#IHaveIssues: Asses are not new

photo via VanityFair.com

So I was online reading random headlines as I always do when I start my day when one in particular on EURweb's site caught my eye.

A story titled "Sista’s Say ‘Surely You Jest’: Having Rear Curvature and Dark Skin is Only ‘Beautiful’ On A White Girl?"  and used a photo of new social media sensation Jen Seter

and basically goes into this whole rant about the Vanity Fair article which praised her "assets".

Now if you're not up-to-date on the social media starlette, Jen Selter came to Instagram fame after she became known for posting belfies (butt selfies) of her in the gym, on the subway or anywhere else her camera angle could get a perfect rear-end shot.

Now before you go bashing her for her choice in photos, Selter wasn't seeking fame based on her "sex appeal" but insisted that her entire motive was "to encourge young women to workout". Selter, who hopes to be the next Jilian Michaels, has since earned sponsorship, free gear and of course new followers. 

I'm sure your looking like that's cool and all. The girl is trying to get her money who can hate on that? Honestly, I am inspired by her motivation. She is showing young women that fitness is still important. Even though some may just be doing it for "the perfect butt", at least now they are actually trying to work for it and not just get implants.

But the issue here is not Selter at all. My REAL issue is with both EURweb and Vanity Fair.
If you didn't see the Vanity Fair article, Fair used language like

Selter’s derrière extraordinaire has made her a member of a rapidly rising subset of Instagram stars: young women unafraid to share their deeply bronzed, sculpted figures in neon spandex, who want to share their #fitsperation thanks to #cleaneating, #determination, #cardio, and so much more #hardwork.

We all know having ass is not new. REAL women who eat whether your black, Hispanic, Asian, and all the other colors of the rainbow have always had curves with junk in the trunk. So why is it that a beautiful young Jewish female who decides to motivate people about fitness is being single out in an entire Vanity Fair article?

I personally can careless about race. I honestly think its overrated. People are people. I think Jennifer Lopez's ass is great. But I also think radio personality Free (known for hosting a few shows on BET) has a nice ass too. So if Vanity Fair wanted to do a story on asses, why not have all shades of the rainbow be displayed in the article. Sports Illustrated did a pretty good job at doing that for there swimsuit article don't you think?

To use language toward Selter like "derriere extraordinaire" is overdoing it. It's clear this is the 'Year of the Ass' when it comes to mainstream marketing. But being a women myself, we've always had ass or at least women who love themselves (and good food) have.

This is definitely a topic I would love to see both men and women openly discuss. Because regardless of the color of the ass and think the most important message we should be pushing is health. So I am actually proud that Vanity Fair highlighted Jen Selter. Yeah she maybe white but SO THE FUCK WHAT. She is actually one human being in the world who is actually inspiring people to treat themselves well and to be healthy.

When people like her shine, it can be intimidating. Especially when you have a nice ass like hers. Whelp, guess I'll go head to the gym now and break the stereotype that 'black women don't workout cause we don't want to mess up our weave/perm'.
Please!
I'm natural by the way.

 Here's a little taste of a workout with Jen Selter:

Check out more on Jen Selter here:
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