The premise of a micro history on butts is absolutely amazing. Full stop. It's a conversation starter (yes, I do keep finding ways to drop facts I learned into conversations), a deep dive into pop culture, and a thoughtful analysis on the intersection of race and butts throughout history.

I learned SO much, and I find myself wanting to talk about it with other people. To me, that's a sign of a memorable and impactful narrative. 4.5⭐ for this cheeky delight.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was an interesting and well researched book about butts/ backsides - choose your own english nomenclature or one the many others from different cultures around the world. Whatever it's called it's often a neglected and unthought about area of one's own body particularly as its so difficult to see.
The author certainly sets about changing this by looking into the changing viewpoints throughout history; starting with its assistance in upright gait and ending with the joy of dancing and twerking and sadly quite consistently racial prejudice against black physique.
It was a book to dip in and out rather than reading in one go and I did feel maybe a little more levity in parts could've carried it along better
3 1/2 stars

Thank you to netgalley and avid reader for an advance copy of this book.

What a both timely + classic history and meditative reflection of the rear end. Butts was as well-researched as well-rounded — a fascinating study on racism, sexism and an ever-changing culture landscape.

I requested this because of the fun cover and I'm so glad I did. An examination of the cultural phenomenon that are female butts, this book was a riveting mix of history, science and pop culture. Definitely a must-read!

I have to say, I am not sure I have ever thought about butts quite so much consistently as when I was reading this book, but it definitely made me think a lot about them and how we relate to them.


Butts is a series of essays on the history of the human butt. You might laugh, but it actually was quite interesting to see the evolution of them and how they are used in pop culture now.


While this is not a book you probably ever thought about reading, if you're looking for something interesting and unique - definitely add it to your reading list.


I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

I did not know we needed a book on the history of the butt, but here we are, and it is quite informative! Heather Radke charts the history of the butt and the public's fascination with it, the changing preferences for size/shape, and finally about appropriation. She highlights Sarah Baartman, an African woman put on display throughout Europe because of her large backside. After her death, her body was dismembered and preserved, and it was used in an attempt to find hard evidence to justify racist conceptions of that time. Radke moves forward in time to describe fashions of different periods- in the late 1800's to early 1900's the bustle was quite popular. Curves were in fashion, which then led to the 1910's and 1920's where the "flapper" was in fashion where shapewear and curves were out. Jumping ahead, she highlights the continued emphasis on little to no curves in 1990's fashion, but transitions to more present time where curves are "in" again. She interviews someone who designs padding to create curvy figures for drag queens, and the intense attention some celebrities (e.g., JLo) had on their backsides. She ends by highlighting some white artists who have appropriated looks associated with artists of color. This ending section is very much in line with Lauren Michele Jackson's book White Negroes, which I highly recommend.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Fun book in the vein of Mary Roach.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want an educational read about the history behind the sexualization of butts and different body standards? Can you read educational material critically?

Pre-reading:
I don't know how you would see this book and not want to read it.

Thick of it:
So if there's a gene turned off that turns white fat to brown fat, why don’t we methylate it and turn it on as a simple fat loss treatment?

I don’t quite agree with that. Your preferences and your susceptibility to them still come from somewhere. They don’t exist in a vacuum. So like culture and society might influence your preferences for sure, but your reactions to them- what makes them so favorable to you-is still rooted in physiology.

Nothing like the propaganda of American history to leave out the fact that the Nazis’ models of eugenics programs were based off of eugenics going on in California.

I have never encountered anyone that has used the 🍑 to mean the labia.

The irony that epilepsy used to mean you would be sterilized against your will, and here I am with epilepsy and can’t get sterilized as I will.

My friend Tori and I love a bustle, and we want them to come back in style.

Ugh yes exactly. Read into everything. Nothing is without meaning.

I did not know that people didn’t wear underwear during the regency era.

Victorians not having separate bathrooms and having crotchless underwear is absolutely wild to me.

A show about Gordon Conway would be so fun.

The more I read about her, the more I’m sure a Gordon Conway dramatized show like Maisel or Peaky Blinders would do very well on tv.

Connotations of words being like epigenetics is a fascinating concept.

I didn’t know Kelly Clarkson said that. That’s really disappointing.

So in this book you’ll say Beyoncé isn’t a feminist, and Miley Cyrus is a racist, but you won’t address the hypocrisy of Meghan Trainor doing a body-positive video with a body morphing filter. Okay.

