I've Been Wondering

 about the current obsession with big backsides. Having been somewhat buttock challenged all my life and growing up in a time when a common question from my women friends was "Does my bum look big in this?" whenever I went clothes shopping with them - not something you'll ever hear from me - I'm amazed at the change. Now it's fashionable to have a big butt and you can have surgery where you get implants  - of either your own body fat  or silicone ones - to have the rear end of your dreams.

Of course, while you may end up with a bum that meets the current fad of bigger is better that you feel you've always missed out on, you may also end up with other problems, too. Fat harvested from somewhere else in your body is generally regarded as the best option and involves having liposuction of fat from areas where you don't want it which is then inserted into your derriere and is apparently less likely to cause rejection because it's your own body tissue. I'm told it can then build up a blood supply of its own as it heals - over about a year - which makes it function as any other part of your body although as with any surgery you could get an infection or blood clots and there's also something called a fat embolism. The overall result is supposed to appear more natural although apparently sometimes the fat can be reabsorbed leaving a less than ideal result and you may need top ups.

The other option is silicone implants which are permanent and like any surgery there's quite a list of things that potentially could go wrong including the wound incision splitting open - eeep! - as well as an assortment of other problems. There are the same surgery risks as with fat grafting as well and you may end up with a less aesthetic and natural result.

With either option the process is going to be painful and according to one source you can't sit or lie on your back for three weeks post operatively and full recovery is considerably longer. Then there's the cost which is enough to make your eyes water as both these procedures are regarded as cosmetic so the patient has to cover the bill.

That said I'm not suggesting for one moment that anyone who feels being under endowed in the lower regions is affecting their life, has the large amount of cash required to spare - one clinic I looked at charges from $10900 for fat transfer and from $17900 for silicone implants - and has weighed up the risks should not have such a procedure. Although I don't know anyone who has had these implants I do know women who have had breast implants when, for instance, their boobs have shrunk after having children and restoring their body in that way makes sense to me. Breasts are an important part of how we see ourselves as women after all so wanting to have that appearance is quite a driver. 

The problem I have with the current trend for augmenting your buttocks is that these arguments don't apply. Unless you've had some sort of catastrophic injury it's hard for me to imagine that there's a need to enlarge artificially what is already the largest muscle area in the body. The driving force seems to be wanting to remake your body into what is currently a fashionable shape. Given that is something likely to change given the volatility of fashion I have to wonder how wise the decision to permanently modify your physical body is. 

Drawing attention to your rear end is hardly new, though. Through out history we've admired different body shapes - for example by present standards many of the dancers of the Edwardian burlesque stage were overweight - but before now we haven't actually altered our bodies. We've used clothing to get the effect we wanted. Just think about the wide skirts of he Victorians which along with corsets accentuated the small waists they aspired to or the bum rolls of the 16th and 17th centuries which were used to accentuate the backside and again make the waist seem smaller while the bustles of Edwardian women padded out the backside combining with corsets that narrowed the waist. Then there were the chest flattening undergarments of the 1920s while later - in the 1950s - in came the opposite in the form of padded bras and elasticised undergarments used to force the body into the fashionable desired shape. 

I suspect part of the reason we're looking to other options like body modification is that our clothing now is much more revealing. I'm wearing jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt at the moment and even if I wanted to pad my rear there's really nowhere to hide the fact that that's what I'd be doing. As I said I am definitely light on in the butt area but I'm not tempted by bodily augmentation to deal with it. There seem to be too many unnecessary risks for me to go down that path. I'd rather take a more natural approach and spend time on some muscle toning. I know I won't end up the same as some of the fashionable "influencers" who were born with a very different body shape than me but to be honest I don't really want to and I'm content to stay as I am.