History, Events And Facts

5 Things you didn’t know about Sarah Baartman Sarah Baartman, also known as the “Hottentot Venus,” was a Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited as a sideshow attraction in Europe in the early 19th century. Here are five things you may not know about her: 1. Baartman was not a slave, but she was forced to leave her home country: Baartman was born in the Eastern Cape of South Africa around 1789. In 1810, she was recruited by a British doctor who convinced her to travel to Europe to make money by exhibiting her body. However, she was not aware of the true nature of the exhibition, and was essentially forced to leave her home country against her will. 2. Her physical features were exploited for entertainment: Baartman had a prominent buttocks and elongated labia, which were considered unusual by European audiences at the time. She was exhibited in a cage or on a stage, and audiences would pay to see her and other people with physical differences as part of a “freak show.” This dehuma...