I think this book is focused way too much on women committing wrongs while trying to escape misogyny and the patriarchal society we exist in, when it should be criticizing the men who made these women need to escape that.

I don’t agree with this at all. I don’t think the idea of correct and incorrect bodies is unique to whiteness. It exists in every culture.

Bestie, I sympathize, but this is entirely on you. That shop girl could not give a shit what size jean you buy.

Again that’s entirely on you. They’re stacked by number. Obviously, the bigger number is going to be on the bottom. That’s not an insult. That’s organization so you can find the product you’re looking for.

That’s just the in-store inventory though. Shop online. Try stuff on at home where it’s more comfortable anyway. You literally just covered how they can’t make enough standard sizing to fit people. That a survey, that wasn’t even inclusive, said that you would need 27 different sizes which is completely unrealistic to make. You can’t stock all those in the store. There’s just physically not enough room. It doesn’t make financial sense. It’s completely on you that you’re interpreting that as an insult or as a bias against your body.

Isn’t that completely erasive and dismissive of all the fertility statues and like ancient Greek statues? It wasn’t just Victorians fetishizing black people that led to a fascination with butts.

No, no. Go to therapy. You feeling shame pulling on jeans is entirely on you.

I don’t agree that this book could be about anything.

I don’t know this kind of felt like a bummer to me of just people have never been happy with their bodies, and men have always been shit to women.

This is just untrue and seems very focused on an external locus of control. Which is very victim mindset forming and not super healthy.

Girl, if it bothers you that much, get a tailor. Also, don’t buy clothes that you don’t like-novel concept. Don’t buy clothes that you wish you fit. Buy clothes that actually fit.

Post-reading:
The back half of this book (no pun intended) was pretty disappointing. In the first half, the author discusses a biological basis for the development of butts and covers the Victorian era’s fetishization of black women and how fashion has shaped people’s perception of an ideal body type. Then it starts to lose the plot a bit and becomes racial commentary, but with such biased coverage. I don’t understand how you can do a chapter on twerking and cover Miley Cyrus, but not Normani or Lizzo. In addition to that, the last few chapters read as an attack on a handful of celebrities that is warranted in some cases, but lacks any real investigative depth to serve as a proper critique of their character or actions. To suggest that Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyoncé aren’t proper feminists is ludicrous to me. I also fundamentally don’t understand how you can do a book on people's perceptions of butts and not talk about the porn industry. As if the increased availability of such material hasn’t drastically impacted the culture. It seems as if the author was just desperate to execute a singular narrative that butts are inherently “black” and any engagement with them is rooted in appropriation and racism which is such a garbage argument. And if it didn’t fit that argument, then the book wasn’t going to cover it. There’s also a lot of the author’s own personal stigma against her body and the idea that that is everyone’s universal experience.

Who should read this:
Feminists
People interested in fashion
People interested in social commentary

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* Wordslut by Amanda Montell-feminist investigation of language

Radka’s cultural history of butts is as thorough as it is tender and profound. It is unjust of me to focus, instead, on its incredible cover; however, I am only human, and it is a delight.

I included this title in my summer/fall preview for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/nine-books-to-escape-with-for-fall/

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Tina Belcher would be proud of this one, it was a very fun (and tastefully educational) piece of NonFic, a first round pick for most libraries.

Ok I’ll level with you, I’m not a nonfiction-lover… or even a nonfiction-liker. I requested an eARC of this on impulsive request-spree at like 2am, only to be approved and go “why did I do that? It’s NONFICTION! 2am self, what is wrong with you???”

But(t) I decided to give 2am-me (and this book) a chance, which was the right choice because _Butts: A Backstory_ is the only nonfiction that I’ve ever liked, much less loved.

The worst thing about _Butts: A Backstory_ is that it ruined the entire genre of nonfiction (that I never even knew I liked to begin with), because now the bar is waaaaay too high. So, without much sadness, my days of 2am nonfiction request-sprees have come to an end. RIP… but(t) totally worth it.

This book has a lot of interesting information on the female butt, and the way we observe and perceive it as well as the way these things have changed over time. Looking at the physiology of the human butt compared to other animals, Sarah Baartman the "Hottentot Venus" of the late 1700's whose remains were until recently on display in a British museum, clothing, sexualization and fitness. Analyzing the racial and gender stereotypes that seem to have always influenced the way we look at butts throughout history and interjecting her personal experience and prejudices more and more the more as the book touched on more contemporary topics. While it started out promising the discussion got less and less interesting overall the farther into the book I got there were fascinating stories about the Buns of Steel videos, sizing in women's fashion, music lyrics and videos. I received a free e-ARC from the publisher.

