Unattainable Beauty
An introduction to how Sara Baartman
forever altered the world of femininity
forever altered the world of femininity
Biography of Sara Baartman
It is pertinent to comprehend how tragic the life of Sara Baartman truly was. Little is known about her early years as a member of the Khoisan tribe, but she was most likely born in 1770s. In 1810, two men, Alexander Dunlop and Hendrik Cesars, brought Sara to England so she could exhibit her body. Sara Baartman appealed to Dunlop and Cesars because of her large breasts, oversized derriere, and elongated vaginal lips. They most likely knew she would attract audiences in Europe, as well as bring in money. The people of England mocked and examined her, as if she did not belong to humanity. When she died, the most well known scientist at the time dissected her body and put her genitals and her brain on display for all to see. He also made a cast of her body, which is pictured on the right. Unfortunately, it was not until 1974, after the Civil Rights movement, that Sara Baartman's body parts were taken off display. In 2002, Sara Baartman was finally laid to rest in South Africa, leaving behind an untold story and a legacy that will remain for years to come.
Sara Baartman's influence can still be felt today, especially in the social construction of gender and femininity. As Sandra Lee Bartky in Feminism and Foucault wrote "We are born male or female, but not masculine or feminine. Femininity is an artifice, an achievement, 'a mode of enacting and reenacting received gender norms, which surface as so many styles of the flesh.' [...This] must be understood in the light of the modernization of patriarchal domination, a modernization that unfolds historically...." (64).
Therefore, in today's society, femininity is usually equated with small, silent, and adorned. It caters strongly to the Europeans' perception of beauty.