African Queen: The real life of HOTTTENTOT VENUS, pages 1-17

Summary:
The story begins in media revs, Saartjie Baartman also known as” Hottentot Venus” steps onto the stage in her pointed green ribboned slippers and her tight/ skin color stocking that barley covered anything. At only twenty- one years old, her high cheekbones and dramatic greasepaint makeup make her seem enigmatic. She has a heart-shaped face with deep dimpled cheeks and a cupid bows mouth that adds the finishing touches to her beauty. She stands no taller than four feet seven inches but what makes her so original is the shape of her buttock. Saartjie’s show consisted of not only her beauty and physical makeup but she also sang, danced and played the guitar.

Saartjie lived in South Africa before she was shipped off to London; she had been working as a nursemaid to two little girls. Saartjie was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos River Valley. Her mother died when she was two leaving behind two daughter and four sons not including Saartjie. Saartjie had a strong relationship with her dad in which she viewed him as a hero, but that relationship did not last long. At the age of seventeen or eighteen Saartjie not only lost her father but she also lost the love of her life. Saartjie’s father was the head of the hunters and her mother was the women who organized feast, so Saartjie was wanted by every young male in the village but Solkar was the one whom she would fall in love with. At the day of their feast to celebrate their upcoming marriage, Solkar gave her a tortoiseshell pendant, which she never took off .Her party, was cashed by some European explores and both Solkar and her father died. She was captured and sold to a family in which she worked as a nursemaid. A couple of months later, she met a young soldier who played the drums. She fell into quick love and was soon pregnant by him. She had the baby but to years later the baby fell ill and died. The relationship between Saartjie and the soldier ended. Once again Saartjie was ripped away from her family.

Quotation:

” she wished to ascertain that all was…’nattral“(Holmes 4- 5).

Reflection:

In this quote, a woman expresses her disbelief after she witnesses the Saartjie. She then went on to poke Saartjie as if she is some type of animal or creature. Due to the statue in which Saartjie was built the women believed that she was not real and that her buttock was imaginary. Her arrogance lead her to violate Saartjie space by poking her.

This type of behavior is insulting to Saartjie and unfortunately she had to endure it everyday. I have a sense of sympathy towards Saartjie because she not only lost everyone whom she loved but she also was taken from her homeland to work in a foreign place in which she was perceived as unreal and alien like. The reason why this quote was so important is because it clarifies the fact she was considered imaginary and “fake” because she had a dark completion and her physical features were different.