Black women naturally have a higher bone and muscle mass to body weight ratio than white or Asian women. Regardless, black women have less fat as a percentage of body weight than white women after controlling for ethnic differences in age, body weight, and height.
Black Women With Big Bums
The fat in black women is located primarily on the upper body in comparison to for instance white women.
However, black girls have a heightened propensity to store fat in their backsides, hips, and thighs and a diminished tendency for fat to go to their midsection. This fat eventually accentuates, props up, and pushes out the lower body to make curves.
For some black women, fat will go to the belly only as a last resort after all other “reservoirs” have been exhausted.
Thus, muscle mass plays a significant role in why black girls have big butts.
What Factors Contribute to Big Butts in Black Girls?
One of the most favored female body parts is the butt. Additionally, it is among the most misunderstood.
It’s a common inference black women are genetically blessed and can thank their parents for what they’ve got. But that’s not always the case.
Apart from body composition, there are other factors why black women have big butts than other women of other races. Here are the factors that could have played a role in the shift of black female butts:
1. Genetics
The size of your butt is partially determined by genetics, so the answer to why black girls have big butts is because their ancestors did. This isn’t just about black women. Many white women also have large butts because of their genetic history.
There are a few theories as to why this might be, and they all revolve around your ancestors’ capacity to go for extended periods without eating or drinking. The predominant hypothesis is that having larger butts meant having more fat storage, which helped your ancestors survive during times of food scarcity.
Another theory has to do with the fact that a larger bottom gives women an advantage in childbirth since it would make it easier for women to push out babies with larger heads.
Anthropological evidence shows that hunter-gatherer societies often had wider hips and rounder backsides than agricultural communities, which ate more grains and vegetables.
2. Evolutionary Journey
Black girls frequently receive both praise and criticism for their curves. The stereotypes of curvy, large-butted, and thick-legged black women in the media have a long history. But those misconceptions have a scientific foundation in evolution and are not just motivated by bigotry.
The physical traits of the typical black woman—larger breasts, wider hips, and more muscular thighs, for example—are adaptations to climatic changes that have occurred throughout human history. Debra Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Brown University who specializes in the study of human evolution and sexual selection, affirms this.
The first humans who left Africa centuries ago were adapted to living in hot climates with limited resources. The more surface area on the body, the easier it is to expel heat.
In these climates, having certain body types like a big nose, lips, and butts helped black people survive because they could store energy more efficiently than others could.
This also explains why black people have longer arms and legs, and smaller torsos. Conversely, whites, especially northern whites, have large torsos, broader frames, and shorter limbs, making them more compact and blocky to conserve heat.
Humans encountered new food sources like grains and cooler temperatures as they migrated further north into Europe and Asia. These adaptations made it necessary for people to be smaller and have less muscle mass than before to survive on fewer calories per day.
There are, however, exceptions.
3. Higher Oestrogen Levels
In the body, estrogens are steroid hormones that promote the development and maintenance of female characteristics.
In addition to regulating the menstrual cycle, estrogen affects the reproductive tract, the urinary tract, the heart and blood vessels, bones, breasts, skin, hair, mucous membranes, pelvic muscles, and the brain.
According to a study carried out at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, women who were considered attractive had higher levels of estrogen in their urine than women who were judged unattractive.
It does appear that physical characteristics like big eyes and full lips are associated with higher levels of the female hormone and higher fertility.
Although not linked to only black girls, the more estrogen a woman has, the fuller her lips are, and the more fat she has on her cheeks, hips, and buttocks.
Nonetheless, according to studies, African-American women’s estrogen levels may be higher than those of Caucasian women.
Estrogen has more feminizing effects in addition to producing a typical female pattern of fat distribution in the breasts, buttocks, and thighs. I
To provide an energy source for potential pregnancy and lactation, women develop additional fat deposition in the pelvis, buttocks, thighs, and breasts during the reproductive years.
Are All Black Women Curvy?
In the case of body composition, you may be wondering if all black women have big bums or are curvy. Not all black women have large butts, just as not all white women have moderate or small butts. Some black women may be genetically predisposed to have body types similar to white, Caucasian, or Asian women.
Black girls, nevertheless, have smaller abdominal girths than white women of the same relative weight, according to research.
When measured, girth was smaller in the black women than in the white women (88.9 cm vs 92.2 cm). The ratio of the abdomen to midarm circumference was larger in white women than in black women (3.24 vs. 3.09). This study could be interpreted to indicate a less central fat pattern in black women, as argued above in this piece.
