More Junk in the Trunk

As a women of colour, I have been blessed with more weight around our hips, thighs and butts, however, up until recently this look was portrayed by the mainstream media as unsexy and asexual. Throughout history, the size and shape of the female posterior has been intrinsically linked to superiority, a nineteenth century fascination, which ranked the races by the size of their pelvis. The narrower the pelvis the more ‘Superior’ the subject was. Although we have come on leaps and bounds from this type of ludicrous pseudo scientific nonsense, women who have larger lower bodies very rarely featured on the covers of magazines, or occupied the leading roles on our TV sets. However with the explosion of sirens such as Beyonce and JLo, over the last decade and the concept of ‘bootilicious’ being formed, fuller figured women all over the world were proving that it was all about "the junk in the trunk!"

Over the last few years, we have been flaunting our curves and challenging western ideals of beauty. With the rise in buttock augmentation surgery amongst white women, we have successfully put an end to the ignorant view that sees our body shape as signalling inferiority or primitiveness, and we are now calling the shots on what was ‘hot’ and what was not! Yet a recent study conducted by UK scientist, shows that there may be more than aesthetic benefits to having healthy sized hips, bums and thighs. According to their research, carrying extra weight in these areas is actually good for your health, as it protects against heart and metabolic problems. For me, this is more than just a scientific finding, it confirms the thoughts that most women have had for years! The emaciated, look, that is all to often perpetuated through popular culture as "ideal" is in fact unhealthy. Researchers have found that having too little fat around the hips can lead to serious metabolic problems, as slower burning hip fat allows more of the hormone adiponectin, which protects the arteries and promotes better blood sugar control and fat burning.

For years men have sworn that a big bottom is good for their hearts, however it seems like science has proven that it works wonders for ours as well! So ladies, grab your low rise jeans, hit the road and show off your clean bill of health with pride!