I mean not because they are fat, for example: my ex-girlfriend had the biggest ass this side of texas but her tummy was flat as a board. Is it a genetic thing? Does having a big bum help in childbirth? I’m just trying to find the genetic/evolution answer to why women have big arses.
If I posted this in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it.
Genetics.
Plenty of men have big bums. However most women are inclined to have a ‘pear’ figure & men an ‘apple’ (big gut)
There’s a tribe somewhere, in Africa or New Guinea, that I’ve seen on TV where their rear ends were all sticking out, like the shillohettes in cave painting. You could almost rest your drink on the “shelf” of your date’s rear end. But genetics is the only answer. What else is left? Environment?
Because society has somehow decided that a “small” bum is smaller than what 90% of women have.
Well, it’s self-esteem issues, you know. These women hook up with rotten boyfriends that just hang around the house doing nothing, because they believe they deserve… oh, you mean those kind of bums…
It is a genetic/evolutionary trait for women to have a “big bum” as you so gently put it. Women’s hips are wider than a man’s to facilitate childbirth. Women also have a higher body fat percentage (which is usually stored in the lower half of the body) which is used as stored energy for a pregnancy. The average pregnancy uses approximately 80,000 calories, and the body tries to store enough fat for “a rainy day” as one may put it (hence, when a woman’s body fat percentage reaches a certain low, she will also stop menstruating–her body’s protection from pregnancy when her body would not be necessarily able to handle it).
Yes there is a evolutionary advantage.
It takes 9 million calories to carry and nurse a baby. Women store these calories on the thighs and derriere. The calories stored in this area is a different type of fat than what is stored on the abdomen, and is much healthier. It also actually increases fertility. Studies show that men tend to prefer a 70% ratio of waist to hip, and that there is a marked increase in fertility just between a 60% and a 70% ratio.
In addition, a large pelvis is advantageous for carrying babies (more room, I think) If I wanted to get below a size 12 jean, I’d have to have bone shaved off my pelvis. 
Despite all this, some bozos in our culture insist on putting negative images on women whose body shape is desirable both to men and to evolution.
BTW, I can see why she’s your ex-girlfriend
JavaMaven - ROFL! And we seem to have a disagreement on stats, but either way, it’s a damn lot of calories, eh?
So is it 9 million or 80,000?
linkety linkety link?
Thank you all for the informative answers, even though the calorie part is confusing. I don’t really care if a woman has a large derriere, because i’m basically a boob man anyways.
Zyada– We do have a major disagreement on calorie stats. According to this site http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdbaby2.html, a normal pregnancy requires about an extra 300 calories a day to maintain the pregnancy. This works out to 84,000 calories (2,100 calories a week x 40 weeks). Considering that 3,500 calories equals one pound, that extra 84,000 calories works out to 24 pounds, which is on the low end of expected weight gain for a pregnancy.
I remember the 80,000 calorie comment from a program on pregnancy from Discovery Channel.
For 9 million calories, that works out to 2,571 pounds. This might just be me, but that’s one big baby.
For the scientific answer please refer to JavaMaven’s post.
For the true answer listen up.
It’s so we can inflict more damage when we are forced to stomp up and down and sit on some insensitive clod who has the nerve to bring up the size of our asses or for that matter any part of our anatomy unless we bring it up first and are desiring to discuss it.
I am a real woman and not the product of a diet and exercise regimen that is so rigorous and severe I have lost the ability to bear children. That means I have curvey hips and a round butt. I also have a small waist and an ample bosum. Big deal. My most important asset is above the shoulders.
Any man who looks for a woman who is no more than the sum of her body parts deserves what he gets.
Well, I got mine many years ago from a Newsweek article - not the best place to get scientific information.
OTOH, I think yours could be at least doubled to account for the appearance that 24 pounds is a low number, plus nursing.
BTW - has anyone else noticed the distinct sound of “WHOOSH”?
After three full-term pregnancies and some serious Jabba-the-Hut style feeding…I’m more inclined to go with the 9 million calorie figure.
I know that, compared to other animals, people have big front-brains (and their moms have to pass the bigger skulls), and have all their load-bearing structure in the lower limbs, so the females have a pelvic arch to suit the situation. A better question is how come guys get such fat guts & love handles. I mean, would it flop down to our butts too, if we didn’t cinch it up with our belts?
Re “Jabba-the-Hut style feeding” is this re feeding yourself or the kids feeding from you ?
The same reason a lot of men have beer bellies… cuz that’s just the way it is.
I’ve got a better one…
WHO CARES?
Women are wonderful… all of them. All women are beautiful, all you have to do is look for it… it may not be conventional beauty, it may not be classical beauty, it may be beauty of the soul, but it’s still there…
besides, I like a chic with an ass I can bite!
My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo.
I want to sink her with my pink torpedo.
…How could I leave this behind?
Dang, Snooooopy, I wasn’t going to post to this thread. But when Tap calls, I listen.
Well, I think the original question has already been answered. And since it’s gone that way, I suppose I’ll give my opinion too; I couldn’t care less. I don’t think Cosmo should tell women what they should look like, let alone tell me what I should look for in a woman. The wimmins is all beautiful to me.