Analysis of Healthy My Ass by Debra Dickerson

Recently, I was watching Flavor of Love on television. This is a show where twenty women compete for Flavor Flav's heart while they are all living together under one roof. While watching the show, I was struck by the appearance of one of the characters, Deelishis. She was a very beautiful woman with girly dimples, and dare I forget her gigantic behind. Watching this show made me wonder how black women get such big butts. Is it because of genetics or plastic surgery? No. At least not according to Debra Dickerson, that is not how black women get big butts. She says that "The best way to get a gargantuan ass of urban-lad-mag is to be obese" (par. 5). In her June 6, 2007 article "Healthy My Ass," which appeared in Salon, Debra Dickerson answers the question why black women are at a risk for obesity and other health issues. She says, that black women are at risk for obesity because of the "body type" preferred by black culture. In other words she is saying that many black women are at risk for obesity because they have a desire to have a big butt. Using Toulimn's terms to examine the word choice, tone and other elements that Dickerson uses to make her argument reveals that, while entertaining, Dickerson's overall message is not as effective as it could have been.

Dickerson's claim is that the body type preferred by black culture contributes to black women having a high risk for obesity and other health issues. She also asserts that black women should be alarmed. Dickerson's claim is a claim of fact. In this case, obesity exists because of the body type that many black women prefer. Dickerson qualifies her claim by using words such as "many", "some", and "fairly". These qualifiers help to limit the depth of her claim. For example, in her article she states that "Many blacks love big women, but having a rump the size of Buffie the Body can put women at risk for disease" (par.1). When she uses the word "many," she is demonstrating to the audience that she cannot predict with certainty that all blacks like big women.