- Saartjie Baartman
Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman (
1789 –December 29 ,1815 ) was the most famous of at least twoKhoikhoi women who were exhibited assideshow attractions in 19th century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus—"Hottentot" as the then-current name for the Khoi people, now considered an offensive term, and "Venus" in reference to theVenus figurines .Life
Africa
Saartjie Baartman was born to a
Khoisan family in the vicinity of theGamtoos River in what is now theEastern Cape ofSouth Africa . She was orphaned in acommando raid. Saartjie, pronounced "Sahr-key", is theAfrikaans form of her name; it translates to English as "Little Sarah", where the use of thediminutive form commonly indicates familiarity or endearment rather than a literally short stature. Her original name is unknown.Baartman was a slave [ [http://www.salon.com/books/review/2007/01/09/holmes/index_np.html Venus abused | Salon Books ] ] [ [http://www.nathanielturner.com/sarastory.htm Sara Story ] ] [ [http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/saartjie.htm Sarah Baartman, at rest at last - SouthAfrica.info ] ] of Dutch farmers near
Cape Town when Hendrick Cezar, the brother of her slave owner, suggested that she travel toEngland for exhibition, promising her that she would become wealthy. Lord Caledon, governor of the Cape, gave permission for the trip, but later regretted it after he fully learned its purpose. She left forLondon in 1810.Great Britain
Saartjie was exhibited around Britain, showing what to Europeans were highly unusual bodily features. Due to her
steatopygia , she had inordinately large buttocks; in addition, she had "sinus pudoris", otherwise known as the "tablier" (the French word for "apron") or "curtain of shame", all names for theelongated labia of some Khoisan women. (Although "sinus pudoris" refers only to the labia of Khoisan woman, all labia vary in size and shape to some degree.) To quoteStephen Jay Gould , "Thelabia minora , or inner lips, of the ordinary female genitalia are greatly enlarged in Khoi-San women, and may hang down three or four inches below thevagina when women stand, thus giving the impression of a separate and enveloping curtain of skin". [Gould, 1985] Saartjie never allowed this trait to be exhibited while she was alive. (Strother 1999) ]Her exhibition in London, scant years after the passing of the
Slave Trade Act 1807 , created a scandal. Anabolition ist benevolent society called the African Association, the equivalent of a charity orpressure group , petitioned for her release. Baartman was questioned before a court in Dutch, in which she was fluent, and stated that she was not under restraint and understood perfectly that she was guaranteed half of the profits. The conditions under which she made these statements are suspect, because it directly contradicts accounts of her exhibitions made by Zachary Macaulay of the African Institution and other eyewitnesses.France
Baartman later traveled to Napoleonic
Paris where an animal trainer exhibited her under more pressured conditions for fifteen months. French anatomistGeorges Cuvier and French naturalists visited her and she was the subject of several scientific paintings at theJardin du Roy .She died on
December 29 ,1815 of an inflammatory ailment, possiblysmallpox , while other sources suggest she contractedpneumonia . Anautopsy was conducted, and published by French anatomistHenri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1816 and by Cuvier in the "Memoires du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle" in 1817. Cuvier notes in hismonograph that Baartman was an intelligent woman who had an excellent memory and spoke Dutch fluently. Herskeleton , preservedgenitals andbrain were placed on display inParis 'Musée de l'Homme Hal Morgan and Kerry Tucker. "Rumor!" Fairfield, Pennsylvania: Penguin Books, 1984, p. 29.] until 1974, when they were removed from public view and stored out of sight; A molded casting was still shown for the following two years.Legacy
There were sporadic calls for the return of her remains beginning in the 1940s but the case became prominent only after U.S. biologist
Stephen Jay Gould published an account, "The Hottentot Venus", in the 1980s. WhenNelson Mandela became president ofSouth Africa in 1994, he formally requested thatFrance return the remains. After much legal wrangling and debates in theFrench National Assembly , France acceded to the request on6 March 2002 . Her remains were repatriated to her homeland, the Gamtoos Valley, on6 May 2002 , over 200 years after her birth.fact|date=April 2008Baartman became an icon in South Africa as representative of many aspects of the nation's history. The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children, [ [http://www.saartjiebaartmancentre.org.za/about_us_history.php] ] a refuge for survivors of
domestic violence , opened inCape Town in 1999. South Africa's first offshore environmental protection vessel is named after Sarah Baartman.Cultural references
* Poet
M.K. Asante, Jr. wrote "Ghetto Booty: The Hottentot Remix" for Saartjie Baartman in his 2005 book "Beautiful. And Ugly Too". The poem tells Baartman's story and warns the hip hop generation not to repeat racist cycles of black female exploitation.
