The rise of the superbum: How the world fell in love with celebrity bubble butts… and the top 20 you need to know about
Kim Kardashian helped popularise the massive rear trend with her racy swimsuit ‘belfie’ in October 2013
BUMS are big right now, in all sense of the word. Women are bending over backwards – or should that be forwards – in their quest for humongous bottoms.
Kim Kardashian helped popularise the massive rear trend after shoving her giant cheeks in the world’s face with her racy swimsuit ‘belfie’ (that’s bottom selfie) in October 2013.
But the craze for a teeny-tiny waist and large hips is a far cry from the busty boob-flashing models of the Eighties and ‘heroin chic’ waifs of the Nineties.
Women no longer worry if their “bum looks big in this” - they are actively hoping it does.
A broad backside is now more desirable than a pair of Kelly Brook’s sizeable bosoms.
But how did we become so obsessed with bubble butts? Apparently, it’s all thanks to our ancestors.
In his 1967 book The Naked Ape, zoologist Desmond Morris explained how our female predecessors used their rumps to signal they were up for getting frisky.
“The female signalled sexually to the male from behind with a pair of fleshy, hemispherical buttocks and a pair of bright red genital lips, or labia," he wrote.
Morris said bums were no longer such a big deal when we stopped walking on all fours.
He exclusively told The Sun Online: “At a certain point in our evolution, we switched to face-to-face mating.
“This developed when we stopped walking on all fours, like the other apes, and stood upright.
“It made sexual contacts much more personal and was part of our move to a new, pair-bonding development in which couples became lovingly attached to one another for long periods.”
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But Morris says the “rounded bottom is still the primary sexual signal” and may be why “there is a resurgence of interest in that part of the female body”.
Big-bottomed singers Jennifer Lopez, Iggy Azalea and Nicki Minaj have penned odes to their larger-than-life butts.
JLo’s 2014 hit Booty has more than 217 million views on YouTube, while Nicki revealed her “anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns, hun” in her 2014 chart-topper, Anaconda.
Miley Cyrus’ raunchy twerking against Robin Thicke at the 2013 VMAs and Meghan Trainer’s 2014 song All About That Bass has also helped bums become the most coveted body part.
Myra Mendible, a social historian, says female body types have always been a sign of what society aspired to - lean muscular form preferred in capitalist countries, compared with larger rears in poorer places such as her native Cuba.
“There, if you're thin it's a sign of being poor, it's not a sign of beauty," she told the .
"To them the voluptuous body is a sign of good health and fertility."
In Brazil, the annual Miss Bumbum competition aims to find the country's most formidable rear end – it was won last year by Erika Canela who has a 42inch bottom.
SMALL TO SIZEABLE: THE 20 BEST CELEBRITY BUMS OF ALL TIME
- Pippa Middleton (23in waist, 34in hips)
The socialite, 33, found worldwide fame after showing off her bum in a figure-hugging dress as sister Kate Middleton’s wedding - Kylie Minogue (23in waist, 35in hips)
The pint-sized Australian singer, 49, had us all spinning around after she flashed her pert bum in a pair of teeny gold hotpants - Iggy Azalea (23in waist, 37in hips)
The Australian singer, 27, flaunted her big rear in Jennifer Lopez’s hit, Booty. - Coco Austin (23in waist, 40in hips)
Rapper Ice T’s wife, 38, has a butt-iful bottom. - Rosie Huntington Whiteley (24in waist, 25in hips)
The 30-year-old model and actress has every reason to be Rosie-cheeked thanks to her runway-ready bottom. - Demi Rose (24in waist, 33in hips)
The curvy Instagram queen, 22, has attracted more than 4.7 million followers thanks to her enormous ass. - Kendall Jenner (24in waist, 34in hips)
The Victoria’s Secret beauty, 21, has flaunted her tidy heinie in bejewelled knickers on the catwalk. - Emily Ratajkowski (24in waist, 34in hips)
Her surname is a mouthful, but her backside’s an eyeful. The 26-year-old model famously wiggled it Robin Thicke’s way in the Blurred Lines video. - Jessica Alba (24in waist, 34in hips)
The Sin City actress, 36, has a truly saintly backside. - Rihanna (24in waist, 36in hips)
The 29-year-old singer should Take A Bow thanks to her enviable bottom. - Alessandra Ambrosio (25in waist, 34.5in hips)
The Victoria’s Secret Angel, 36, can’t keep the Brazilian under wraps thanks to her revealing lingerie. - Rita Ora (25in waist, 35in hips)
The sultry British singer, 26, is so Bot Right Now thanks to her peachy bottom. - Kimberley Walsh (25in waist, 35in hips)
The 35-year-old singer is bringing up the rear for Girls Aloud. - Jennifer Lopez (25in waist, 38in hips)
The 47-year-old curvaceous beauty helped popularise the big booty trend. - Beyonce (26in waist, 40in hips)
The American singer, 35, sang about her Bootylicious behind with band, Destiny’s Child. - Nicki Minaj (26in waist, 45in hips)
The Anaconda hit maker, 34, sang about not wanting “huns” who “have no buns”. - Kim Kardashian (26.5in waist, 41in hips)
Kanye West’s wife, 36, has the most famous booty in showbiz – and isn’t afraid to flaunt it on Instagram. - Blac Chyna (27in waist, 41in hips)
The former stripper, 29, isn’t afraid to showcase her impressive rear end in barely-there pants. - Amber Rose (27in waist, 41in hips)
The 33-year-old American model regularly flashes her bottom on social media in thong bikinis. - Kelly Brook (28in waist, 37in hips)
The 37-year-old TV presenter gained millions of fans thanks to her bosom – but now all attention has turned to her ripe rump.
