Venus

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of racism, enslavement, sexual coercion and assault, as well as racist language and outdated terminology for race and gender.

The story of Saartjie Baartman is essentially a story about the exploitation and commodification of Black female bodies in 19th-century Europe. As a Black woman, the Venus Hottentot is alternately characterized as subhuman (“Wild Female Jungle Creature” (5)), an exoticized Other (the “African Dancing Princess” (15)), an animal (“Stepsister-Monkey”), and the physical embodiment of “Love.” None of the characters acknowledge her as a fellow human with an identity and desires. To them, she is merely an object from which they can gain sexual pleasure, money, or professional advancement. Their treatment speaks to the systemic and scientific racism that prevailed in 19th-century Europe.

As the Venus Hottentot is passed from the Brother to the Mother-Showman to the Docteur, she is manipulated and exploited in different ways. The Brother lures her to England with false promises of wealth, only to sell her to the Mother-Showman and disappear. The Mother-Showman, unlike the Brother, makes no attempt to disguise her motives. Under the Mother-Showman, the Venus is caged, exhibited to a paying audience, beaten, and sexually trafficked.