Welcome back to the freak show! Today you’ll be delighted to see the unusually large rear, bosom and other “secret splendors” of the Hottentot Venus! For the past few days of Black History Month, I have reviewed movements in science that endeavored to “prove” that blacks were inferior to all other races and were in fact a separate and inferior species. Sarah Baartman is the prime example of black women being subjugated by other races because of their physique. Although she died on December 29, 1815, her remains were still on display until 1976 in France’s Musee de l’Homme, Museum of Man. Her genitals, brain, and skeletal structure remained a “scientific wonder” and something to be gawked at for 161 years after her death.
Sarah Baartman was the name given to her when she arrived in Europe. Her Khosian name was Saartjie or little Sarah. In 1789, Saartjie was born near the Gamtoos River in South Africa of the Khosian tribe. Her family was killed in a raid by the Dutch settlers to rid the lands of potential violence of the Khosian people. (This raid is one of too many examples of settlers from foreign lands killing the natives because of their fear of the indigenous people. If the settlers were so afraid, they should have never stayed in the first place.)
Sarah Baartman began working as a slave in Cape Town, South Africa where William Dunlop came upon her and realized that her Khosian features would cast awe in his European cronies. In Europe at the time, men of science were convinced that Africans were oversexed and Sarah Baartman’s larger genitalia would support their theories. Although a spectacle for Europeans, Sarah Baartman’s body was not unlike her fellow Khosian women. Dunlop had continued to persuade Sarah that money and riches awaited her in Europe if she were to only show off her physique. Sarah had a one way ticket from Africa. I hope that she took a good look around her homeland before she set sail that day in 1810 because she would not return to South Africa until March 22, 2002.
When Sarah arrived in London, she was indeed a sight for the Europeans to see. She was made to stand and parade around in the nude at the delight of the freak show goers. Sarah Baartman was aliased as the “Hottentot Venus”. Hottentot is a very offensive word for the Khosian people and Venus is a tie to the Roman god of love. As we will see from Sarah’s life, it was filled with everything but love. Sarah had arrived in London three years after the Slave Trade Act of 1807 was passed. The Slave Trade Act outlawed the British Empire from transporting slaves in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Slavery itself was not out ruled until 1833 with the Slavery Abolition Act. The exploited Sarah was taken before a court to question if she was under obligation to remain in London on display as the African Association, an abolitionist society, petitioned for her release. Sarah was fluent in Dutch and denied that she was held against her will. I tend to believe that even if Sarah was held against her will, she would probably not admit to it as she was paid very little and would have no way to survive in Europe alone, nor would Sarah have the funds to return to South Africa. If she did return to South Africa, she would have no immediate family to welcome her home.
All of the ruckus started by Sarah Baartman in London was squelched when she was sold to a French circus man Regu. He was an animal trainer. She was made to flaunt herself even more grotesquely in France. There, scientists who were determined to prove black inferiority came to examine her among them was Georges Cuvier. She stood in the nude for these gentleman and was painted and these works were used in further studies to liken blacks to orangutans. When the French had their fill of the Hottentot Venus, she was cast away. Sarah turned to drinking and the oldest profession in order to support herself.
At the tender age of 25, just 5 years after coming to London, Sarah died. Some accounts hold that she died of syphilis, others pneumonia, and still more alcoholism. Like vultures, the very scientists who had painted her performed and autopsy on her corpse, persevered her skeleton, her brain, and her fascinating genitals and put them on display at the Musee de l’Homme in Paris. They also made a life-like version of her physique almost like a wax statue that one would see at Madame Tussauds.
In the Museum, Sarah’s remains were still displayed in Paris until 1974. Europeans obviously still had a fascination with the South African women’s differing anatomy. It was still deemed a “scientific curiosity until 1976 when the museum removed her lasting display from the public eye. After much debate and appeal, Nelson Mandela the President of South Africa demanded that Sarah Baartman’s remains be returned to South Africa. In March of 2002, they were.
From this story, we should take a few things about what it means to abide in a women’s body. Baartman’s story offers a new level of exploitation that was common at the time of human zoos in Europe and beyond. The fact that this exploitation lasted until the late 1970′s is also evident of the remaining morbid fascination with black female sexuality. Why would any women’s genitals be on display for 161 years after her death? That’s not a display of science. OBGYN’s and other M.D’s have plenty of information on the female anatomy. Sarah’s were slightly different, intriguing, and something to still be wondered at.
There are movies, books, and projects still in progress to make people aware of what happened to Sarah Baartman. They are provided in the hyperlinks above. Please view this YouTube videos for more info on Sarah Baartman:
This picture of Sarah Baartman reminds me of the French novel “The Story of O” written by Pauline Reage. As I began to study Sarah and I saw this photo, it is almost identical to the end scene of Reage’s novel about sadism, masochism, and a women who sexually enslaves herself to a man. At the conclusion of the novel, O is put on display at a party to be gawked at, touched, and fondled by others in attendance. She is led by a chain around her neck held by another young woman. Regu was the French circus keeper that housed Baartman in France. Rene was the Frenchman that O originally fell in love with and became enslaved too. O is dressed in an animal costume almost identical to the costume that Sarah Baartman is wearing in this photo. Since Sarah Baartman did a stint in France, I’m curious if the author knew of her story and dramatized it! The Story of O is a very graphic novel and may not be appropriate for all readers. But for those that it is appropriate for, it is a bed side table book!
Please stay involved in our Black History Month Series.
Other Posts by Eryn on Black History Month:
Black History’s Leading Literary Lady
The Black Panther Party For Self Defense
Intelligence of Interference? COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party
“How they sold Marcus Garvey for rice”-LH
Yes you’re a woman…just a different kind
Vote to Discontinue Black History Month
Where’s my Forty Acres and a Mule
Too black to be white, too white to be black
I don’t date outside my species!
Eryn is a Bostonian native who currently resides in the Metro New York area. She completed her B.A. in Psychology from St. John’s University where she also studied Mandarin, Chinese. Eryn has conducted psycho-social, medical, and environmental research. When she’s off the clock, Eryn spends time learning about world cultures, languages, and the best restaurants in town. She is currently working on her first novel A Beautiful Autymn. You can find more of Eryn’s work ranging from free-writes, poetry, and social analysis at http://autymn.wordpress.com
Fascinating and heartbreaking post, EAB. Thank you for enlightening me.
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Uncanny and unnerving. A black woman’s body on display for viewer exploitation, while profiting the European.
Who’s to say that Reage did not incorporate Sarah Baartman’s life into her novel? Writers are moved and inspired by their experiences, excellent.
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Carolina,
I’m SO GLAD that you posted. Don’t you see the semblance between the French novel and Sarah Baartman? If it were an adaption though, it would alter the view of Sarah Baartman in a way. For instance, in her court proceedings, she said that she wasn’t held against her will. O denied the same things. This would be a crazy connection. The Story of O is unique because it presents the possibility that a woman would willingly sexually enslave herself to a man which is NOT what some feminists would even fathom. However, you and I both read O and can draw some very different conclusions…
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
EAB
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