Rebuttal of Debra Dickerson's Article "Healthy My Ass."

In her June 6, 2007 article "Healthy, my ass," which appeared in Salon, Debra Dickerson makes many claims about black women and big butts. In her article she states that black women are at risk for obesity and other health problems because of the body type that they prefer. She also asserts that black women have big butts in order to satisfy men, amongst many other things. I completely disagree with Dickerson because the some of the claims and assertions that she makes are very untrue.

The first claim that Dickerson makes is that black women are at risk for obesity and other health risks because of the body type that they prefer. When Dickerson says "body type" she is referring to having a big butt. Having a large rear end is not equivalent to obesity any more than having big breasts equals obesity. A black woman can be healthy with large buttocks. I personally know a lot of black women who have big bottoms and are healthy. There is no great danger that results from having a big derrier. Dickerson has no right to say that black women who have big butts are at risk to be obese. She states no evidence in her article that links obesity to big butts. Relative to Dickerson's claim about larger butts and weak health, my aunt has one and is perfectly healthy. She has never had any health risks to this day. Dickerson's article should have focused on informing black women that they need to improve their diet and exercise, rather than criticizing their anatomy.