Great, eye-catching cover! This was a really enthralling history of a taboo piece of anatomy not often talked about! I expected to learn a lot of racial history here, but I was not prepared for the tragic story of Saartje aka Sarah Baartman. It's disgusting what she suffered, and continued to endure even after death with her body parts preserved and observed like some kind of zoo animal. I liked that we got a background on the Victorian age and bustle, and why desirable body sizes have changed so much throughout history. I enjoyed that this book shone a light on cultural appropriation in regards to white people emulating black customs. Another issue the book brought up was mass-produced textiles, and how none of our clothes will ever fit right because there are no uniform bodies! The length of the book was just right, it wasn't too long and not boring at all. I think anyone interested in women's history and cultural mores will enjoy!

6/10

The idea for this book started as a joke. Unfortunately the writing of it lost the humor.

I love reading good history books of things seemingly innocuous. Books like Salt and Cod are compelling insights into things we take for granted, or things we rarely consider, respectively. In both instances, I was left with a new found respect for the importance of both salt and cod in human history. I will never look at a salted fish the same again in my life.

The human butt is a funny and compelling concept for a book. The opposable thumb, I’d understand. The spinal column, of course. Even the Nose seems obvious.

But the butt as a novel? Ok, I’m intrigued.

I would imagine there would be a mix of history and lightheartedness in the delivery. How can we deny such cultural phenomena as Beavis and Butthead, “the butt of a joke”, all the names and euphemisms for the body part, not to mention the multitude of instances where the butt has come to symbolize humor and sarcastic defamation.

This book, though, doesn’t address any of that. In fact, the book takes the butt very seriously. If you’re looking to smile while reading about the butt (no you can’t make me say “vertical smile”) this book isn’t for you.

The author apparently has a larger than normal posterior, to such size that she’s been shameful of it throughout her life. The book seems to be the process in which she’s trying to understand why she has felt shame. The result is a socio-cultural analysis of the derrière throughout history. The vast majority of the conversation relates to racial stereotypes and, well, flat out racism. It also delves into the media obsessions and how that defines cultural norms.

Even the chapter on Sir Mix-a-Lot and his breakout hit “Baby’s Got Back” is assessed with nary a bit of light-heartedness.

In all, I found the butt history to be interesting but slightly pedantic. I found myself wanting to finish but dreading how much of the book was left.

The author has created what is probably the best (and only?) historical analysis of the butt from a racial perspective, but that’s not the butt I was hoping to get. I sure wish she also addressed the lighter side of the bum - it would’ve made the book less like a school textbook and more like a best seller.

This was incredible! It's been so long since I've read non-fiction, and even longer since I've read non-fiction that wasn't about whales, and this was an incredible way to get back into it. Radke is a very skilled writer, and conceptualized this book in a way where it was never boring: she picked up little niches of information on butts, and it all came together in what seemed like a very well-written, very long New Yorker article. I'll acquiesce that isn't everyone's favorite genre, but it is mine, and even if it isn't yours, I would still recommend this, if you have any interest at all in pop culture, body image and its development over time, or cool microniches of history.

However! This won't take away from my rating, because these are very, very personal gripes, that I'd like to hear what other people might think. When race or body image is brought up in the context of marginalization, as it was in this book, it's always people at the very worst marginalized that are discussed. It worked in the context of this book, but I have issues with race often being separated into Black issues vs. white issues, where there is no discussion whatsoever about anybody else. Since Black history has irreparably shaped the history surrounding the butt, it made a lot of sense in this book, though, but I wish issues of race expanded past two races. The same applies to body size: why must we discuss how damaging modeling has been simplified through the lens of marginalized large bodies? What about how body image often leads to marginalized women only falling prey to diet culture myths? This one, I did have a slight issue regarding, because I felt like only big bodies were discussed, and sometimes, acknowledged, but this is a more personal gripe than the race one.

Regardless, read this book! Good stuff.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3⭐️
Okay how do you see a book about butts and not pick it up! How do you see this cover and not pick up this book! There has always been such a debate, especially over the last couple of years (aka the Kardashian era) about societal beauty standards and butts so it was interesting to read more in-depth about our relationship with our derriere. The female butt has always been sexualized and discussed, its either too big or to0 flat or too much cellulite. Societies obsessed with butts does need to be looked at.

