The Encyclopedia Of Smut: B Is For Big Beautiful Women

We're back for another letter and another niche in our Encyclopedia of Smut! This time, we're getting in touch with BBWs: what do those three letters mean, who are the biggest names in the genre, and why is Kelly Shibari so fucking hot?

Spoiler alert: we may never know why Kelly Shibari is so fucking hot, but we're going to explore the bejesus out of some body image concepts. You better believe it.

History: How does one address the history of Big Beautiful Women as a concept? You can pretty much explain this whole thing by saying, "Well, everybody likes something different!" There's no reason to not like women of all different sizes and shapes, but as everyone knows, the ideal human figure changes throughout time. Think about all the statues of Athena you see around Greek monuments: homegoddess has spear-wielding arms and a frame to support them. Think about Peter Paul Rubens; specifically, think about his "Venus at the Mirror" and tell us you're not dying to see the front of her body. Fat fetishism is a tricky subject to deconstruct because it's balanced on the imagery that comes up when you think of "fat" (chicken schmaltz doesn't count, although, yeah, I am sexually attracted to that sometimes), and that's entirely subjective.

Maybe we should approach BBWs by starting with the men who love them. In 2009, the Journal of Sex Research published a study that asked a bunch of self-described fat admirers (as well as a control group of dudes without any body size leanings) to rate the attractiveness of various women ranging from skinny and bony to morbidly obese. Not surprisingly, the FAs gave the best ratings to the women with the highest body mass indices. Surprisingly, the FAs found the extremely skinny women much more attractive than the control group did. This suggests that fat admiration isn't just about the beauty of flesh, but about beauty that stands outside societal norms.

[Above: April Flores and Jiz Lee in "Alpha Femmes" via AEBN Adult Video On Demand (theater.aebn.net)]

Terminology: The term Big Beautiful Woman (as well as the acronym, BBW) were actually coined in 1979 when Carole Shaw launched BBW Magazine as a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus-size females. We should note that the term BBW is actually trademarked by the magazine owners, and they're not exactly thrilled about the adult industry's illegal use of their term. Sorry, Carole Shaw and everyone she passed the torch to! We had no idea!

Of course, BBW isn't the only term in town. Here's a handy list of words, ideas, and definitions (lifted directly from Wikipedia) that also fall under the umbrella of fat fetishism:

SSBBW (Super-Sized Big Beautiful Woman): an obese woman, typically much larger than a BBW.
BigMomma (Large Mother): an overweight or 'big' mother who is referred to in such a way as to infer that she is well rounded.
BBBW (Big Beautiful Black Woman): an overweight black woman(also SSBBBW).
BBT or BBTeen: a fat female or male teenager.
BHM (Big Handsome Man): an overweight man. Some people use the term BBM, but Blackberry users have pretty much put a stop to that.
SSBHM (Super-Sized Big Handsome Man): an obese man, typically much larger than a BHM.
FA (Fat Admirer): a person who has preference for fat partners. Typically used to refer to male fat admirers.
FFA (Female Fat Admirer)
Inflating: The practice of inflating (typically with air or liquid), until the abdomen is distended, in such a way that it simulates a stuffing or bloating, but without food.
Padding: The practice of padding or layering clothing in such a way that it simulates a distended abdomen, for the purposes of arousal, and is often used as a form of experimentation with increased size, but can also be a form of role play.
Gainer: A person who gains weight for sexual pleasure.
Encourager: A person who derives pleasure from encouraging or persuading a gainer to become fatter.
Maintainer: A person who is overweight and strives to remain so.
Feedee: A person who derives pleasure from being fed.
Feeder: A person who derives pleasure from feeding another person.

The London Fetish Scene Encyclopedia (better known as Wipipedia) adds these terms:

FBW (Fat Body Worship): A term to describe the consensual glorification of the adipose physical form.
GRP (Growth Role-Play): A term to describe inflation, bloating, stuffing, padding, and vore in a single category.
EWG (Erotic Weight Gain): A term to describe gaining, encouragement, and feederism in a single category.
BBP (Big Beautiful Person/People): An overweight person of any sexual preference or gender identity.
SSBP (Super-Sized Big Beautiful Person/People): An obese person of any sexual preference or gender identity.
BAT (Big Attractive Transperson): An overweight person who identifies as either transgender, or has a alternative gender identity.
SSBAT (Super-Sized Big Attractive Transperson): An obese person who identifies as either transgender, or has a alternative gender identity.

We would like "zaftig" to be used more often because it stems from the German word "saftig," meaning juicy.

[Above: Bunny de la Cruz in "Big Tit Mama's House 4" via AEBN Adult Video On Demand (theater.aebn.net)]
Criticism: Where there's porn, there's criticism! It's worth noting that there are some people who take issue with the term "fat fetishism" because that has connotations of fatness being an abnormality; instead, they contend that it's not a fetish, but a strong preference.

Some people involved in the fat acceptance movement feel that BBW porn is harmful to their movement because it objectifies and dehumanizes fat people. It's not that notable of a criticism, really--it's the same thing that most critics say about porn. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance takes issue not with all BBW porn, but only with erotic weight gain relationships and/or depictions: they worry that it's not the actual increase of body mass that arouses feeders, but instead it's the power to feed, control, and instill helplessness in the feedee that gets them off. In case you're curious, NAAFA has a nifty PDF file on its stance on Feederism in which they advocate, "individuals who seek sexual partners accept and celebrate the current weight of their partner as one aspect of the whole person."

[Above: Carmyell in "Pound For Pound 2" via AEBN Adult Video On Demand (theater.aebn.net)
Who to watch: Gamelink has a handy top ten list of their favorite BBW stars, and we definitely dig their choices (especially April Flores and Bunny de la Cruz). We feel it's necessary to mention these two ladies as well:

Kelly Shibari: We tried to find a clip of hers for this post, but we couldn't. It looks like you'll just have to find her movies on your own! We promise it's worth your while; she's been performing in porn for about five years, but she's been involved in the BDSM world for even longer, and she runs the first (and only) kink site dedicated to BBW babes: Padded Kink.

Courtney Trouble: Not only is she cute as hell, she's a damn fine director/owner/operator of a badass queer porn empire. Every now and then, we hear Courtney's stopped performing to focus on her work behind the camera, and then she shows up in another hot scene (even on Padded Kink) because she can't help herself. We like that kind of work ethic. We love Courtney Trouble.

[Above: Carmella Bing--who actually took time off from porn, gained weight, and came back to do BBW work--in "Cash For Chunkers 5" via AEBN Adult Video On Demand (theater.aebn.net)]

[At top: Kelly Shibari and Rikki Waters, via Plumper Pass (promo.plumperpass.com)]