From ancient art to modern Instagram, curvy buttocks have long fascinated humanity, a trend amplified today by celebrities like Kim Kardashian. But what drives this obsession, and what does science reveal about its appeal? In this article, we’ll explore the biology, psychology, and cultural shifts behind this phenomenon, plus the risks of chasing it surgically. Butt surgeries are becoming more common in the global entertainment business. The desire to have the curviest, sexiest, and most gorgeous butts has increased the number of plastic operations such as implants, buttocks augmentation, and Brazilian butt lifts (BBL). A key draw for female celebrities’ fan bases, mainly men, has been their appearance as much as their talent. The most talked about aspects of female entertainers are their beauty, breasts, and butts.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is well-known for Keeping Up With The Kardashians (KUWTK), her multiple fashion and cosmetic enterprises, and her fantastic physique. Kim Kardashian’s famous curves have sparked debate about whether they’re natural or enhanced. The prominent celebrity frequently faces rumors that her butt is surgically improved.
Natural or Not? The Controversy
The public usually compares before and after photos of Kim. She denied any evidence of having undergone surgery. However, she acknowledged taking some butt injections for psoriasis. Whether Kim Kardashian’s buttocks are natural and based on heredity has sparked several debates over the years. Kim has consistently stated on Keeping Up With The Kardashians that her butts are natural. In 2011 on an episode of KUWTK, Kim further subjected herself to an X-ray to prove her butts are not surgically enhanced. A 2011 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians showed her X-ray, which Dr. David Feldmar, a radiologist on the show, confirmed showed no implants. However, plastic surgeons like Dr. Anthony Youn suggest fat grafting—a procedure undetectable by X-ray—could still be in play, highlighting how modern techniques blur the line between natural and enhanced.
While this is still hotly debated to date, there is no doubting that she has a lovely butt that has drawn many men to her. Since prehistoric times, men have been obsessed with shapely buttocks. Kim Kardashian has the Instagram likes to back it up. One could argue that butts have surpassed breasts as the most inspected body area.
The scant quantitative study makes it difficult to provide a definitive response. But, without a doubt, men’s lustful gaze has been drawn to the female butts since the time of the Greeks and ancient Chinese dynasties. A 2023 review by Arian et al. explored ethnic preferences for gluteal aesthetics, finding that African Americans prefer larger buttocks than Caucasians, while Hispanics favor greater volume in the lateral view, and Asians tend toward smaller to moderate, curvy shapes. These differences, the study suggests, reflect cultural norms and evolutionary cues like fertility and health. According to sexologist Alfred Kinsey, the buttocks are a main sexual presentation point in humans. Breast fetishism, according to certain anthropologists and sociobiologists, stems from the breasts’ resemblance to butts but instead provides sexual desire for the body from the front. A 2015 study by Lewis et al. in Evolution and Human Behavior used 3D models to show that a lumbar curvature of about 45.5° enhancing buttock prominence maximizes male attraction, likely due to its evolutionary link to spinal health and pregnancy support. Eye-tracking research from the University of Texas (2017) further showed men fixate 30% longer on buttocks than breasts when viewing female silhouettes, suggesting a primal pull.
Are Kim’s butts an industry standard?
The dispute around Kim’s buttocks is among the most talked about in celebrity news. The KWUTK star has acquired a significant social media following and won the hearts of many followers. She has also appealed to the good side of men. Her ostensibly “natural” butts are not only charming to admirers but have also set an industry standard for more than a decade. Kim has been admired and despised for her assets. But who cares? Because she has been raking in the mullah with them.
Her 2014 Paper magazine cover, shot by Jean-Paul Goude, went viral, cementing her butt as a cultural icon. This shift reflects a broader trend: Google Trends data shows searches for ‘Brazilian butt lift’ spiked 150% from 2014 to 2019, driven by celebrity influence. But does this standard hold up globally? In Japan, for instance, slimmer figures dominate beauty ideals, per a 2020 Nippon survey. Although they did not physically “break it,” they did break through, resulting in a deluge of publicity and criticism. And what was the topic? It was on the cover of Paper, a naked picture of Kim’s buttocks.
Of course, the magazine expected it to be some controversy from the start. Having Kim Kardashian in any form, let alone naked, in Paper was bound to spark intrigue. Print, radio, and television grabbed the photographs and ran with the story, pretending to shock and awe. Tweets, likes, shares, comments, Instagram posts, and memes poured out several butt-inspired criticisms that both thrilled and angered.
Over the years, Kim Kardashian has had her picture taken by numerous magazines. W did a massive shoot; Vogue published exclusive photographs of Kim and Kanye’s wedding; and British GQ published them bare-assed on their cover – none of which went viral like the 2014 Paper cover, which endeared Kim to several followers. Jean-Paul Goude, a pop culture phenomenon in his own right, with work in the Louvre and other iconic photos to his credit, was able to make fans stare as if for the first time at one of the world’s most photographed women. However, this would not have sufficed. For decades Paper has recognized emerging talent in fashion, entertainment, and the arts. With the advent of the internet, they found it harder to break above the noise.
However, with Kim, everything changed for the better. As a result, a cover featuring Kardashian, already one of the world’s most famous women, was intended to be the first salvo in an assault on the internet. The original goal was to publish online in tandem with the magazine’s launch. But viewing photographs of Kim’s attractive naked buttocks changed everything. They were far too outlandish. Fearing a leak, Paper switched gears and issued the covers first. With the publication came the “internet break” Kim. As such, with the fierce competition in the industry, a rise in plastic surgery options became the norm. In a bid to compete for the attention gotten by the Kardashian star, female entertainers got the idea of various options to enhance their butts.