*Dame Edith Sitwell allusively referred to her in "Hornpipe", a poem in the satirical collection "Facade". [ [http://www.williamwalton.net/works/vocal/facade/hornpipe.html Walton: 'Hornpipe' from Facade ] ]
*Diana Ferrus, a South African poet of Khoisan descent, wrote "A Poem for Sarah Baartman" while studying in Europe. It includes the desire "to wrench [her] away-/ away from the poking eyes... ."
*Poet Elizabeth Alexander explores her story in a 1987 poem and 1990 book, both entitled "The Venus Hottentot".
*Thescience fiction authorPaul Di Filippo used her story as the basis for the second novel of his "Steampunk Trilogy".
*Barbara Chase-Riboud wrote a fictional biography entitled "Hottentot Venus".
* Her life features in the 2007Afrikaans romantic novel "Frats" by Chris Karsten.
* PlaywrightSuzan-Lori Parks fictionalizes her story in "Venus". PlaywrightLydia R. Diamond 's play "Voyeurs de Venus" also examines her story through the guise of 20th century author.
* In 2006, a feminist artist and filmmaker adopted the name Venus Hottentot to direct an independent film with erotic content called "Afrodite Superstar " with the intention of reclaiming the strength and voice of Sarah Baartman as a sexually exploited woman of color.
*Canadianperformance art istMara Verna created a web-based project and travelling exhibition cataloguing her story. [ [http://www.hottentotvenus.com/index2.htm Hottentot Venus ] ]
* NovelistJoyce Carol Oates uses the image and the story of the Hottentot Venus in her 2006 novel "Black Girl/White Girl ".ee also
*
Human zoo References
* Crais, Clifton and Pamela Scully (2008). Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: A Ghost Story and a Biography. Princeton, Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13580-9
* Gilman, Sander L. (1985). "Black Bodies, White Bodies: Toward an Iconography of Female Sexuality in Late Nineteenth-Century Art, Medicine, and Literature". In Gates, Henry (Ed.) "Race, Writing and Difference" 223-261. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
* Gould, Stephen Jay (1985). "The Hottentot Venus". In "The Flamingo's Smile", 291-305. New York, W.W. Norton and Company. ISBN 0-393-30375-6.
* Holmes, Rachel (2006). "The Hottentot Venus". Bloomsbury, Random House. ISBN 0-7475-7776-5, ISBN 1400061369 (U. S. edition).
* Strother, Z.S. (1999). "Display of the Body Hottentot", in Lindfors, B., (ed.), "Africans on Stage: Studies in Ethnological Show Business". Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press: 1-55.
* Qureshi, Sadiah (2004), 'Displaying Sara Baartman, the 'Hottentot Venus', "History of Science" 42:233-257. Available online at http://www.shpltd.co.uk/qureshi-baartman.pdf [http://www.shpltd.co.uk/qureshi-baartman.pdf] .External links
* [http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/saartjie.htm South Africa government site about her, including Diana Ferrus's pivotal poem]
* [http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Hott.html A French print]
* [http://www.hottentotvenus.com/index2.htm Mara Verna's interactive audio and video piece including a bibliography]
* [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,653760,00.html Guardian article on the return of her remains]
* [http://www.frif.com/new99/hottento.html A documentary film called "The Life and Times of Sara Baartman" by Zola Maseko]
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