In memory of Venus Baartman

Venus Baartman was born in South Africa in the year 1790; this young Khoi Khoi (also known as Hottentots) worked as a slave until she was discovered by a British Doctor. This British doctor was fascinated by Venus’ build so much so that he took her to Europe in 1810, when Venus was only 20. Venus’ features were not unusual in Africa however hers were larger than normal.

 

Of which if you research the reasons behind the African woman’s builds you will find that African women are built the way they are to protect their reproductive system from the African sun, whereas European women who are not exposed to extreme temperatures do not need that form of protection, I digress…

 

Venus Baartman was not her real name, it was the name given to her by the British Doctor who purchased her. As we all know Venus is the God of love, in my search there was no evidence to support that her given surname was selected in reference to her body build ( although I strongly suspect that some cruel pun was intended).

 

 Venus was paraded as a freak in London and France.

 

Signs such as the one below would be used to invite men to come to these “freak shows”:

Parties of twelve and upwards, may be accommodated with a Private

Exhibition of the HOTTENTOT, at No. 225 Piccadilly, between Seven

And Eight o’clock in the Evening, by giving notice to the Door-Keeper

the Day previous.

 

The Doctor who bought her from Africa claims to have paid Venus for her services but it is obvious that the payment was minimal as it was not enough for this abused lady to buy her freedom.

 

Exhibition evolved into forced prostitution and alcohol abuse. Sadly, Venus died at the tender age of 25. She only survived 5 years of torture.

 

One would think that the abuse would stop now that Venus was dead but lo and behold, it did not. Venus’ corpse was preserved and exhibited at the Musee de L’homme until as recently as 1985. Thereafter they were removed from public viewing. In 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa he made a request for the remains of Venus to the then President of France Mr Jacques Chirac. It took 8 years for the French to agree to repatriate her remains. Only in 2002 on Women’s day, the 9^th of August, did Venus get a humane burial. 187 years after she died, she finally rested in peace

 

On a lighter note, while Venus was alive, European women got annoyed by the fact that their husbands were spending time and money ogling over Venus’ derriere. And so they decided to do something about it…..

 These dresses were designed to add more umph to the European women's behinds....