"The Hottentot Venus"

Today in my African American Women's History class we watched a video on the life of Sara Bartment.  A member of the Khoi Khoi tribe from South African  brought over along with her people to America  in the nineteenth century.   Long story short she was looked upon as strange for her back then "unfamiliar frame" which consisted of a larger than normal behind! She was exploited sexually, physically, and even mentally!

To the right is how she was depicted in a totally satirical manner.  She was deemed "freakish" and a carnivore like a bear,  or dog! WTF!!  I truly sympathized with this young lady.  What really burns me up is the fact that she was deem ed an object of mystery so much that her dead body was given to the museum in England to be "studied".  By looking at her skeleton is was quite clear that she was no different than the next human woman!

Rewind to our time, how are women who have similar body shapes as Bartmen and the Khoi Khoi tribe perceived today?

By today's standards in Black America a woman with Bartmen's physical attributes today would be considered a hot "commodity".

A  "thick" or curvaceous body is seen to many men within the black race as a "must have".  Ive heard it plenty and plenty of times before that "She can have an ok face, but her body has to be "right" ! Some men kill me..LOL! I am actually repulsed when a man walks up to me and the first thing out of his mouth is "Dam you thick" ummmm SIR! That is a no-no!

But enough of my rambling, what do YOU think??   Do you think the black woman's body is still today made a spectacle of?