Butts: a backstory
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Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language:
English
Description
A fascinating journey into the scientific and cultural history of the female butt, for fans of Mary Roach and Leslie Jamison.
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 vivid 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.
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 vivid 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.
More Details
ISBN:
9781982135485
9781797147284
9781797147284
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 7187dddf-5c68-f31e-4892-dd8e98655bde |
---|---|
Grouping Title | butts a backstory |
Grouping Author | heather radke |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-04-25 04:39:12AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-25 01:21:07AM |
Solr Fields
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0
author
Radke, Heather
author_display
Radke, Heather
available_at_ashland
Ashland Vaughn Public Library
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Ashland Adult Nonfiction
Online OverDrive Collection
Online OverDrive Collection
display_description
"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."--
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Ashland Vaughn Public Library Online
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Ashland Vaughn Public Library
Online OverDrive Collection
Online OverDrive Collection
primary_isbn
9781982135485
publishDate
2022
publisher
Avid Reader Press
Simon & Schuster Audio
Simon & Schuster Audio
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Buttocks
Buttocks -- History
Instructional and educational works
Buttocks -- History
Instructional and educational works
title_display
Butts : a backstory
title_full
Butts : a backstory / Heather Radke
Butts A Backstory
Butts A Backstory
title_short
Butts
title_sub
a backstory
topic_facet
Biography & Autobiography
Buttocks
History
Nonfiction
Sociology
Women's Studies
Buttocks
History
Nonfiction
Sociology
Women's Studies
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