The History of the Exploitation of Black Women

Black gothic is about what black people have endured during and after slavery. Misogynoir and Afro-Pessimism are two important concepts of the black gothic. The life and death of Saartjie Baartman and the Jezebel whore stereotype are great examples of these two concepts because both illustrate what black women experienced and how it still affects them today.

Saartjie Baartman was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos River Valley in South Africa. She was the eldest of 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Her mother died before she reached the age of 1 and her father was a cattle drover and hunter. She got her last name from her father which means “bearded man”. Saartjie translates into Little Sara and the diminutive ‘-tjie’ suffix was used as endearment between loved ones, but also by whites to indicate contempt, belittlement and domination over black people.

Dutch colonists murdered her husband when she was sixteen and sold her to Pieter Willem Cesars. He was a free black from Cape town who was a hunter and trader. He gave her to his brother and his sister-in-law, Hendrick Cesars and Anna Catharina Staal, to take care of their daughter. “Saartije caught Peiter Cesars’s attention; she was a good age for a nursemaid, and a sharp and strikingly pretty youngster”(Holmes 20). A friend and employer of Hendrick and Anna, William Dunlop, convinced Saartije to sign a contract detailing that she would travel to England for six years to be exhibited for entertainment purposes.

Her routine consisted of dancing, singing folk and popular songs in Khoi, Affrikaans and English, and playing her ramkie.[1] Dunlop and Hendrick Cesars wanted Saartije to look authentic for the role of the Hottentot Venus, so she was dressed in things like ostrich feathers and bushbuck apron. “…included ivory bracelets, ostrich-shell necklaces, wood and bone bead belts, anklets earrings, an elaborate headband, and an imposing and intricately wrought bridal necklace”(Holmes 54).[2] She was sometimes prodded by show goers who was fascinated by her curves. “…clambered up on to the stage and poked her sharply in the buttocks with her furled parasol…”(Holmes 3).

Saartije was nicknamed the “Hottentot Venus” for her enormous buttocks. Venus was a synonym for sex and the word prompted the thoughts of love or lust. Hottentot meant everything that was strange, alien and sexually deviant. “Some in the audience had heard or read travellers’ tales of mysterious Hottentot women, reputed, to have enormous buttocks and strangely elongated labia, and to smoke a great deal”(Holmes 2). Saartije was nothing more than a fetishization for white people who felt they were superior. Her nickname shows how she was viewed and how black women are viewed today. She was viewed as an exotic creature and that because of her abnormal shape, her only purpose was sex. Black women are known for having wide hips and butts, and they usually get these attributes at a young age. This causes them to be sexualized and dehumanized their whole life.

Even in death, Saartije was objectified. Although she died in 1815, her remains didn’t get a proper burial until 2002[3]. Her sexual organs, brain, skeleton, and a cast of her body were on display at the National History Museum in Paris[4]. Her remains were used to prove white people’s beliefs that black people were of a different species. “There was, they argued, more than one species in the genus Homo; races could be classified, and ranked in terms of superiority and inferiority”(Holmes 185). Their beliefs were debunked by the discovery of DNA in 1950, which proved that race was a social construct with no biological basis. “…race was a social myth, not a biological fact, and that humans belong to the single species Homo sapiens, and recommended dropping the term race altogether”(Holmes 186). These beliefs are still prominent in the minds of white people. To white people, blacks will always be inferior and animal-like.

The Jezebel whore stereotype [5]was created to justify white men sleeping with black women. By creating this stereotype during slavery, the idea that black women can’t get raped developed. Black women were depicted as having an insatiable appetite for sex and not being satisfied by black men. Africans’ tribal dances and being scantly clad made Europeans believe that they were lewd. During slave auctions, slaves were stripped of their clothing and physically examined. Slaves had few clothes which sometimes exposed their chests. White women wore clothes that covered their body unlike black women.

Black women and girls were encouraged to produce a lot of children to become future slaves[6]. Their masters would give them a pig or a day off if they produced enough children. When they would reproduce, it was proof of their insatiable sexual appetite. The lack of clothes and black women being pregnant all the time reinforced the idea that white women were modest and pure.

Today, black girls are called fast and grown based solely on their shape. You never heard a white girl being called a whore and that’s because they’re seen as innocent. A white girl can wear a hoodie and shorts, and nobody see anything wrong with it. However, if a black girl wears the same thing, she would be ridiculed and seen as a whore. The Jezebel stereotype has affected the lives of black girls. People still believe that black girls are nothing more than sexual creatures.

Rape crimes are committed more against black women than women overall. Men rape black women more because they view them as Jezebels. In white and black men’s heads, black women always want to have sex. White women are perceived as innocent and fragile unlike black women who are thought of as strong and aggressive. Men love to have sex with black women and how their bodies look but hate them. “There’s also the fact that humans can sometimes find things we're not supposed to like incredibly exciting — and sometimes that excitement gets sexual”(Russo 2017). Men fetishized after black women, and it excites them to have sex with someone that is “exotic”.

Black women work hard to be accepted for who they are. From them having to fight to wear their natural hair in the workplace to being ridiculed for what they are wearing because of how their body is shaped. Some white women have been “blackfishing” which is when white women try to look like black women by tanning, getting plastic surgery and lip fillers. White women can obtain what black women have been mocked about for centuries which is unfair. They fetishize black women and can’t fathom that black women are sought after. “White women, no matter how open-minded they believe themselves to be, still subconsciously see themselves as the "default," and any nonwhite woman fitting into the "hot girl" trope is supposed to be the exception, not the rule”(Tiarra 2021).

In conclusion, Saartjie Baartman is a symbol for black girls and women who have been used for profit and sex. The Jezebel stereotype was created so black women would be viewed as whores and white men could have sex with them without being shame. The beliefs that white people acquired have affected the lives of black girls. Because of their absurd beliefs, black girls are seen as merely animal sex crazed beings. Black girls are the most underrepresented group of people in humanity.

References

Green, Susan. “Violence Against Black Women – Many Types, Far-reaching Effects”. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. 13 July 2017, https://iwpr.org/iwpr-issues/race-ethnicity-gender-and-economy/violence-against-black-women-many-types-far-reaching-effects/

Holmes, Rachel. The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Sarah Baartman. 2007. Great Britain, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

McGregor, Nesta & Virk, Kameron. “Blackfishing: The woman accused of pretending to be black”. Bbc. 5 Dec. 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46427180

Parkinson, Justin. “The significance of Sarah Baartman”. Bbc. 7 Jan. 2016, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35240987

Russo, Mario Del. “How Can You Be Attracted to Someone You Really Like”. Refinery29. 6 Oct. 2017, https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/10/174089/attracted-to-someone-you-hate-sex

Tiarra, Kendall. “Am I a Fetish or Just the Prettiest Girl in the Room? Why Attractive Black People Trigger White People”. Popsugar. 2 Feb. 2021, https://www.popsugar.com/love/why-attractive-black-women-trigger-white-people-48123805

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