I found Sarah Baartman’s story quite appalling on many levels. I do not understand how people could take a woman and parade her around like a show dog. The fact that they escorted her out and barked out orders to her like she were an animal is unreal. She was in a freak show because of her body’s curvature and she was gawked at for it. This reminded me of a previous story we read in which it spoke of freak in shows and how we gawk and stare constantly. It was obvious that she saw them staring too, due to her unfortunate death due to prostitution and alcoholism. What did she think of us staring? What would she say if Sarah Baartman was given a chance to voice her opinion? People instead studied her and doctors concluded “that she was evidence of the superiority of the white race” (Mcgreal, 2). How were doctors able to be so naïve back then? It is amazing to believe that we once thought such a false accusation to be true and what is even more amazing is our willingness to parade our own kind around when there is something that is slightly abnormal to us.
Today, people would reach out and grab whoever the ticket seller is and beat them. They would grab the freak-show employee that holds her captive and place her behind bars. People today would take Sarah out of such a hostile environment and punish those who harm her. So when did this view shift so drastically? Was it before, during, or after the time period when they stopped slavery, or civil rights, or maybe was it not until a doctor realized this mistake in the studies that claimed white genes to be superior to all other colors? We look at Ian Lopez’s piece and realize that there is an opposing view to Baartman’s case. We realize that people have taken a very deep look into the subject at hand and found that there really is no difference between races, but the differences start to come more evident when you search within races. They found that “greater generic variation exists within the populations typically labeled black and white that between these populations” (Lopez, 52). Lopez would simply laugh at these doctors who examine Baartman and call them fools for their conclusions. Lopez believes that you cannot distinctively say that color establishes different genes between races because simply color of the skin does not provide a means to divide people. There really is no concrete, black and white, divide. There are all types and shapes and sizes that come into play and trying to divide on color would only cause this to become that much more hard.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI thought you might be interested in this. We will watch in class if time allows, but it connects to your post and current day "exhibitions".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7210000/newsid_7215500/7215536.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=54&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2
After reading your post, it makes me think about today's society and how we still view people who are "abnormal" today. There are still traveling "freak shows" and things like Ripley's Believe It or Not, where people are looked at and talked about because they are different. While this is not to the same extent as Sarah, it still makes you wonder if these people are truly "showing" themselves because it makes them feel good or not. These people may only be taking part because it is their only way to survive. They are unable to provide for themselves through any other means, so they put themselves out there to be gawked at, laughed at and judged. Yes, they may fully consent, but it can still be demoralizing and humiliating. You say in your post that "Today, people would reach out and grab whoever the ticket seller is and beat them." But that is not necessarily the case. From what we still see, people are still handing out money to see the unusual. Because so many are fascinated by the different and strange, there will always be a business for it. Now, I am by no means saying that what Sarah went through wasn't bad, in fact, it was horrible because she did not have a choice and eventually died because of the turmoil she felt. But what I am saying is that stuff like that is still going on in today's world. While it may seem more acceptable, people will always be drawn to the unusual.
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