Natural or surgically enhanced butts? What you should know
People are becoming increasingly interested in Kim’s appearance, particularly her beautiful butts. While natural and genetic butts are fine, research has revealed several difficulties with artificial inducements, particularly plastic reconstructions of the buttocks. For those considering enhancement, experts recommend consulting board-certified surgeons and reviewing the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ safety checklist, which stresses avoiding unlicensed practitioners—a key factor in 90% of BBL-related deaths (ASPS, 2022). Butts implants have one purpose: to improve the form of the butts. These can come as a way of increasing the fullness, roundness, or projection of the butts. Also, having desirable butts can improve the balance of a person’s body and enhance their self-image and confidence.
However, there are a few alternative techniques to accomplishing this goal. Fat grafting and buttock implants are the two main types of procedures. Fat transplantation to the gluteal region, sometimes known as the “Brazilian butt lift,” is the fastest-growing plastic surgical procedure in its specialty, with rates more than doubling in the last five years. Butts have evolved as the erogenous zone of the new millennium, aided by celebrity icons appearing on television and social media, such as Kim. This butt frenzy is likely owing to primordial communication that indicates that a female with higher fat deposits in this location is young, fertile, and in a high estrous condition.
A 2015 research from Mexico raised the first alarm about gluteal fat augmentation. The researchers demonstrated abrupt intraoperative death from pulmonary fat emboli. Fat grafting procedures showed 14 intraoperative deaths during lipo injection and 22 perioperative deaths. Fat stuck in the pulmonary arteries, right ventricle, and right atrium, all due to malformations and lacerations in the superior and inferior gluteal veins, was discovered during autopsies. The gluteal veins are 25- to 30-mm iliac vessel branches connected to the vena cava and the cardiopulmonary circuit.
With Kim Kardashian sprouting “natural” butts, owing to genetics, she has set an industry standard. Her image on the cover of Paper has created a desire that even other female entertainers with desirable butts strive to meet. The desire is to have a “Kim-type butt.” Applying various surgical means to achieve this is becoming an increasing issue. This surgery, often known as buttock or gluteal augmentation, has gained high popularity. According to one estimate from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, buttock augmentation surgery increased by 252 percent between 2000 and 2015.
Dangers of butt surgeries
Any surgery entails the danger of bleeding, infection, and anesthetic response. A potential for butt asymmetry, numbness, other alterations in feeling, or the necessity for modification with aesthetic treatments always exists with plastic operations to enhance the butt view. Dr. Maria Lopez, a Miami-based plastic surgeon, notes, “The BBL’s 1-in-3,000 fatality rate—higher than any other cosmetic procedure—stems from fat entering the bloodstream. Patients must weigh this against temporary trends.” The Brazilian butt lift is especially dangerous, with the most fatality rate of any cosmetic surgery. The highest risk is that a particle of injected fat would travel into the lung and cause a pulmonary embolism, a blockage in one of the arteries transporting blood to the lungs. A ding in the buttocks following surgery could be an uncomfortable sight. With the increased use of silicone implants, a danger of disintegration exists.
Kim experienced denting in her buttocks after receiving a butt injection for psoriasis. The KUWTK star has also undergone a period of buttock reduction, which she attributes to natural forces. Uncontrolled exercises are likewise not advised for butt enlargement due to the inherent hazards. A desire to achieve specific body standards is usually not worth the surgical complications.
Related Reading:
Big Butt: The Trend, Benefits and Lower Back Pain
Study: Men Who Had Facial Plastic Surgery Considered More Attractive and Trustworthy
New Incision Free Surgical Method Could Eliminate Scars from Plastic Surgery
Final thoughts
Kim Kardashian’s curves have fueled a butt obsession but is she setting the standard or mirroring what we’re wired for? Ethnic tastes vary wildly, some crave big butts, others slim so why does one star’s shape rule? And if a specific back curve boosts appeal, tied to spine health and babies, why isn’t it universal? Japan’s slim ideal shrugs at that. If men stare longer at butts than breasts, is it instinct or Instagram’s doing? Maybe it’s just capitalism hawking risky surgeries: 1-in-3,000 odds of dying for a trend. Are we embracing ourselves or buying hype? If Kim’s natural, why the scalpel rush? Or bigger yet: does any of this hold when beauty shifts anyway? Culture flips, science argues, choice drowns—so why care? Are you sold on primal pulls, death stats, or selfies? Check the ASPS guide, question your gaze, and ask: whose game are you playing?
References
Cárdenas-Camarena, L., Bayter, J. E., Aguirre-Serrano, H., & Cuenca-Pardo, J. (2015). Deaths caused by gluteal lipoinjection: What are we doing wrong? Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 136(1), 58-66. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0000000000001364
Del Vecchio, D., & Dayan, E. (2019). To ban or not to ban “Brazilian butt lifts”? Plastic surgery, responsibility, and the public health. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 144(5), 952e-953e. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0000000000006189
Hershkovits, D. (2014, December 17). How Kim Kardashian broke the internet with her butt. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/17/kim-kardashian-butt-break-the-internet-paper-magazine
Arian, H., Alroudan, D., Alkandari, Q., & Shuaib, A. (2023). Cosmetic surgery and the diversity of cultural and ethnic perceptions of facial, breast, and gluteal aesthetics in women: A comprehensive review. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 16, 1443–1456. https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S410621
Lewis, D. M. G., Russell, E. M., Al-Shawaf, L., & Buss, D. M. (2015). Lumbar curvature: A previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(5), 345–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.01.007
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