Women Looking For ‘Super Ikebe’ Generating Big Bucks In US, Says Associated Press
Decades after
Nigeria’s Wale Adenuga made ‘Ikebe Super’, a household magazine in the
country, made a movie and television shows after his celebration of the
bountiful female derriere—and made himself a multi-millionaire in the
process—businesses in the United States are minting money from renewed
interest in big bottoms, the Associated Press said today in a story by
Business Writer Joseph Pisani.
“The U.S. booty business is getting a big bump,” the story says,
citing gym classes that promise a plump posterior, surgery to pump fat
into the buttocks, and companies growing rich by making padded panties.Here's how AssociatedPress (AP) is reporting it:
NEW YORK (AP)
-- Gym classes that promise a plump posterior are in high demand. A
surgery that pumps fat into the buttocks is gaining popularity. And
padded panties that give the appearance of a rounder rump are selling
out.
The U.S. booty business is getting a big
bump. Companies are cashing in on growing demand from women
seeking the
more curvaceous figures of their favorite stars, who flaunt their fuller
rear ends.
Nicki Minaj raps about her "big
fat" butt in "Anaconda." Reality-star Kim Kardashian posts photos of
hers on Instagram. And in the music video for "Booty," Jennifer Lopez
and Iggy Azalea spend four minutes rubbing their curvy bottoms together.
At one point, they slap each other on the booty.
As
a result of the pop culture moment the butt is having, sales for Booty
Pop, which hawks $22 foam padded panties on its website, are up 47
percent in the last six months from the same period last year.
Susan
Bloomstone, Booty Pop's co-founder, says customers have asked for
larger sizes. So, the Boston-based company will begin selling pads that
are 25 percent larger. "People just want more booty," she says.
Feel
Foxy, another maker of padded panties, says 2014 has been its best year
since launching nearly a decade ago. Sales are up 40 percent from a
year ago, but the company declined to give sales figures.
Deborah
Santiago squeezed into a $40 Feel Foxy one-piece for her 30th birthday.
The shapewear flattened Santiago's waist and boosted her back side. A
flat butt can ruin an outfit, says the New York stay-at-home mother of
two. Lopez is her butt idol.
"I always wanted a big butt," Santiago says.
To
be sure, the desire for big butts isn't new. Large booties long have
been preferable in Latino and black communities, says Dr. Dionne
Stephens, an associate psychology professor at Florida International
University.
But recently, the desire for a
bigger bottom became more mainstream, in large part due to pop culture
influences. "When people see things repeated on TV more and more, it
becomes normalized," Stephens says.
The
interest in larger hind parts seems to have started when Kardashian
began appearing in a reality TV show "Keeping up with the Kardashians"
seven years ago.
In a 2011 episode, she had an
X-ray to prove she didn't have butt implants. Kardashian still
frequently posts shots of her backside to her 21 million Instagram
followers.
But the desire for big buns has
intensified. This summer, the music video for "Anaconda" that showed
Minaj in a pink thong was viewed 19.6 million times within 24 hours of
its release - a record for music video site Vevo. It has racked up
nearly 300 million views.
Some businesses that specialize in butts say pop culture has had a direct impact on their bottom line.
A
Brazilian butt lift, in which fat is sucked from a patient's stomach,
love handles or back and put into their buttocks and hips, is
increasingly popular in the U.S. This type of surgery, along with
buttock implants, was the fastest-growing plastic surgery last year,
with more than 11,000 procedures, up 58 percent from 2012, according to
the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
Dr.
Matthew Schulman, who performs the procedure in New York, says this
year has been busier than last. Schulman, who charges $10,000 to $13,000
for the three-hour surgery, does six to eight Brazilian butt lifts
weekly, up about 25 percent from a year ago. He says when he asks
patients which celebrity butt they want, the top names are Kardashian,
Minaj and Lopez.
The downside is that women
desperate for cheap options have risked their lives, going to phony
doctors that inject silicone, and even bathroom caulk, into their
buttocks. Deaths have been reported in Miami, New York, Las Vegas and
Jackson, Mississippi.
Another problem is
doctors performing surgeries that don't have experience: Schulman says
about 20 percent of his patients to him so he can fix lumps, bumps and
uneven butt cheeks done by unskilled doctors.
Not everyone is trying surgery, though.
DailyBurn,
which streams workout videos, says views for its "Butt, Hips and
Thighs" video doubled in January and have remained popular.
At
a gym in Boston, there's a waitlist for a $30 class that features 120
squats in 45 minutes. The class, Booty by Brabants, was started by Kelly
Brabants a year ago. Brabants starts most classes with Lopez's "Booty"
song.
"Every girl now wants a booty," Brabants said.
