. Or something.

                      By the end of the Vogue article, I came back to the frustrating reality that, again, it's just different for black women — and, for that matter, the people who love us. Our bodies are not regarded the same, are treated as an entirely separate anomaly, undeserving of consideration for changing the landscape of body image. Love and appreciation of our bodies isn't sincere or credible enough to get you inside the pages of a fashion staple. Love of our bodies is perverse, gross. When we love our own bodies, it's considered a scientific anomaly. When our partners love them, per Sir Mix-a-Lot, we "look like total prostitutes," and that's "the only reason" why they talk to us.

                      When booty comes packaged in "fun!" "cute!" and "exotic!" "butt selfies!" it's worthy of praise or a multimillion-dollar reality TV series. When it's associated with black women, it's perverted.

                      Part of me wonders why we'd ever fight to be recognized in this arena — wanting to be known for our curvaceous figures — but then I realize: The same way that Angelina Jolie made "full lips" a thing, Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian are being credited with making "full hips." It's black women fighting, once again, for the right to be seen in the same spaces we respect and find credible. Our contributions to beauty, to society's collective body image, aren't valid.

                      A lack of healthy and diverse representation in media limits how we look at everyone. It affects our expectations. If the average person isn't used to seeing black women in the context of beauty, he'll find it hard to see black women as beautiful. And in a society where beauty is a prized possession, it's easy to see why we fight for the right to be seen as beautiful.

                      An article that discusses "The Era of the Big Booty," currying praise and high regard for curves — while erasing the culture that originally brought them to the mainstream — feels like someone saying only these kinds of bodies can receive this kind of praise. America rewards beauty heavily with privilege, promotions and favor. To shut out black women from being able to lay claim to their own features is cruel. To mention Miley Cyrus' VMA performance, and not even once mention the other "big booties" on stage with her? Hazard a guess as to why.

                      I don't know what the answer is. But one thing is for sure: While we regularly laugh at the "Oh, my God, Becky, look at her butt" part of "Baby Got Back," we rarely recite the remainder: "She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends ... but who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute. I mean, her butt is just so big. ... I mean, gross. She's just so BLACK!"

                      That part, for too many of us, felt a little too real. And, right now, in this moment, it's feeling realer than ever before.

                      Code Switch : NPR

                        Sep 13, 2014#11

                        Get that backlash.

                        Vogue Magazine Publishes Article on Big Booty Trend: Critics Slam the Magazine

                        Oh, Vogue!

                        The fashion magazine took some heat after publishing an article citing a new “big booty” trend. A story pegged to the upcoming release of Jennifer Lopez’s “Booty” music video featuring Iggy Azalea unleashed a large amount of opposing views about the feature from readers online.

                        Titled, “We’re Officially in the Era of the Big Booty,” the article aims to describe the history of derrieres starting from the appearance of Alexander McQueen’s “bumpster pants,” at the late designer’s 1996 runway show.

                        “For years it was exactly the opposite; a large butt was not something one aspired to, rather something one tried to tame in countless exercise classes,” the writer mused. “Even in fashion, that daring creative space where nothing is ever off limits, the booty has traditionally been shunned.”

                        That line, and others, sent readers into a tizzy, poking fun at the magazine’s most recent revelation.

                        The piece goes on to mention Miley Cyrus’ twerk-a-thon from the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Kim Kardashian’s countless Instagram booty shots, and Beyonce’s video for her hit song “Partition.”

                        Needless to say, readers took it upon themselves to mock the article on twitter under the hashtag, #VogueArticles.











                        Us Weekly

                        1,48641
                        Contributor
                        1,48641

                          Sep 14, 2014#12

                          The Vogue article credits Jennifer Lopez AND Destiny's Child but they like to skip over that.

                          Not to mention, Jennifer Lopez is considered a woman of color.