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Booty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder

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Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Jessica Biel are among the stars known for particularly striking assets.

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By CLOE CABRERA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 12, 2009

In the words of that great 20th century poet Sir Mix-A-Lot: "Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake that healthy butt. Baby got back."

Forget that wasted waif look; curves are in. What Pamela Anderson did (with a little help) for breasts, celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce Knowles and Kim Kardashian have done (naturally) for the behind.

And these days when a woman asks, "Does my butt look big in these pants?" she just may want to hear you say yes.

Booty is the new cleavage - and that's not a crack about plumbers. The posterior has, intentionally or not, become the focal point of the female form - at least for generations X and Y.

"There's certainly a sense that part of the body is getting privileged treatment as opposed to other body parts," says Robert Thompson, professor of media and culture at Syracuse University.

"One of the most refreshing things is that it's allowed us to consider attractive a much wider range of body types," Thompson says. "Anything that allows more body types into an arena we find attractive is always a good thing."

For the record, we're talking about a little junk in the trunk, not a Mack truck that beeps when it's in reverse. Think bootylicious, defined by Urbandictionary.com as:

1. Curvaceous or voluptuous, especially in the derriere.

2. See also "fine."

3. Attractive in a way that causes males ages 18-25 to desire to grope, fondle or otherwise touch the booty.

Still not sure there's been a cultural "seat" change? Check this out: Even the first lady's "lady lumps" are getting admiring scrutiny. Salon.com caused quite a stir in November when it ran an article titled "First Lady's Got Back," a tongue-in-cheek look at Michelle Obama's behind.

"She has coruscating intelligence, beauty, style and - drum roll, please - a butt. (Yes, you read that right: I'm going to talk about the first lady's butt.)," reporter Erin Aubrey Kaplan writes.

Unnatural Enhancements

This is all well and good if you've been naturally blessed with a firm and fantastic fanny. But, of course, everyone hasn't; which means big booty has become big business.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery there were 5,300 buttock augmentations performed in 2007 and 3,800 butt lifts; in 2006, there were 2,500 augmentations and 4,500 butt lifts.

While these numbers are still small compared with popular procedures such as breast augmentation (close to 400,000 in 2007), the number of buttock lifts performed has increased by more than 100 percent.

Type "Get a bigger booty" into Google, and you'll get more than 23 million hits. Try "a smaller butt," and you get 270,000. Go figure.

To get to the bottom of the booty phenomenon you have to turn to the streets, a byproduct of hip-hop culture. How many times have you turned on MTV to see some serious booty-shaking going on while a singer (think Sisqo's 1999 "Thong Song" or "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child) extols the virtues of a bountiful behind?

"A lot of poetic language in music and appreciation and odes to this part of the female body are coming from African-American artists," Thompson says. "Maybe part of it has to do with the fact that as more and more African Americans emerged into American popular culture, those kinds of styles began to shift."

All of a sudden, big isn't a bad thing. It's not fat, it's fab. And women of all races who used to hide an ample back side are proudly showing it off.

Turns out, having a bodacious backside may even be good for your health. Research published in the journal Cell Metabolism suggests the fat responsible for producing the pear shape flaunted by celebs such as Lopez, Beyonce and Kardashian may be active in protecting women from diseases by releasing certain hormones. Buttock and hip fat may protect women against type 2 diabetes, researchers from Harvard Medical School found.

'A Butt Never Goes Out Of Style'

So, what's life like when you have a bodacious booty?

"A butt never goes out of style," says Robin Lockett, 44, of Tampa, who gives Kardashian's curves a run for the money. "White America was looking at the boobs, but blacks were always about the butt."

Lockett, a property appraiser, admits her booty gets attention.

"A lot of times, men will compliment me on my shape," she says. "They won't come out and say it, but I know what part they're talking about."

Like so many trends, however, this one can have serious consequences. Where some might head to the gym or purchase a pair of padded panties in an effort to shape the derriere, others are seeking controversial and illegal shortcuts.

Two Tampa women nearly died last month after getting illegal silicone injections to enhance the size and shape of their buttocks. Both became seriously ill after they were injected with Hydrogel, a silicone substance and saline solution for cosmetic enhancements. The women, who received more than a dozen injections each, were hospitalized. One has kidney failure. The woman who injected them, Sharhonda Lindsay, 32, was charged with two counts of practicing medicine without a license.

Women in general have less muscle mass in their derriere, and more natural body fat, than men. That's why a woman's booty is shapelier, says Wilda Santiago, a certified fitness instructor at the YMCA Express.

"It used to be women wanted to work off their butts. Now, they want exercises that will make their booty look bigger," Santiago says. "But for the majority of women, unless it's in your genes, getting a Beyonce booty isn't going to happen."

HOW TO BOOST YOUR CABOOSE:
These days, ladies want back. But if you weren't naturally blessed with a bootylicious bottom - or you just want to improve on Mother Nature - there are a few options that can help boost your caboose.

Padded panties: It's like a padded bra for your fanny. Booty Pop, Bubbles and Better Bottom are just some of the brands designed to help you fill out that pencil skirt or those low-rise jeans. A word of caution: You don't want to wear these if you think someone might go in for a grope. They don't feel like the real thing.

Choose the right jeans: There are jeans specifically designed to give you more junk in the trunk. Pompis, a line of jeans from Colombia, have a built-in butt-lifting panel to push your tush up and out. Victoria's Secret has a pair with built-in pads. Another tip: Choose jeans with flap pockets and pockets that angle toward your butt for a fuller look. Pockets that are set higher up on the back and embroidered pockets will also give an illusion of fullness.

Get your butt to the gym: The best exercise for a bangin' booty is Pilates, says Wilda Santiago, a group fitness instructor and personal trainer at the YMCA Express. Pilates is great for isolating your glutes. She recommends doing Pilates three times a week. Traditional squats, walking lunges and elevated and reversed lunges also will improve your posterior; so will hiking and walking at an incline. Alternate exercises with cardio - and be consistent, Santiago says.

Butt implants (also known as gluteal augmentation): For this procedure, a doctor slices the butt cheeks (OUCH!) and inserts silicone implants. Recovery is painful and can take weeks. The other option: a Brazilian Butt Lift (or fat injections). It involves extracting fat from the abs, hips or thighs and transplanting it into the butt. Cost: around $6,000 to $13,000 for implants; $7,500 to $15,000 for a lift.

Reporter Cloe Cabrera can be reached at (813) 259-7656 or ccabrera@tampatrib.com. Go to to match the booty to the beauty.

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