Twitter: @AndreaGompf
Today, J Lo broke the internet by releasing a teaser for her upcoming Diplo-produced “Booty” remix, feat. Iggy Azalea. The clip, which was clearly scientifically engineered in a lab to maximize GIF potential, reminds us that for all the Kim Kardashians and Nicki Minaj’s in the world, J Lo’s junk is our one true North. As for Iggy…meh.
While I am very pro-Booty, if we’ve learned anything from the reactions to Minaj’s recent Anaconda video, it’s that Jenny from the Block will likely get some criticism from people who feel these images are demeaning or pandering to the male gaze. The intent here is hard to pinpoint without watching the full video, but I’d humbly like to remind people that there is a subversive element to the way J Lo has embraced and flaunted her fatty. After all, J Lo was the OG who kicked off the acceptance of big asses in the mainstream, upending Euro-centric standards of beauty when it comes to the culo. Or, as Huff Po writer Erica Kennedy put it in her article “How J Lo’s Ass Changed the World,”
“Black and Latino people always appreciated a healthy badonk but before J. Lo, white folks weren’t trying to get ass implants. Before J. Lo, mainstream media was not giving props to the junk in anyone’s trunk. Before J. Lo, there were not Eye Candy chicks making a living off their (faux) asses. Before J. Lo companies were not selling butt pads in one-stop booty shops.”
In sum, yay butts.
Side note: this is a pretty genius way to get us to forget that Diplo’s beats sound a little like a tired Major Lazer rehash.
Stream the track below, watch the full clip, or just skip all that and watch these mesmerizing GIFs. I will be doing squats at my desk till further notice.
[insert-video youtube=GO4xCfGO-XU]
