abject -adjective: (of a situation or condi
(of an unhappy state of mind)
Synonyms: miserable - mean
This section is dedicated to informing the stu-
♦dent body of the culture that we now live and •
^thrive in. History has repeated its ugly self and ^
the very things which we praise are deceptive at
#an alarming rate. •
■St •
Consider the following songs and their rotation
on mainstream radio: •
A.“Bands will make her dance” by Juicy J
B. “Birthday Song” by
#2Chains %
The question is asked, “Is having a larger poste- ®
rior an advantange or disadvantage?” n
} # #
“What 1,’m seeing
By Francena Turner
Saartje Baartman in 1810 courtesy of ai-yo.tumblr.com
yReterred to as the orrginal video vi)^n, Saarjte Sarah V
Baartman was the first documented woman to put her
extremely large behind on display for a dollar. On the
surface, the assessment may be true. But, when looked
at in context, Saarjte had very little choice in how her life
ended up. You see, a woman who chooses to “strip and
spread ‘em” on display for money in 2012 has most likely
made the choice independently. Saarjte had no visual ex
ample of what she agreed to do and certainly she did not
expect to be preserved in formaldehyde and displayed in
pieces for years to come.
William Dunlop, a British doctor, discovered her in Cape
Town, South Africa after being amazed at her physical
features. Saarjte displayed steatopygia, a common trait
that the Khoisan people manifest as a high degree of fat
accumulation in the thighs, buttocks and elongated labia.
Dunlop convinced Saarjte to put her body on display in
exchange for wealth and a chance to travel the world.
Enter the Hottentot Venus as living science project.
jin an effort to prove that whites were superior to Africans
land to prove that Africans were more animal than human,
jDunlop presented Baartman to London, England and laterj-
I Paris, France as a living example of the common Euro-
jpean theory. She was a living naked example that the
laudience could grope and poke for a fee. After the freak
fshow ended, Dunlop turned Baartman out into the Par
isian streets where she made a living as a prostitute.
Eventually she met Georges Cuvier, the scientist who
would dissect and preserve her after her 1915 death. ,
Sarah Baartman’s genitals and brain remained on display i
in the Musee de I’Homme in Paris until 1974. She was not|
returned to South Africa until January of 2002, and only
after extensive stalling on the part of France in order to
not have her return set a precedent for having to return
other “treasures” to other countries.
She was finally and officially buried on August 9,
2002-South Africa’s Women’s Day.
fi, • «
fo the site
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