Who is Sarah Baartman and why have her hips become so important in Europe?

Sarah Baartman (Saartje Baartman), who was born in South Africa in 1789, the same year as the French Revolution, and the tragic events that happened to her, reveal how dark and evil a part of humanity is. Her "crime" is to be born into a South African tribe and have wide hips and a large genitalia. We will look at the events that developed after her "discovery", her being taken to Europe and exhibited and then her death. Sarah is a woman who has not survived the exploitation of her body, even after her death. Proof that geography and anatomy are destiny. As a popular saying puts it: “All so-called inhuman events take place between humans.”

Sarah Baartman (1789– 29 December 1815), also spelt Sara, sometimes in the diminutive form Saartje was a Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, a name which was later attributed to at least one other woman similarly exhibited. 

Sarah Baartman, who was born in the Griqua tribe, a subgroup of the Khoikhoi people, known as the first indigenous inhabitants of South Africa, in 1789, lost her mother at the age of two. Afterward, she lost her father in the conflict that broke out during the colonial struggles of the British and the Dutch. He took the orphaned Sarah, a black trader named Willem Cezar, and made her work as a slave on his farm in Cope Town.

An English soldier, Doctor William Dunlop, noticed Sarah Baartman, who started working on the farm as a slave. He wanted to bring Sarah, who has very large hips and large genitals, to London and display it. He made promises that she would become rich in order to deceive Sarah, whom he thought would be of great interest to Europeans.

Seduced by these promises, Sarah began her journey to London. A contract was also made between Willem Cezar, who used Sarah as a slave, and Doctor William Dunlop. Pursuant to this contract, Sarah has been purchased for recreational use in London.

Coming to London in her 20s, Sarah is initially used by scientists in research. Before long, it started to be exhibited with animals in circuses for demonstration purposes. Sarah's body, which is also exhibited in some museums, attracts the attention of Europeans. In fact, Sarah's physical appearance is very common in her tribe.

Sarah's face was painted and adorned with jewelry. The audience would abuse Sarah by insulting her. Sarah was used this way in circuses for about four years.

Sarah Baartman, who went to Europe, became known as the "Venus of Hottentot". Because the Europeans called Sarah's tribe the Hottentot. They also compared Sarah to Venus, also known as Aphrodite because of her large hips and large genitalia. Europeans drew cartoons and organized games called “The Venus of Hottentot”. the drama “The Hottentot Venus” or “Hatred to French Women”; It was a game with racial prejudices and sexual fantasies playing with the native perception of Europe.

Having completed her English career, Sarah was sold to a wild animal keeper in Paris in 1814. It was exhibited in France, just like in England, by this wild animal keeper named Reaux.

Sarah, who begins to drink alcohol during these shameful and tortured years, is forced to have sex with white men for money. Displayed in the same cage as a rhino, Sarah must do as the trainer tells her to. She dies at the age of 26 due to alcohol.

Less than 24 hours after her death, Napoleon's surgeon, Zoologist and Naturalist George Cuvier, dissected Sarah's body to work on it. Sarah's lifeless body, whose brain and genitals were removed, begins to be exhibited at the Musee I'Homme in Paris. The rest of his body is also stuffed and displayed elsewhere.

Sarah Baartman's life story is the biggest shame of Europeans. European scholars who have studied Sarah have published numerous articles on the supremacy of their race. After her death, the indigenous people of South Africa and the Griquas tribe, of which Sarah is a member, demand Sarah's body from France. However, this request was rejected by France. According to the law of 1850, all the works exhibited in French museums belong to France.

Nelson Mandela, who became the head of state after the 1994 elections, informed the French President of the time, François Mitterrand, about this during his visit to South Africa. Although the return of Sarah's body is requested, no results can be obtained. In 2002, although the same request was sent to France again through Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo and Culture Minister Ben Ngubane, no results could be obtained once again.

After this horrific event that has been the subject of centuries, Sarah's body is brought to South Africa on March 6, 2002. On August 9, 2002, on Women's Day, an official holiday in Africa, she was buried in Doge Cope province, on the land where she was born.

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the movie "Vénus Noire", or Black Venus, which was transferred to the big screen, was about Sarah's life story and won many awards.

Sarah Baartman is for many people today a symbol of racism and the commodification of black people.