"Big Beautiful Woman" (BBW) is a positive (non-pejorative) term for an overweight woman. [1] The male equivalent of this term is "Big Beautiful Man" or "BigHandsome Man". [2]
"Big Beautiful Woman" (BBW) is a positive (non-pejorative) term for an overweight woman. [1] The male equivalent of this term is "Big Beautiful Man" or "BigHandsome Man". [2]
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. [3] BBW Magazine trademarked the term "Big Beautiful Woman", which was later transferred to Dimensions Magazine. [4]
The term is also commonly used as a positive euphemism by those involved with the fat acceptance movement. [2]
The term has several near-synonyms with varying shades of meaning, such as "full-figured", "voluptuous", "zaftig", and "Rubenesque", the latter term referring to the art of Peter Paul Rubens, best known for portraying full-bodied women. [5]
The acronym BBBW stands for Big Beautiful Black Woman. [6] Another variant is SSBBW, which stands for Supersized Big Beautiful Woman. There is no formal definition which explains the exact difference between BBW and SSBBW. Some BBWs or SSBBWs consider themselves to be feedees. [7] Dimensions Magazine considers a woman over 350 pounds (160 kg) to be an SSBBW. [4]
