THE HEARTBREAKING TALE OF SAARTJIE BAARTMAN

THE HEARTBREAKING TALE OF SAARTJIE BAARTMAN, THE 'HOTTENTOT VENUSThe significance of Sarah BaartmanTwo



 centuries ago Sarah Baartman died after years spent in European "freak showsThe world is made up of all different kinds of people, and they're all, well, very different. Many have always had a fascination with those who aren't like themselves, and sometimes, that's ended very poorly indeed
HISTORY ROYALS
THE HEARTBREAKING TALE OF SAARTJIE BAARTMAN, THE 'HOTTENTOT VENUS'
Wikimedia Commons
BY DB KELLY/AUG. 28, 2020 10:49 AM EST
The world is made up of all different kinds of people, and they're all, well, very different. Many have always had a fascination with those who aren't like themselves, and sometimes, that's ended very poorly indeed.

For centuries, that's led to the uncomfortable, degrading practice of exhibiting "others" for the amusement of those who see themselves as somehow superior. Throughout the 19th century, those exhibitions even took the form of organized "human zoos," and if that isn't enough to make someone lose faith in the human race, then nothing is.

Even before that, people deemed strange or foreign were often exhibited in other ways, and there's no story that's sadder than that of Saartjie Baartman. When she was plucked from her homeland in Africa and taken to Europe to go on display, she was renamed the "Hottentot Venus," (and we'll look at why that's so particularly horrible). Much of Baartman's short life was spent being ogled and touched by strangers who grossly exploited her.

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