DON'T Get a BBL! 🍑

People who like BBLs or get them tend to be ratchet. That's the general first impression of most people anyway. Some of you might disagree, but I am here to set you straight. Outliers do matter but because of the first impression bias, it might be something you want to avoid.

What is a BBL?

Short for Brazilian Butt Lift, BBLs have become a trend within the last decade as beauty standards shifted from athletic to thick. The procedure for a BBL involves transferring fat from different areas of the body, commonly the stomach, to the buttocks to make them larger and rounder. Due to a variety of sociological trends, It has been the latest plastic surgery craze for women as a larger ass is now associated with beauty.

The 1st Impression of a BBL

Before BBLs became a worldwide phenomenon, it was largely a Brazilian or Afro-Caribbean thing, where in those communities, having a gigantic romp was a sex symbol along with the privilege of twerking. Largely, it was used as an accessory and not as a dysmorphic enhancement. But as globalization happened and through social media accessibility, the trend migrated west and became a norm. Now having a big, round butt is a universal beauty symbol. Not only that, but in the US it has become a luxury asset that also denotes sex work. To a large percentage of people, having a "fake ass" denotes "sugar baby" or "OnlyFans" vibes. When paired with Instagram images of traveling in luxury vacation spots like Tulum, Mexico, or Dubai, it gives off an aura of "escort." Before the BBL was a commoditized Westernized object, it was a beauty enhancement that many beautiful Brazilian or Caribbean women did, but now that it hit the mainstream, it has become an object of debauchery.

Can luxury brands and objects make rich people appear 'ratchet?'

Rhetorically, 'yes,' many rich people can look snobby and cheap no matter what brands they wear. That also includes cosmetic procedures. Before when it was just a minority of people who used BBLs as enhancements, most people didn't realize what they were and most often had no idea when someone had one done. Now that it hit the mainstream, people are abusing BBLs and enhancing their buttocks to extreme measures such that now everyone knows unequivocally whether someone had a BBL procedure done. As a result, no matter how much lipstick is on a pig, a pig is still genetically a pig, no matter how beautiful they look now. Two people can wear Prada and one of them can still manage to look corny.

Can a woman have a BBL done and look classy?

As with anything, moderation tends to promote a natural yet elevated look. This logic can expand to BBLs. Consider how before it was mainstream, most people were getting BBLs that had balanced yet sculpted looks. People were unable to discern whether one had an enhanced booty or not. But now people started going beyond the realm of normal by abusing cosmetic surgeries to receive Giga-Watermelon-esque booties. Further, there could be a correlation where women who get these procedures tend to also get unnatural enhancements done to other parts of their bodies.

Make no mistake

BBLs do not determine whether one is classy or not. The difference is that most people who get BBLs desire the type of cheeks that clap: aiming for as large as one can get.

Why? Because of new social norms where "thick" is currently a beauty trend unveiled by the current dance trends like "twerking." Before this, butt cheeks that clapped were primarily idolized in niche sub-communities and demographics normally found in Afro-Caribbean dance halls or South American dance festivals. Now it has made its way in nearly all Westernized nations including Asia. This does not presume that those cultures are "ratchet," just that the sexualization of female bodies from those cultures has now been adopted in other cultures which are now associated with parties, hookups, and similar sexual gratifications.

This does not mean that women shouldn't be getting BBLs or that men shouldn't date women who have BBLs. But, in the US and other Western countries, it does symbolize laziness and pure body dysmorphia. Many women could naturally enhance their buttocks first by going to the gym, and only afterward get enhancements done (should they desire it), but most BBL women do not want to put in the work.

Because of the first-impression bias that links women who have unnaturally large and round BBLs with "ratchet sex workers" or "sugar babies;" and due to the correlation of BBLs with severe body dysmorphia and laziness, you should heavily consider whether you would like to be associated with them whether as a man or a woman.

I also had body dysmorphia, and if you are struggling with self-confidence, read this.