Can you imagine being
so different from others that they began to define you as a "new
species"? This way of thinking was Sarah Baartman's life. What is so
fascinating about the word difference is that in order for something to be
classified as not similar or unlike something else, there most be a standard.
By standard I mean there most be an ideal in which one is comparing something
to. What or who was this ideal standard that Sarah Baartman was being compared
to?
As scientist began to
analyze Baartman’s naked body her entire being astonished them. Her large
breast, thighs, buttocks, vagina, etc. were all “different” than the White
female naked bodies they were use to seeing.
Because to the scientist this woman body was so strange, they finally
came to their own conclusion that she could not possibly be a human but some
animalistic type of creature. Studied vigorously by scientist, she was often
described as the “missing link” between humans and apes. Scientist studied her
shape of her skull, her genital, and the flow of her menstrual cycle. To make
matters worse, Baartman was put into acts and circuses being made to dance
naked and have on-lookers glare at her body as if she was an alien. And not
only were spectators allowed to look at her body but even touch her buttocks
and genitals as if it was a type of game to see who was the bravest in the
audience. How does one possibly have dignity while those that consider
themselves superior point and laugh?
I could not imagine
all the thoughts that might have been going in Sarah Baartman’s mind during
these moments on and off stage. I think reading Anne- Fausto Sterling’s articles
entitled Gender, Race, and Nation made me think of Social Darwinism as nothing
but a study of differences. However not just studying differences in a good
way, but a classification of differences in a manner and underlining hatred for
that, that is not “normal.”
Overall I think the
story of Sarah Baartman tells us about the social relations of a particular
historical time. I think that it tells that because of a group claiming to be
superior everything that was done or appeared outside of that cultural norm was
seen as something that was foreign. It is also telling that those apart of the superior
group deemed their way of life as the only way and if another group of
individuals exhibit a different way of viewing the world then that group must
not be barbaric. To explain what I am trying to express and make sure it makes
more sense, I will explain in a brief example. It is like telling two children
to solve a division problem in math and to show their work. If I see that both
children have answered the problem correctly, yet one child did a different
method than the method that I know,
and after looking at this different method I say that child is wrong not
because of the answer but because of how they got the answer then what I am
really criticizing? The child or their way of thinking? I know that was a crazy
way of explaining it, but that is how I describe the social relations during
that time period.
I believe it was very important for the scientists of the time to really accentuate the differences between Bartmann's body and a White woman's. On page 204, Fausto-Sterling writes that the emergence of a "savage-woman" brought the sexuality of White women into examination. To present Bartmann as inferior and "non-human" kept White women out of harm's way so to speak--they couldn't be in danger of a "wild" sexuality since Bartmann wasn't a legitimate woman.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Sarah Baartman is an intriguing one. I can certainly understand the curiosity during the 1800's in discovering someone with various physical differences that had not been seen before. The ignorance of the time gave way to a misinterpretation of what those physical differences actually meant (which was absolutely nothing). The gross and disrespectful handling of Sarah's body, upon her death, was very disturbing indeed. However, in a historical context, it was evidence of the falsehoods that were believed concerning individuals who were not white. They truly believed it was "science." I would be curious to know what the response would have been if Sarah had been a white-skinned individual with the same physical attributes? Would she have been labeled as a member of another species or would her differences have been written off as mere deformities? Blacks were not the only ones exhibited in freakshows.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Sarah Baartman also made me consider how we view women's bodies in the present. Think of people who have made the news for having what is consided to be "different" body shapes such as Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, and Kim Kardashian (had pics but couldn't figure out how to add them). In the 1800's, would Nicki have been considered a Hottentot? What might be said of Kim and JLo? These women proudly display their bodies in ways that are quite exposing. We also have magazines such as Playboy and Hustler and many others that make entertainment of viewing the body, especially one's private parts. Are these women simply reclaiming their sexuality the way we speak of reclaiming the word "bitch" or are they simply being displayed in a fashion similar to Baartman for a higher wage and as a different type of freakshow? (and some people actually like the attention). An interesting note is that, when asked, Sarah denied being forced to do anything and claimed that she did these things of her own free will. Whether those statements were coerced, who can know for sure. Personally, I don't feel that she was treated with the dignity or respect that she deserved as a fellow human being. Sadly, they didn't see her that way, and although we no longer use science to make these types of gross misjudgements about one another, I would argue that, socially, we are still intrigued by the body in a way that causes us to speak unfairly of those whose bodies we think are "different."
So how far have we really come? Apparently, we still have a way to go.
That is such an interesting question. I never thought about what would be the outcome if Sarah was White. I honestly do feel that her body would probably be seen as a deformity and maybe even put in freakshows, but I still don't think if her race was different she wouldn't be so ridicule in the manner Sarah Baartman was
DeleteSarah Baartman degrading exploitation was a way to present her as a freak and to be looked at as less than human. Such behavior is connected to the way in which whites viewed blacks as different and how they worked at trying to define what a true race was. As we know and many of you have already stated, scientist traced features and behaviors as an attempt to make a notion of what makes one another different than the norm. Looking at the features of Baartman then (such as the large buttocks) in comparison to society today and the desire to have a large buttocks and other luxurious features that would've been looked at as animalistic in the early 1800s.
ReplyDelete