In order to achieve a larger bum, many women are going under the knife.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons revealed requests for the Brazilian butt lifts (which involves taking fat from other areas of the body and injecting it in the bum) rose by 252 per cent from 2000 to 2015.
Buttocks implants are also a popular choice, with the demand increasing by 36 per cent from the same period one year ago, the states.
But bottom augmentation isn’t a new thing. Morris said Victorian women would wear “bustles” (a gadget to explain the fullness at the back of a woman’s dress) to exaggerate their behinds.
In 2011, Claudia Aderotimi’s desire for a more shapely behind ended in her death.
The student, who lived in North London, had travelled to Philadelphia for silicone injections, but died after suffering chest pains and breathing trouble following the procedure.
In March, Ranika Hall, 25, from Missouri, died after undergoing a bottom-shaping operation because she was unhappy with her post-pregnancy body.
For those who don’t want surgery, the likes of Spanx and Missguided sell padded pants that give the illusion of a bigger rear.
Erotic author Hans-Jürgen Döppn believes our love of a bubble butt is just the latest craze.
In his book In Praise of the Backside, he said: “In the history of fashion, periods of slimness alternate with periods of voluptuousness.
“The cult of the callipygian [which means ‘having well-shaped buttocks’] is always found in those periods where rounded, curvaceous, voluptuous women embody the ideal of beauty."
HE'S BEHIND YOU! OUR LOVE OF BUMS IS NO FAD, IT'S ALL THANKS TO ANCIENT MATING RITUALS
Famed zoologist Demond Morris on the modern obession with superbums
"The rise of the superbum is amusing because it harks back to primeval times.
"Our closest relatives, the apes and monkeys, mate with the male behind the female and the rear end of the female of those species is the part of their body that has the most sex appeal for the male.
"In some species the female rump becomes swollen when she is receptive to mating and these swellings are a special sexual signal to the males, arousing their sexual interest.
"Our remote ancestors probably also mated wth the males behind the females, but then, at a certain point in our evolution, we switched to face-to-face mating.
"This developed when we stopped walking on all fours, like the the other apes, and stood upright.
"It made sexual contacts much more personal and was part of our move to a new, pair-bonding development in which couples became lovingly attached to one another for long periods.
"Deep in the brain of the human male, however, their lurked the special appeal of the paired hemispheres on the buttocks.
"The female body, seen from the front, lacked this ancient signal, so it was missing during the newly evolved frontal sex contacts.
"Evolution dealt with this by putting a new pair of hemispheres on the front of the body - the rounded female breasts.
"In other apes, this roundness only occurred when they were breast-feeding their offspring, but in the human female, the roundness now remained at all times, even when there was no baby present.
"So the round breasts are, in a sense, a mimic of the round buttocks.
"But it is the rounded bottom that is the primary sexual signal, dating back to our ancient origins, and it is because of this that sometimes, even in modern days, there is a resurgence of interest in that part of the female body.
"Even the Victorians responded to this when they invented the bustle - although they had no idea why they found this so attractive.
"In the Bushmen tribes of Africa, who used to inhabit the whole continent, but are now reduced to just a small remnant population, the women displayed what is known as steatopygia - literally 'fat buttocks’.
"Their buttocks protruded so far that their infants could stand on them, holding on to their mother’s neck.
"Many ancient figurines also show this feature and it appears to have been more common in the past."
