ABSTRACT
Many Black Americans today express a preference for curvaceous and voluptuous feminine physiques. While there is a growing body of literature exploring the development of US white physical aesthetics – rooting their preference for slimness in nineteenth-century racial politics – a similar study delving into the origins African American weight-centric ideals has never been undertaken. This study endeavors to address this gap in the literature. I performed a content analysis of digital archives for top Black periodicals of the nineteenth – early twentieth centuries, looking for the stated aesthetic priorities. Counter to expectations, I found that both voluptuous and thin women were prized in early Black periodicals. Further, while fat aversion was rare, when it did appear it overwhelmingly targeted “fat cats” or wealthy white slaveowners. These findings suggest that body size preferences in Black communities were sundry and appear to have been impacted by class status and geographic location. Moreover, they also speak to the holes in extant recorded literature on African Americans; current archives may not be able to help us address when and where Black Americans in general appear to have refined a predilection for thiccness.
