This is a story some of you know, and the rest of you should. Saartjie (Little Sarah) was a woman variously claimed to have been San, Bushman, or Grikwa (and one can in fact be all three easily) ... but anyway, South African ... and and with a number of physical features typical for the women of her place of origin but that would be very exotic to the ignorant eyes of a typical early 19th century European. She was brought to Europe in 1810, put on display, and you can imagine the rest of the story.
But actually, better than imagining it, read about it here.
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
I'd heard of the "Hottentot Venus" before, but hadn't heard the details of her life. Thank you for pointing me to this.
Posted by: Skemono | November 21, 2008 12:22 AM
Greg:
Thanks for the mention.
Posted by: Romeo Vitelli | November 21, 2008 3:05 AM