Gossip columnists used to only gab about whether or not Hollywood's it
girls have gotten breast implants or nose jobs. Plastic surgery is
still a hot topic, but the focus is often on another part of a woman's
anatomy. Everyone's obsessed with having a bigger butt these days, and
many are willing to go to great lengths to achieve the look they want.
Although having a curvy lower half is certainly not a novel concept
(many black women have been holding it down forever), a handful of sexy
stars have made the look trendy and desirable.
Whether it's Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé or rap newcomer
Nicki Minaj, celebrities with notable posteriors are and causing
regular folks to head to the nearest plastic surgeon.
Dr. Anthony Griffin, a Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon who invented
the Brazilian Butt Lifft, during which fat from the patient's body is
injected into the buttocks to make it fuller, says that what used to be
a hush-hush procedure is now both popular and commonplace -- especially
among people of color.
"Initially, it was funny, because I thought it was mostly going to be
Caucasians that wanted this procedure," he told Black Voices. "But,
ironically, mostly people of color wanted it, because they're like,
"Hey, look -- I'm supposed to have a butt.'"
The rate has slowed a bit due to the economy, but for a while Griffin
said he was doing a few procedures a week. Since 2000, he said, buttock
procedures have been up 162 percent at his clinic.
"The problem is that a lot of things that we do follow fashion," he
said. "Fashion is more denim and tight-fitting jeans, low-rise jeans --
[larger butts are] what people want because, ultimately, most people
want to be able to fit in their clothes and look good in their bathing
suits. That's whats driving it."
With the increased popularity of the procedure, there has also been an
increase in dangerous behavior from both patients and medical
professionals. Griffin said he recently treated a woman who got
infected after having hydrogel injected into her buttocks by a doctor
in South America. And just last month, six women were hospitalized
after unlicensed providers gave them butt-enhancement injections using
the same silicone used to caulk bathtubs.
Silicone buttock implants, Griffin said, are very painful, prone to
slipping out of place and generally less desirable than a natural fat
injection. They are also more noticeable. With a butt lift, a regular
person -- or a big-name celebrity -- might just look a little better in
their clothes, he said.
Regardless of what kind of procedure you choose or whether you decide
to go through life with the flat (or fat) butt that your mama gave you,
the influx of interest in butt enhancement is a sign of the times. A
body type that women of African descent used to receive scorn or
ridicule for is now highly sought after and coveted.
"I think what it is is that as people of color, we have always been
ridiculed for our features, " Griffin said, "and it's ironic that now
everyone wants to have those features."
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