Answer to Question #205811 in History for Neliswa

Question

Briefly discuss why Sara Baartman was symbolic of gender and racial descrimination against African women in the 19th century

Answer 1

Sarah Baartman was the first Khoikhoi to be abducted from their homeland, according to history. Her excessive physical type led to her being sent to the West. Her narrative is primarily utilized as a metaphor for the different social pressures that women experience. She has become a symbol of the oppression and hardship that African women face in the twenty-first century.

Sarah was exploited extensively and subjected to horrendous cruelty both before and after her death. When she was alive, she would be paraded in front of the public and scientists in skintight clothing so that they could inspect her physique. Sarah's reproductive organs were increasingly popular among Europeans over time. Her sexual organs were found to be overdeveloped when compared to those of white people.

Wealthy individuals might even pay for a private presentation of her physique. One would be permitted to touch or even poke her reproductive organs in exchange for more compensation. Baartman was confronted with a variety of adversities that certain African women face. Her brain and reproductive organs were displayed in the Musee de l'Homme for one hundred and fifty years after she died.