Search results

The purpose of this study is to understand Black women's recollection and representation of Saartjie Baartman in comparison to their own body image, while also aligning their interpretation of Baartman's legacy through contemporary reflections of themselves and others. Interviews with 30 Black women in South Africa ( n = 15) and the United States ( n = 15) reveal that accurate knowledge and perceptions of Baartman's experience varies; Baartman's body is remembered as trope and ideal object to compare; however, Black women find resilience and positivity in Baartman's story. These findings although some consistent with previous literature, some are inconsistent. Considering the Black women in this study did not thematically discuss experiencing dissatisfaction, self-objectification, or self-surveillance. It is important to recognize Black women's perceptions of their bodies as resilient and positive rather than dissatisfied. This research provides important information for the furtherance of positive body image and Black women relative to the curvaceous ideal.

"Sarah Baartman's iconic status as the "Hottentot Venus"--as "victimized" African woman, "Mother" of the new South Africa, and ancestral spirit to countless women of the African Diaspora--has led to an outpouring of essays, biographies, films, interviews, art installations, centers, comprising a virtual archive that seeks to find some meaning in her persona. Yet even those with the best intentions, fighting to give Baartman agency, a voice, a personhood, continue to service the general narratives of European documentation of her life without asking "What if we looked at Baartman through another lens?" This collection is the first of its kind to offer a space for international scholars, cultural activists, and visual artists to examine the legacy of Baartman's life anew, specifically finding an alternative Africanist rendering of a person whose life has left a profound impact on the ways in which Black women are displayed and represented the world over"--

The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: The Hottentot Venus. 1998. 52 minutes, color. film directed by Zola Maseko. For more information, contact First Run/Icarus Films. 153 Waverly Place, New York. NY 10014.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- DRAMATIS PERSONAE -- Introduction -- 1 Winds of the Camdeboo -- 2 Cape of Storms -- 3 London Calling -- 4 Before the Law -- 5 Lost, and Found -- 6 Paris, City of Light -- 7 Ghosts of Sara Baartman -- EPILOGUE Family -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- NOTES -- SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX