Pop icon and international hero Meghan Trainor might not have been able to write her 2014 breakout hit, “All About That Bass,” had it not been for the encouragement and support of her family. In the song, Trainor fondly remembers “my momma she told me…boys they like a little more booty to hold at night.” Propelled by the prospect of male attention and inspired by her mother’s knowing words, Trainor decided to write a song about her ass. It was this moment that cemented Trainor’s well-deserved spot in the history of feminism: her song about her ass topped charts even though she repeatedly asserts her sexual appeal in it. A kernel of hope was born in thicker girls everywhere. Maybe sexual objectification was possible for them too.

Despite the fact that Trainor became one-hit, ass wonder, her rich contemplative musical expression represents long-awaited progress towards the cultural acceptance of “dat ass.”

No doubt emboldened by Trainor’s success, more and more fearless publications have begun to dedicate two or even five pages to fashion spreads with plus-sized models, hashtagging “empowered” on social media. Even a few woke men’s magazines have opened a crack for curvy women to crawl through. Unemployed and slightly portly Gary Cobb, 37, told The HindQuarterly “I had never thought about fat women as fuckable, but last year’s Sport Illustrated swimsuit edition really proved me wrong.”

Speaking about Ashley Garam, the  curvy model featured in the 2016 issue, he mused “I would probably even let her suck me off.”