Sarah Baartman

For the South African patrol vessel, see Sarah Baartman (ship).

Sarah Baartman
Born
Ssehura?[1]

c. 1789[2]
Camtoos Valley, Eastern Cape
Died (aged 26)
Paris, France
Resting placeVergaderingskop, Hankey, Eastern Cape, South Africa
33°50′14″S 24°53′05″E / 33.8372°S 24.8848°E / -33.8372; 24.8848
Other namesHottentot Venus, Saartjie Baartman

Sarah Baartman (Afrikaans: [ˈsɑːra ˈbɑːrtman]; c. 1789 – 29 December 1815), also spelled Sara, sometimes in the diminutive form Saartje (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈsɑːrki]), or Saartjie, and Bartman, Bartmann, was a Khoekhoe woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, a name that was later attributed to at least one other woman similarly exhibited. The women were exhibited for their steatopygic body type uncommon in Western Europe that was perceived as a curiosity at that time, and became subject of scientific interest as well as of erotic projection.

''La Belle Hottentote'', a 19th-century French print of Baartman

"Venus" is sometimes used to designate representations of the female body in arts and cultural anthropology, referring to the Roman goddess of love and fertility. "Hottentot" was a Dutch-colonial era term for the indigenous Khoekhoe people of southwestern Africa, which then became commonly used in English, but which is now usually considered an offensive term. Although it is still unclear how much she was a willing participant, the Sarah Baartman story is often portrayed as the epitome of racist colonial exploitation, and of the commodification and dehumanization of black people.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference willis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference frith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Parkinson, Justin (7 January 2016). "The significance of Sarah Baartman". BBC News Magazine.