Fat Bottom Girls

Yesterday, I bought a cute retro-style gingham pattern dress from Ambiance in Noe Valley. The dress is slightly too tight and probably not tight in the right places, either.
Regardless of the fact that it makes me look a bit like a Desperate Housewife, circa 1964, I decided to wear the dress to work today.
Is it just me, or are the windows of retail shops extremely unflattering? I was shocked looking at my reflection this morning as I made my way through the financial district to my office.
My ass in this dress looks so big, that I actually look like I am leaning forward slightly and pushing my butt out as I walk.
I have always had a big ass. It's genetic. My mother has a big ass too, as does my grandmother and her mother before her. We are a family of fat bottom, tiny waisted gals.
This got me to thinking about a medical term called Big Butt Syndrome, or steatopygia if we want to be polite. This is a medical term that refers to the presence of excessive accumulation of fat on the buttocks and thighs, and is often accompanied by abnormally long labia.
Of course, most women do not have Big Butt Syndrome. Not even the fattest, curviest woman you know technically has Big Butt Syndrome.
Steatopygia is generally found in certain African tribes such as the Pygmies of Central Africa or the Khoisan Bushman of South East Africa and is thought to be a genetic adaptation to famine. It was thought that women who stored excessive fat in their lower bodies were probably more capable of surviving times of little food, in addition to being able to physically produce healthier offspring.
Being a member of modern Western culture which tells us that only our upper bodies are sexy when they abnormally large, it's hard to imagine that there was ever a time and a place where a woman with these types lower body features would ever have been considered the most attractive of the bunch.
Although, you still do see some evidence of fat= attractive in cultures where food is scarce, the importation of Western culture and it's beauty standards across the globe is quickly eradicating the love of bigger women and replacing it with it's own love of women who look a bit like plucked chickens to me. All breast and muscle with skinny legs.
Sadly in Victorian times, African women who had Steatopygia were often carted around America and Europe in freak shows to be gawked at by stupid white people in funny hats and corsets.
The most famous of these sideshow acts was a woman by the name of Saartjie Baartman, who was a Khoisan tribeswoman in the mid-1800's. She is most commonly referred to as the, "Hottentot Venus".

I can only imagine what Saartjie's life must have been like, beginning as a slave and ending as a curiosity. The stories of her being forced to gyrate her nude buttocks at crowds of people are painful and heartbreaking to read. I wonder if she ever elicited the kind of primitive awe in people that a living Venus should have elicited.
I hope she found dignity and power in her role as earth goddess, personified, and that she died with her head held high.
Here's to you, Saartjie. I'm proud to be a member of the tribe of fat bottom girls.