Decoder ring on the history of big butts

The Victorian bustle made way for the big butt obsession

The new Slate Decoder Ring podcast episode on the history of butts and bustles is pretty amazing. As always, what starts as an innocent question "why is having a big butt popular now when 30 years ago people tried to get rid of them?" then goes all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring horrific stories of slavery, with many ideas around it rooted in racism and colonialism, before veering into fashion and how white society adopted aspects and eventually embraced it.

It's a fascinating look at the long history of the butt, and worth a listen.