We Need To Talk About 'Butt Selfie Queen' Jen Selter
LatestI tried to ignore this woman for as long as possible. I really did. The first time I heard the term “butt selfie” and later, “Queen of the Butt Selfie,” I knew nothing but frustration and eyerolls would come from me learning more about either of those things. So I drew my mind far, far away from this human and her butt selfies for as long as I’ve been able.
There is, of course, always a last straw. When I heard that Instagram celebrity Jen Selter was featured in an issue of Vanity Fair and being lauded as the first Instagram celebrity to score such a gig, I knew that the camel’s back had not only been broken, but completely demolished. Now, I honestly can’t say I’m too surprised by all this. It is, after all, Vanity Fair. Their main concern and focus is stated right there in the title. But the fact that this Jen Selter character is getting some sort of stamp of approval as Queen of the Asses is unacceptable and I’m here to set things straight.
Is my issue with all this obvious yet? Let’s start with a hint. In “Vanity Fair’s Big Butt Story Rejects People Of Color,” Carimah Townes writes:
The article’s incorporation of hashtags — including “belfies” (butt selfies) — perpetuates the idea that curves are new, trendy, covetable accessories, thereby dismissing women of color whose curves existed long before it was fashionable to have them, and whose bodies have been critiqued throughout history.
So to begin, body parts are not trends. Period. To act as if this woman has kicked off a “butt trend” is not only inane, but also beyond incorrect.
Inane because it’s not really a trend if its always been around, and incorrect because Jen Selter is not the first woman to be famous for having a great butt. That high honor lies with one, Jennifer Lopez. (Who really, if we’re being honest, benefited greatly from being able to cop some of Selena’s steez.) Now, this is not at all to suggest that ample bottoms were not appreciated before JLo burst on to the scene–but The Ass being admired on a major, popular scale? Much of that was her. It was kicked off, ironically, with a photo in Vanity Fair, who seems to have completely forgotten anything they published before the year 2000.
Let’s spell this out:
JENNIFER LOPEZ KICKED OFF THE POPULARIZATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF BIG ASSES IN THE MAINSTREAM–A TRAIT THAT HAS BEEN PRESENT AND CELEBRATED IN BLACK AND LATINO COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA SINCE BASICALLY FOREVER.
Erica Kennedy explained this beautifully in a 2010 article titled: “How J. Lo’s Ass Changed the World.” She wrote:
Black and Latino people always appreciated a healthy badonk but before J. Lo, white folks weren’t trying to get ass implants. Before J. Lo, mainstream media was not giving props to the junk in anyone’s trunk. Before J. Lo, there were not Eye Candy chicks making a living off their (faux) asses. Before J. Lo companies were not selling butt pads in one-stop booty shops.
This, my friends, is what truth looks like. This is the literary embodiment of YAAASSS.