“You wish you had a pretty tummy like me!” My grandmother sassed in her thick Jamaican accent as she lifted her worn t-shirt and patted her stomach: round, smooth, and undeniably a bit chubby. I was just 13 at the time and my grandma was trying to make me laugh, yet she meant every word.
In their youth, my mother and grandmother looked as I do now: 5'7", 124 lbs. But like clockwork, in their late 20s they each developed their “pretty tummy” — a disproportionately large, yet soft fat deposit around the midsection, which often elicited the dreaded question: “Are you pregnant?”
This fate, which seems to be an inevitable one for the women in my family, might have something to do with genetics. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve found that the “pretty tummy” can also be attributed to more than the ticking of our biological clocks. The women in my family's life stories give the phenomenon a much deeper meaning. Like the graying of hair, the “pretty tummy” can be covered up; but given where we've come from, it is a sign of maturity and progress, traits the women in my family regard with pride.
Born in the rural parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, my grandmother and her many siblings grew up in conditions that most Americans (myself included) …show more content…
It’s important to remember the “pretty tummy” for the same reason that it’s important not to laugh when my grandmother asks me how to spell “occasion.” It’s important for the same reason that it’s unkind to point out to my mother that Sarah and Sierra — indistinguishable in her Jamaican accent — are actually pronounced differently. It is important because the “pretty tummy” once symbolized progress, hope, and social mobility. It was a sign that we escaped poverty and a reminder that there is always room for improvement. Though I doubt that I will develop a pretty tummy, if that day comes, I hope that I will have earned
In their youth, my mother and grandmother looked as I do now: 5'7", 124 lbs. But like clockwork, in their late 20s they each developed their “pretty tummy” — a disproportionately large, yet soft fat deposit around the midsection, which often elicited the dreaded question: “Are you pregnant?”
This fate, which seems to be an inevitable one for the women in my family, might have something to do with genetics. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve found that the “pretty tummy” can also be attributed to more than the ticking of our biological clocks. The women in my family's life stories give the phenomenon a much deeper meaning. Like the graying of hair, the “pretty tummy” can be covered up; but given where we've come from, it is a sign of maturity and progress, traits the women in my family regard with pride.
Born in the rural parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, my grandmother and her many siblings grew up in conditions that most Americans (myself included) …show more content…
It’s important to remember the “pretty tummy” for the same reason that it’s important not to laugh when my grandmother asks me how to spell “occasion.” It’s important for the same reason that it’s unkind to point out to my mother that Sarah and Sierra — indistinguishable in her Jamaican accent — are actually pronounced differently. It is important because the “pretty tummy” once symbolized progress, hope, and social mobility. It was a sign that we escaped poverty and a reminder that there is always room for improvement. Though I doubt that I will develop a pretty tummy, if that day comes, I hope that I will have earned