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"Big Beautiful Woman" (commonly abbreviated as BBW) is a neologism most frequently used in the context of affirmation of or sexual attraction to women who are above average weight. The terms "Big Beautiful Women" and "BBW" were coined by Carole Shaw in 1979, when she launched BBW Magazine, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus-size women.^[1]

Contents 1 Meaning 2 Usage 3 Websites 4 Variants 4.1 Big Handsome Man 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Meaning

The term is a subjective, visually-determined concept that does not have an explicit lower or upper weight limitation, and may denote women who may be considered barely overweight to those who are morbidly obese.

The term has several near-synonyms with varying shades of meaning:

• Full-figured or Rubenesque - the latter term referring to the art of Peter Paul Rubens, best known for portraying full-bodied women.
• Voluptuous and zaftig usually connote ripeness, sensuality, and a body shape involving large breasts and wide hips.

Usage

Although "BBW" may have been first used in the context of BBW Magazine, the term's usage spread over the years, to the point that even women who had never heard of the magazine began to refer to themselves as "BBWs."

Some women may adopt the term as a personal preference over the term Rubenesque, or full-figured, because they may not necessarily have large breasts or hips. Such terms, and others such as "queen-sized", "plus-sized", or "fat" may lead to feelings of marginalization or non-inclusion for some women. However, some strongly prefer the term fat over other words which they consider unnecessary euphemisms.

The term is also commonly used as a positive euphemism by people involved with the fat acceptance movement, who often reject the descriptor "obese".

Today, the abbreviation is often found in personal ads (and online dating services) denoting an identification with (or preference for) such women.

The term BBW is also used to denote events specifically targeted to such women, and persons interested in them, such as specific gathering nights in dance clubs, restaurants, fashion stores and shows, etc so that an environment of acceptance is achieved by having like-minded or like-bodied persons in attendance.

Websites

There are a wide range of websites dedicated to the topic of big beautiful woman, including sites which are dedicated to sending out a size-positive message towards larger women, some of which denounce the dieting industry as encouraging women to lose weight to conform to what is considered the ideal by mainstream society. Big beautiful woman are also on a number of pornographic websites which may include content which is sexually fetishistic in nature (including fat fetishism and feederism).

Variants

The acronym BBBW refers to Big Beautiful Black Woman. Another variant is SSBBW; Super-Size Big Beautiful Woman, there is much debate on a definition for a Super-Size Big Beautiful Woman.^{[citation needed]}

While "Big Beautiful Woman" may be prevalent in the Americas and Europe, in Asian countries where obesity may be considered uncommon or deemed unhealthy, other terms are used. For example, in Japan the term "debu" (デブ) is used, but usually with a pejorative meaning.

Big Handsome Man

Big Handsome Man (BHM) refers to a physically or sexually attractive fat man. These men are large to extremely large. There are many subcategories of BHMs. Some are men who just happen to be large, while others attempt to become fatter. Some of these men are insecure about their size, while others embrace their larger bodies and feel confident. Women who are attracted to BHMs are called Female Fat Admirers (FFA). In the gay community, BHMs are called chubs, and men who are attracted to BHMs are known as chubby chasers.

See also

Wikinews has related news: Obesity and the Fat Acceptance Movement: Kira Nerusskaya speaks

• Fat acceptance movement
• Fat fetishism
• Female body shape
• Obesity
• Overweight

References

External links

• BBW Magazine site
• Free site of Dimensions Magazine, a "size-positive" lifestyle magazine that has been published for almost two decades with resources and forums.
• National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people.
• UK Big People Web Site