I like big butts, and I cannot lie.

And nowadays, big butts are big business – there are gym classes aimed at plumping the posterior and plastic surgery to boost the buns.

Since Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 release of “Baby Got Back,” an ode to the glory of the female gluteus maximus, folks throughout the world, especially my fellow ethnic minorities, have used the song as one of the many ways to trumpet a desire to see more curves.

The song has its obvious sexual references, but, in large, it was, and remains, a sociopolitical statement, challenging mainstream views on beauty. Mix-a-Lot wasn’t the first to talk about the posterior with such reverence. Check out Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls,” L.L. Cool J’s “Big Ole Butt,” EU’s “Da Butt” and Parliament’s “Rumpofsteelskin,” which actually is about the male booty.

Through the years, numerous songs have added to the argument: “Bootylicious,” “Honkytonk Badonkadonk,” “Culo,” “My Humps,” “Booty,” “Anaconda” and “All About That Bass.”

The last three have brought seemingly bodacious posteriors back to the mainstream.

And I love almost all of it.

The truth about the big butt craze, though, is probably about to get me in trouble.

We’re taking this too far. There is a difference between having curves and being unhealthy. There is a difference between what Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea are talking about and many of the women who rush the dance floor when “Anaconda” drops.

If we can’t dance through an entire song that glorifies our butts, we might not be ready for our own jelly.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the “I’m big-boned” phrase. Let’s stop that. It’s a sizable misnomer.

There aren’t many human skeletons that weigh a lot. I’ve looked at more than 36 DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scans, which give a highly accurate account of body composition, providing numbers for fat and fat-free mass throughout the body. Of those, the lightest skeletal frame weighed 5.67 pounds. The heaviest was 9.48 pounds – on a male who weighed 269 pounds.

I’m sure there are heavier skeletons out there. A 7-foot-2, 340-pound person most likely will have bigger bones because, well, that person is taller and has longer limbs. But it would be ludicrous to think that a person is overweight because of bone size.

It’s not my intention to make anyone mad. There are beautiful overweight and underweight folks; my focus is on health, and both are equally unhealthy. That’s simple human physiology.

We absolutely can have too much fat for the body to operate efficiently. Likewise, we can have too little fat for the body to run well.

What we look like is rarely a reflection of who we are. Somebody telling us we’re out of shape should not be taken as an attack on our being.

But the truth is, some of us have too much junk in the trunk and need to address it sooner than later.

–

Bryant is an author and lecturer 
who holds several national training certifications. Email him at 
movingthefuture@gmail.com.

Kelly Brabants, foreground right, leads her “Booty by Brabants” class at The Club by George Foreman III gym in Boston. Those seeking a natural butt-booster have been heading to the gym. The class fits in 120 squats in 45 minutes. (Associated Press)

Milo Bryant – Moving the Future

Kelly Brabants leads her Booty by Brabants class at the Club by George Foreman III gym in Boston. The class, started by Brabants a year ago, fits in 120 squats in 45 minutes. (AP file)