While it was an enjoyable read, I probably wouldn’t pick it up to reread. It could get very tedious and I found myself zoning out at parts where there was just too much information! Yet it was so well written that I didn’t want to DNF it. I do think this is an important read so people are able to realize the shame and sexualization that has been placed upon us and to create more change and more positivity about our bodies.

I would also like to note the recent debate on Bookstagram/booktok about white authors writing about the perspective or life experience of POC, which happens in this book. The author is white and whenever you discuss butts, black women are always brought up. Radke has done a lot of research about beauty standards and butts throughout the years, so it is well backed up. But I think that this should be noted.

Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

Interesting book about butts and our relationship to them. Has a lot of interesting information and mostly s cohesive line through how the book moved from one subject to another.
I do feel like something was missing, and I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but possibly the fact that the book centers the black body a lot (unavoidable in talk about big butts in modern day), but is written by a white woman. There's some perspective that I think any non black woman would lack.

Overall very interesting, rate it 3.5 stars

This is a topic that I feel very strongly about. I could talk forever about mainstream beauty standards, seriously, forever. Mainstream beauty standards is something that has been upsetting me for years, especially during my teenage years. I could write an essay about it and when I think about it, I did serveral times. So, when I saw this book, I had to read it.

As the title states, this book is about the female butt, more precisely about the social and cultural history of the female butt. It's so interesting that something as common as our butts have such a large impact on our lives. The female butt has forever been objectified, sexualized, criticized and in a way we get an explanation to it in this book.

Radke has done a meticulous research from anatomy to fashion to beauty standards over time. She reflects and shows us how the butt has been presented in pop and fitness culture. I found that Radke was approaching the topic thoughtfully giving the readers the history about the female butt from it's origin and perception from the 19th century to today.

I like that Radke is consistent and to the point. This topic could have been told in a very teadious and lengthy way. I appreciate that Radke takes different aspects in consideration though sometimes there was to much information. I believe that some parts could have been cut out and the core content would still be there. I learned a lot about the history and her conclusions are in line with what I believe and have felt for a very long time.

While reading this book I found myself thinking about how important it is to understand the history so that we can change the future. The society we live in today gives me some hope of a better tomorrow but at the same time it's realizing as a parent that the change starts with talking to our kids about body positivity. We, people, create the meanings which can lead to shame, so we are also the once that can change the meanings.

This was a very thought-provoking and informative book that forces you to see something ordinary through completely new eyes. This is great material for book circles. A discussion about these topics can go on forever. Highly recommend it.

Just a reminder at the end. We want to be seen the way we feel on the inside. Spanx, or any other shaping item will never do that. It's all about loving you for who you are. When you feel good and love yourself it all shines through. There is only one of you, you are unique ande perfect with all your flaws. Own your body, don't let it own you. Carry it with pride.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy for a honest review in return.

This was such a fun read, especially on the beach. While it’s certainly a high level overview, I left reading this book with a desire to know more about so many different things.

The chapters are short, but packed with information that Radke has assembled in a clear and logical way, giving the reader an understanding of the butt in popular culture (primarily in the US though I’d love a follow up that examines the butt in other places.) While
some of the info isn’t exactly new, Radke has a great lens to parse this info, exploring several tangents that all lead back to the butt. I was especially moved by her conclusion, as it was very personal and it helped to address some of my own personal feelings that arose while reading the book.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.

There are so many names for the butt. Derriere, tush; the list goes on and on. And why is that? Why is there such an obsession with butts, female butts in particular? Radke explores that question in this book; going through history for the standards and changes behind the butt.

Starting with the reason we have butts (something I never really thought of but was definitely interesting from an evolutionary perspective), to how butts are portrayed in the media today, this book ran the whole gamut. Also explored is how the perception of the butt affects racial divides (it was used as a marker for those who promoted eugenics), changing or impossible averages imposed on the "perfect" body shape, and other political and sociological issues.

Not to say that the book is entirely heavy matter. Radke has a great sense of humor and this especially shines through the first few chapters that are more historical in nature (even going so far as to compare to peacocks). But the book does justice to what some would think is a light-hearted topic by exploring how our standards and requirements can harm others.

A fascinating read and not your typical history book.

Review by M. Reynard 2022