well Pat, the glueus maximus, technically, is the big muscle back there --
how much fat covers it is another question entirely

there is both individual and population-level variation in body shape and
fat storage

men tend to accumulate fat around the middle (love handles), women around
the hips and thighs, except for those apple-shaped women who have skinny legs

some women accumulate fat all over -- noticeable when you lose weight and
your shoes are too big and your wedding ring gets loose, even as your thighs
are only a tiny bit slimmer

women in west Africa and their American descendants tend to accumulate fat
on the *back* of the buttocks, up high, in contrast to Europeans and their
American descendants, who tend to accumulate it lower and on the sides

some women experience a lot of fat storage in the breasts, others do not --
there are occasionally women who have large breasts with lots of fat, but
not an ounce on their bodies anywhere else (i.e., they naturally look like
the fashion models who are anorexic with implants)

more typical is to have some fat accumulation in the breasts, but not more
there than anywhere else

and there are plenty of women around who have very tiny breasts with almost
no fat in them, while still having plenty of body fat in other parts of
their bodies

so . . . . it's hard to generalize

both my mother and sister have what I call "flat butts" -- they don't have
particularly low body fat levels, but it is more in their abdomens and
thighs and calves (all the women in my family have big calves) than in their
butts

I, on the other hand, do not have a flat butt.  Even at my lowest weight
after living in Mali for 6 months in 1989, which was 132 pounds, when I had
NO breasts (little sacks of skin with nipples attached), I had fat on my
butt and thighs.

so, to give a short answer: "The amount of fat on your butt is not related
to your potential to breastfeed your babies."

End of lecture.

Kathy D., taking my plump derriere to bed

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