Sarah Bartman, later referred to as the “Hottentot Venus,” was a young woman from Southern Africa whose body was the main attraction at public spectacles in England and France in the 1800s. She was 21 years old when she left Cape Town, South Africa, for London with an English surgeon, who publicly exhibited her genitalia, which, according to one authority, "were assumed to include uncommonly long labia, dangling down to form what scientists called the 'Hottentot apron' or 'tablier' . She was displayed in public shows throughout England. She was exhibited like a wild beast in a cage at Piccadilly, which prompted English abolitionists to take action. However, when interrogated, Bartman claimed to have come to Europe on her free will, and explained that her antics in a cage were all part of a show to acquire money. The spectacle of Sarah’s body continued even after her death at 26 years old. Scientists who were interested in investigating her ‘primitive sexuality’ dissected and cast her genitals in wax .
In relation to sexuality, Sarah was considered sexually desirable in Khoisan custom. As preparation for marriage, her buttocks are massaged with special ointment to make them swell, and her genitalia are stretched to produce the legendary ‘Hottentot apron,’ an exaggerated folds of skin, which is a product of childhood manipulation and not a feature of race. Due to such physique, she became a curiosity and a sexual fetish to the whites (Europeans) . The heart of her story was the struggle through slavery and racism. Inferiority due to race was a major dilemma in England during the early 19th century. Sarah’s story was one of those tales that presented how merciless the whites were and their lack of pity towards the inferior.
The “La Belle Hottentot” comic shown above depicts the Khosian woman standing with her buttocks exposed on a box-like pedestal, two Scots soldiers in kilts, a crouching woman inspecting Sarah’s behind, and a dog sniffing up the crotch of one of the soldiers. The cartoon illustrates the sensation generated by the spectacle of the “Hottentot Venus.”
According to Stephen Jay Gould’s essay Hottentot Venus, the cartoon was a “satiric French print of 1812” published in Paris even before Sarah even got to Paris. Venus is the Roman goddess of love, who is a cruel reference to Bartman, who was an object of abuse. This represents Sarah Bartman’s place in the development of racism in nineteenth century Europe .
I would categorize “La Belle Hottentot” an ART rather than a pornography. It evidently defined the culture of 19th centuray Europe, where slavery and racism was very out of control. In England, they ridiculed the anatomy of Sarah and considered it as a physical curiosity, yet back home in Africa, Sarah’s body was considered sexually attractive, thus, defining culture. Also, Sarah being dark-skinned, female, and a foreigner identified a full meaning of a minority in an environment dominated by whites. Racism, slavery, and ridicule summed up the ill-fated life of Sarah.
The cartoon depicted a conflict that, sadly, is still a struggle for some people until the present times—racism. Being a minority in this country, I sympathize with Sarah even if I did not personally experience such oppression. Same as Sarah, I came from a culture that practiced certain traditions that were considered beautiful and respectable, which people from other places may not understand, or worse, find ridiculous. Sarah Bratman’s story pinched my heart because of man’s shameful lack of humanity that people knowingly followed and tolerated for the sake of a good show and a good laugh.
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