Have Mercy! Are We Not More Than Our Ass?

A risky article on a risqué topic

Photo by Joe Gardner on Unsplash

I blame Beyonce. She slowly made booty mainstream. Yes, people like Uncle Luke and BET Uncut put booty on display, but that was more underground and only with the culture. I credit Beyonce with encouraging Millennial black women — and generations to come — to be proud of our curves and bootyliciously shake them on a mainstream level. These are good things, but like all good things, they are good in moderation.

Beyonce started subtly with a slight bounce in Bootylicious. Then, during live performances, she was rawer in her panty shorts (as Wendy Williams would call them) and crop tops, showing her hourglass figure and dancing to Frank Gatson-choreographed moves tailored to give wide stances with hip shaking and hair swinging to accommodate her aesthetic. Fast forward to Crazy in Love and uh oh uh oh uh oh uh-oh a na na the rest is history.

Now, 18 years later, Beyonce’s protégé, Chloe Bailey, is the next beneficiary of the trail bootyliciously blazed by Beyonce. (say the bold part out loud five times fast and Beyonce will appear)

Chloe Bailey, 23, is one half of the sister duo Chloe x Halle. The sisters entered the entertainment business as young girls by doing small-circuit performances. Chloe appeared in movies, such as Meet the Browns and…