The news last week that Oneal Ron Morris had injected a woman’s butt with cement and fix-a-flat for a mere $700 was tragically comical. The idea that someone would see this technique as worth the risk for the sake of a bigger backside seemed ignorantly vain, but what The Griot has found out is this type of back-room procedure is fairly common among the poor, uninsured, transgendered black community. While the act is evident of the effect cultural expectations of beauty have had on these individuals, the choice to have these procedures is not all about vanity.

“It becomes so dire that you want to match your outside with your inside that you’re willing to roll the dice and take your chances,” Rajee Narinesingh, 48, said in an interview with CBS Miami. Like Morris, Narinesingh was born a man. In her quest to become more feminine, she allowed the unlicensed practitioner to inject material into her face that has left her disfigured. “As a transgender person, you’re thinking ‘Oh, my God, I can start to look like I want to look like and I don’t have to spend a lot of money.’”

Dr. Audrey Lehmann says she understands why African American transgender females would take the risk—they are susceptible to the same images of what a woman should look like—thin in the waist with a curvy backside—that black women who were born female struggle with on a daily basis.

“The minute bio males decide to transition they become more vulnerable to the cultural standards of what they are expected to look like,” Lehmann says. “For example, it’s not uncommon for a transgender woman to start dieting and watching their weight once she has transitioned.”

That effect is hugely evident in the unrealistic shape of Morris’s own body, and the expense of gender reassignment therapy underscores the desperation members of the transgender community feel. According to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2010, the national average for buttocks surgery was between $4,500 and $5000. Morris’ fee was just 15% of that cost in dollars, but the greater cost hardly seems worth it.

Narinesingh, for one, says she’s learned her lesson: “I could have died. I know that now.”

Does the transgendered angle change your opinion of these women who had work done by Morris? Are you surprised that transgendered females struggle with the same expectations of beauty as women born female?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Apparently the butt injection trend hasn’t died down despite multiple reports of the dangers associated with the procedure—particularly when the administrator is not a medical professional.

Enter 30-year-old Oneal Ron Morris, a cross-dressing, Miami Gardens resident who was arrested for injecting a concoction of cement, glue, mineral oil, and tire sealant into a least one woman’s derriere for $700 in a residence. Shortly after the injection, the woman visited two local hospitals and Tampa General Hospital with complaints of pain throughout her body. Despite developing a MRSA infection at the wound site and pneumonia, the woman wouldn’t admit the cause of her illness to doctors who suspected work from an unlicensed practitioner was the cause.

Investigators were finally able to piece together parts of the story and figure out Morris’ hood medical practice was to blame. He was charged with practicing medicine without a license and causing bodily harm. From the appearance of those hips it looks like Morris might have been pumping himself with the cocktail more fitting of fixing a tire than enhancing your butt, too. I just can’t believe anyone would still take a chance with their health like this, all for the sake of the booty. Can you?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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