This body-positive model made an important point about the ideal butt

Over time, society’s idea of the “perfect butt” has changed dramatically. Starting as early as the ’90s, our culture’s obsession with a larger behind was illustrated with songs like Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” Even now, years later, we have women like Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj, who are lauded for their ample backsides. While there’s nothing wrong or bad about embracing a big bum, society isn’t only obsessed with the size of our rears – oftentimes a big butt is only seen as “sexy” when it’s paired with a tiny, tiny waist. And that’s problematic.

An example of this unrealistic body standard can be seen in Fergie’s latest music video for “M.I.L.F. $,” which featured Kim K having a super small waist paired with a larger behind. After being criticized for depicting this unnatural waist-to-butt ratio in the video, Kim revealed that she was actually wearing a corset to make her body look this way. In other words, even Kim wasn’t born with this body type.

Despite what society deems to be beautiful, body-positive role model Megan Jayne Crabbe is here to remind us that ALL butts are beautiful — and that regardless of the size of our butt, or waist, or hips, or thighs, our bodies should be celebrated.

“Can we talk about butts for a minute? Butts are a big deal. Or rather, big butts are a big deal,” wrote Megan on Instagram. “The super-slim-all-over body ideal has been replaced with another that’s even more impossible for most of us to achieve. The hourglass is more extreme than ever, and the super-slim ideal is still there, but only in the right places.”

Megan explained that she used to fantasize about removing all the flesh on her stomach, so she could take this tissue and put in on the body parts that would make her more desirable in society’s eyes. Crabbe wanted to do this so she could be more like the women who are featured in rap songs.

“I still find myself curving my spine to better emulate that hourglass,” revealed Megan, “[D]espite my time being determined to stay in the middle.”

In time, Crabbe learned that her body wasn’t made to support a large behind – no matter how many crash diets and squat challenges she tried. In fact, her back almost spasmed when she tried to take the photo on the left:

The pressure for women to have smaller waists and bigger behinds is incredibly damaging and can cause unhealthy habits. Though there’s certainly nothing wrong with having this figure, it isn’t always realistic for every woman out there. Even Megan struggled with the idea that she needs a small waist to go along with a plump derrière, before she realized that this simply isn’t what her body is meant to look like. 

“Big butts are gorgeous, but so are all the others!” asserted Megan.

“You are allowed to accept the shape that you are, whether that’s straight, curvy, rounded or flat,” the young woman concluded. “Let’s celebrate ourselves as we are, let’s embrace our bodies, and let’s write rap songs about our damn selves. Ones that are a bit more respectful to women, preferably.”

The moral of the story: All bodies and their parts – no matter how big or small – are beautiful.