{"id":21,"date":"2008-05-09T17:27:33","date_gmt":"2008-05-09T17:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/?p=21"},"modified":"2008-05-09T17:28:58","modified_gmt":"2008-05-09T17:28:58","slug":"the-bridge-thick-healthy-or-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/the-bridge-thick-healthy-or-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"THE BRIDGE: Thick, Healthy or Fat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Darryl James
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *I remember in the late 1980\u2019s when Black men first started using the word \u201cthick\u201d to define a woman with ample bottom and\/or breasts. <\/strong>We knew what we were describing and it was more about T & A than the result of too many Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Moo-Moos and Cow-Cows.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We also knew that \u201chealthy\u201d was a term reserved for women with a little meat on their bones. They really were considered healthy because they ate regular meals (that they often cooked at home) and had beautiful bountiful bodies to show for it. They were proportionate and anything but obese.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But I remember that the term \u201cthick\u201d was co-opted in the 1990\u2019s by overweight women who wanted to redefine America\u2019s view of women<\/strong> (particularly the ones on the heavy side), and change the way overweight women viewed themselves.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m all for people looking for ways to feel good about themselves, but if it is not based on reality and is actually inadvertently promoting and celebrating an unhealthy lifestyle, then it\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since the big girls dig brothers like me, some have been aggressive and when rebuffed (even though done politely), they often claim that I\u2019m not a \u201creal\u201d Black man. After all, \u201creal\u201d Black men like big girls.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not really.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cReal\u201d Black men like a variety of women, because \u201creal\u201d Black men come in a variety themselves.\u00a0 Some of us do like the big girls, but some of us like the ladies who have little body fat, except where it counts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most of us probably know at least one or two Black men who like the big girls.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, all across the nation, clubs specifically for big girls and the men who love them are popping up on the landscape.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So that means that being a big girl is a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wrong.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, here\u2019s where I get to use the phrase \u201cnever trust a big butt and a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While some big girls have co-opted the word \u201chealthy\u201d to denote a woman with largess, the redefinition of fat has gone too far.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s going too far to co-opt terms such as \u201chealthy\u201d to describe people who are, in reality, far from healthy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us remember that the \u201cthick\u201d and \u201chealthy\u201d women of yesteryear were not obese and more often had body fat in their thighs and buttocks, as opposed to the so-called \u201cthick\u201d and\/or \u201chealthy\u201d women of today who likely are carrying most of their body fat in the belly area.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, that is far, far from healthy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to a study conducted at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Hospital in Boston, women with waists thirty-five inches or larger have a 79% increased risk of premature death from heart disease and\/or cancer, when compared to women with twenty-eight inch waists or smaller.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The increased risk is broken down to twice the risk of death from heart disease and a 63% increased risk of cancer-related death. These risks are carried by women with larger waists even if their weight is otherwise within normal ranges.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So what does this ultimately mean?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It means that women who carry an abundance of belly fat are also carrying an abundance of health risks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It also means that while women cheer for Monique\u2019s efforts to give fat women a public relations makeover, the potential is for more women to die from fat-related diseases, while feeling better about their body image.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As a Black man who writes and speaks on relationship issues, I frequently hear the propaganda about how many Black men are \u201coppressing\u201d Black women into following some white American concept of beauty.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not only is such propaganda false because Black women who follow such concepts do so without much prompting, but, really, not many Black men are enamored with the super skinny body images of say, Ally McBeal or even the extreme thinness of the anorexic looking runway models.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Black women can continue to tell Black men what we like, but even white women who want us know that we still typically prefer the Black woman\u2019s traditional body type, which is why they are getting butt implants at record numbers in efforts to embrace the real universally accepted \u201cbest\u201d body type.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Black women are not the only ones who have difficulty with their body image.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Go to the gym on any given day and you will find women of all races on machines with names like \u201cButt Blaster,\u201d trying to plump up the desired nether region, inadvertently imitating and tacitly praising the Black woman\u2019s traditional physique.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even celebrating obesity as a part of our natural history is false, because women of African descent only found rampant obesity when they began to adopt European food preferences all over the world, and began adapting to hostile environments by making full use of food byproducts tossed out by slavemasters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, contrary to popular opinion, women are giving those twisted body images to each other more than men who watch the twisted body concepts emerge with confusion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If men accept the blame for women\u2019s obsessions with body image, then women would have to accept the blame for the same when found amongst men.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For example, how many young men turn to steroids in order to artificially build a physique that women are \u201coppressing\u201d them into pursuing? They scarf down steroids and some men even undergo surgery to implant artificial pectoral muscles and calf muscles and to permanently carve abdominal muscles to give the desired popular appearance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, we can look into America\u2019s own history to find that men with heft were once viewed as wealthy, because the additional girth of big men symbolized an ability to eat well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet, the focus is always on what women do to themselves to attract men and how oppressive men are to make them do those things.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Really, the bottom line should be that women (and men) pursue what is in their best interest for health above all else, blaming no one if they decide to alter their bodies for social reasons.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frankly, the risks of other behaviors are far too great.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As for the big girls who want to employ euphemisms to describe their obesity, the fact is that nearly half of all adults in America are carrying an unhealthy amount of belly fat, which is leading to serious diseases and decreasing life spans.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One theory offered up to explain belly fat\u2019s increased health risks is it\u2019s proximity to vital internal organs, including the heart and liver, as opposed to fat on the buttocks or thighs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, since we know that belly fat is increasing amongst adolescents, we would do well to avoid discussions of fault as well as propaganda designed to improve fat people\u2019s self-esteem, and focus on discussions designed to steer more people to weight loss, proper diet and healthy lifestyles.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otherwise, more \u201chealthy\u201d women and children will be heading to early graves, even though they may have better feelings about their body image.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They\u2019ll feel good about being fat just before they die.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Darryl James is an award-winning author who is now a filmmaker.\u00a0 He released his first mini-movie, \u201cCrack,\u201d and this year, will release his first full-length documentary.\u00a0 James\u2019 appears in the film \u201cWhat Black Men Think,\u201d an in-depth view of misrepresentations, myths and stereotypes about Black men. View previous installments of this column at <\/strong>www.bridgecolumn.com<\/strong><\/a>. Reach James at <\/strong>djames@theblackgendergap.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Darryl James \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *I remember in the late 1980\u2019s when Black men first started using the word \u201cthick\u201d to define a woman with ample bottom and\/or breasts. We knew what we were describing and it was more about T & A than the result of too many Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Moo-Moos and Cow-Cows. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}