Surgeons are warning of the risks of DIY buttock enhancement after a year-old woman died in the US from silicone injections. Why do so many women now want to be big-bottomed girls? But tragically, for Claudia Aderotimi, it was the desire for a more shapely behind which ended in her death. The student, who lived in North London, had travelled to Philadelphia for silicone injections, but died after suffering chest pains and breathing trouble following the procedure. Police investigating her death believe she made contact with a supplier over the internet, exchanging text messages and phone calls before flying over. Even though the injection of liquid silicone for cosmetic purposes is banned in the US, there is a burgeoning black market in the substance. For many, the risks of the banned injections are worth taking, for the reward of a shapelier bottom. Several internet chatrooms discuss the injections freely. Just kidding, I just want enough to fill out my jeans," writes one poster. I get it done every six months
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The Baartman ideal
She was paraded around Europe, where spectators jeered at her large buttocks. Would her image represent a reviled past or a canvas of resilience? Were they proud to bear a similar buttocks or ashamed to share a similar stature? Showmen exhibited her throughout Europe, where, in an embarrassing and dehumanizing spectacle, she was forced to sing and dance before crowds of white onlookers. Often naked in these exhibitions, Baartman was sometimes suspended in a cage on stage while being poked, prodded and groped. Her body was characterized as grotesque, lascivious and obscene because of her protruding buttocks, which was due to a condition called steatopygia that occurs naturally among people in arid parts of southern Africa. Both became symbolic markers of racial difference, and many other women from this part of Africa were trafficked to Europe for white entertainment. Nonetheless, there is a strong legacy of the curvaceous ideal , more so than in other races.
Hips and history
Steatopygia is the state of having substantial levels of tissue on the buttocks and thighs. This build is not confined to the gluteal regions, but extends to the outside and front of the thighs , and tapers to the knee producing a curvaceous figure. Steatopygia, a genetic characteristic leading to increased accumulation of adipose tissue in the buttock region, is most notably but not solely found among the Khoisan of Southern Africa. It has also been observed among the Pygmies of Central Africa and also the Andamanese people , such as the Onge tribe in the Andaman Islands. This genetic characteristic is prevalent among women but also occurs to a lesser degree in men. Steatopygia would seem to have been a characteristic of a population which once extended from the Gulf of Aden to the Cape of Good Hope, from which peoples the Khoisan and Pygmies may be remnants. It has been suggested that this feature was once more widespread. Paleolithic Venus figurines , sometimes referred to as "Steatopygian Venus" figures, discovered from Europe to Asia presenting a remarkable development of the thighs, and even the prolongation of the labia minora , have been used to support this theory. Whether these were intended to be lifelike, exaggeratory, or idealistic is unclear.
Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring! After her death at age 26, her genitalia and buttocks were removed and placed in a French museum until Needless to say, the story stuck with me, yet it was not only because it represented one of the most extreme cases of European racism towards those of African descent. When I stumbled upon the story of Sarah Baartman, I wondered if her body was an early example of this supposed black phenotype. Although Baartman was paraded around Europe as a freak show, South Africans lauded her steatopygia as a sign of beauty and femininity.