Oct 24th, 2014 0
In the late 18th century, Sarah Baartman was working as a slave inCape Town, South
Africa, when she was discovered by a British doctor. Intrigued by her
unusually large buttocks and genitals, he convinced her to accompany
him to London. Once there, she was “displayed” as a scientific
curiosity. Once the scientific community in London were tired of her,
she turned to Parisian exhibitions, and once they were also tired of
her, she turned to prostitution.
However, as a Khoikhoi woman she was considered an anthropological
freak in England, and she found herself put on exhibition, displayed as a
sexual curiosity. Dubbed The Hottentot Venus, her image swept through
British popular culture. Abolitionists unsuccessfully fought a court
battle to free her from her exhibitors.Sarah Baartman was taken to Paris in 1814 and continued to be exhibited as a freak. She became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. When she died in 1816, the Musee de l’Homme in Paris took a deathcast of her body, removed her skeleton and pickled her brain and genitals in jars. These were displayed in the museum until as late as 1985
No comments:
Post a Comment