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ABOUT SARAI BAARTMAN BARTIJEI (The Hottentot Venus)

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I was making some research on Western Revolutionary Movement and colonialism when I for the first time, came across the name Sarai Baartman. It piqued my interest and for which I deviated from my main research to look into. Thank God I did, for it turned out really helpful for my project as a whole. Using her as a case study further made me stand out.

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Baartman's story is one which will invoke sympathy on the minds of readers. She was a victim of racial discrimination, segregation and dehumanization. Sartijei was not her birth name but a nick given her by her Dutch master which translates "Little Sarah". If you wonder who Sarai was, I would briefly explain her life in the subsequent paragraphs.

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Baartman was born in the khoi-khoi clan of South Africa in the year 1789. Growing up, she like the women of her tribe had a bountiful fold of fat around her hips, waist and butt, resulting to a massive backside. She became an orphan at a tender age which made her fend for herself. She was only 16 when she was bought by a Dutch named Dunlop Williams who was attracted to her unusual physique.

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Dunlop promised her a life of fortune in Europe if she could agree to a Freak Show Exhibition in the 19th century. She was to be displayed almost naked and paraded on the streets of Europe for a meagre fee.
I guess it is in the nature of man to disappoint, as Dunlop never fulfilled his promises of giving her the life she deserved. He kept exploiting her and made a sex object of her. She was termed Hottentot Venus which translates "Black Venus".

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At a time, she was paraded in a cage like a monkey, along sides a baby rhinoceros. Attempts of freedom fighters to rescue her fell to null. She was later submitted to France in 1814 to be used for scientific experiment claiming she was the missing link of man's evolution from ape to man. Her physique was seen as a form of physical deformation and termed Steatopygy(also due to her abnormal dropping sexual organ). She resorted to heavy drinking to enable her cope with this emotional and psychological trauma.

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She eventually died of inflammatory disease at age 26. Her death never gave her even the rest she desired as her remains was dissected and used for further scientific research. Her brain and sexual organs were removed and displayed at Musee de l'Homme(Museum of Man), Paris. Her skeleton dissected from her body and her body into a cast. She was kept erect in a glass display for all to see for 187years. Her body was later demanded by her people for a proper burial. She was finally laid to rest around 2002 in her hometown.

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Sarai was one of the many black victims of the 19th century European imperialist who believed their race is superior to any other. Africans were seen as deformed, inferior and retarded. Although, it is a different case altogether today all thanks to civilization. It was not same for Sarai who was seen as some object of sexual manipulation. Humiliated alive and in death. What a pitiful life she led. She depicts an icon of racial inferiority of the black female sexuality.

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Body and skeleton of Sarai as an exhibition in the Museum at Paris

She lived a truly horrendous life but all is not lost, as she is a fashion inspiration for most women who wished to have her physique in our world today. Many go as far as loosing their lives on getting a rounder hips and bigger butts like Sarai's. Hottentot Venus has been since made into a movie to inspire African women and remind them of their uncovetable beauty.

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