Are Big Butts Healthy?
The difference in body composition between black and white women has been associated with disease risk in women. The greater skeletal and muscle mass in black women compared to white women appears to protect them from osteoporosis.
Additionally, ethnicity has an impact on the link between fat distribution and cardiovascular disease. The University of Texas Health Science Center at the Houston School of Public Health conducted a study that found that, on average, black girls have more butt fat than women of other races.
Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) is the term used to describe this fat. It’s present around muscles and organs, and it is found beneath the skin.
The benefit of SAT is that it safeguards black women’s internal organs from harm in the event of a fall or other incidents that could fracture bones and harm internal organs like the spleen or kidneys.
By storing extra calories, big butts also assist black women in controlling their body temperature by reducing their daily calorie requirements.
Moreover, black girls with big butts can balance when they walk or run because they act as springs when they move their legs back and forth while walking or running.
Furthermore, a University of Oxford study found evidence that curvy women are smarter and more resilient to chronic illnesses. According to the findings, women with larger buttocks have lower cholesterol levels, fewer heart issues, and are less likely to develop diabetes.
What’s the History of Black Women with Bigger Butts?
Big butts on black women can be traced back to Africa. The most famous story of the presentation of a big black female butt was the case of Sarah ‘Saartjie’ Baartman, a.k.a. the Hottentot Venus.
The term “Hottenot Venus” comes from the name given by Europeans to the South African Khoi Khoi people, to which Sarah belonged. Venus is the Greek goddess of love, which alludes to the admiration and infatuation that men had for Hottentot Venus’ peculiarly large butt.
Sarah Baartman’s body was “esteemed,” but because of the way her genitalia were different from white women’s, she was considered to be a sexually primitive being.
Baartman had wide hips and very large buttocks, just like the other women in her tribe. Steatopygia, which is a medical term for having “protruded buttocks,” was the “diagnosis” given to Baartman.
In 1810, she was forcefully hauled from her hometown in South Africa during the early 1800s by Scottish doctor Alexander Dunlop and showman Hendrik Cesars to be put on display as a freak show in multiple exhibitions.
Baartman passed away from infections in her late 20s, roughly 5 years after she began exhibiting. Sarah Baartman’s genitalia was put on display in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, France, until 1971.
The Modern-Day Obsession With Big Butts
While Western women strive for a size 8 physique, many black girls find that a curvy figure is far more attractive. Having a big butt, a tiny waist, and a big butt is in vogue—think Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, or Kim Kardashian.
But what used to be considered a ‘predicament’ is now an obsession.
A big booty workout has become popular in the fitness world recently. Many young women of different races aspire to be curvy like musical icons–Beyonce, Cardi B, or Jennifer Lopez.
The movie industry in both Hollywood and Nollywood is not left out, including showbiz, television hosts, and the entertainment industry as a whole. Even some religious female leaders are not left out of the obsession with big butts.
The trend has had its victims. There have been a few cases of young women dying while trying to get silicone injections to enhance the shape of their backsides.
Men are not left out of the situation either. Black men tend to value curvier women in general.
While some argue white guys go for boobs and black guys go for butts, others say the assertion black men like big butts is stereotyping. History is replete with examples of this obsession with the bodies of black women.
Then again, is it just the case that some black men tend to want what the media and Hollywood dynamically paint as beautiful?
Frequently Asked Questions about why black girls have large butts
Q: What hormones are responsible for buttocks?
A: Estrogen has more feminizing effects in addition to producing a typical female pattern of fat distribution in the breasts, buttocks, and thighs. The breasts, belly, hips, thighs, and feminine curves are especially vulnerable to weight gain when there are high levels of estrogen in the body.
Q: Do squats make your butt bigger?
A: Regular squats may help you lose belly fat while simultaneously building muscle underneath. In the end, the butt could be bigger, smaller, or the same size as before. Still, regular squatting will only benefit your backside in the long run.
Q: How do I make my hips bigger?
A: Exercise can build hip muscles. You can do Side lunges, Curtsy lunges, Squats, Squats with sidekicks, Bulgarian split squats, Sumo walks, Clamshells, and Hip lifts among others.
Q: How can I make my butt smaller?
A: Try the following exercises to lose fat from the butt and tone the muscles in the thighs and glutes:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Running
- Step-climbing
- One-leg deadlift
- Lateral band walk
- Side-lying hip abduction
- High-intensity interval training