Brutal face of western civilisation & deeply rooted patriarchy: This is Saraa baartman - an African woman whose body was tragically exploited by 'civilised Europeans'.
Sara was a Koisan born in Cape town of S Africa where she was living with her partner. Both of her parents died just at her toddler age. When the Dutch colonised South Africa, her baartman community folks were essentially forced into Cape Town to find work and survive. +
The Dutch killed her partner with whom she had a baby, & eventually she was forced into brutal domestic work. In the city, baartman' body was sexualised by white men & began to gain attention. She was short & curvaceous. +
As she was working as a maid at the home of baartman ceasar, her owner ceaser would often take her to the city Markey and make money out of her body show. Alexander dunlop, a surgeon saw her & told ceaser that she's 'money making potential' & we should take her to Europe. +
They both made plan to trick sara & she mistakenly signed a contract where ceaser & Alexander proposed her to take england & she would become star after doing shows. In reality, the illiterate Sara, had signed a contract for slavery & if ceaser would whip her if she refuses. +
They forced her into exhibitions for entertainment purpose & they would make huge money out of it. In London, she was made stand partially naked in cage and the white supremacists lined up in audience poll. Sara' curvy buttock made her object of fascination by Englishmen. +
That objectification sparked controversy among some anti-slavery group and both of her owner were summoned by court but having the white privilege, they faced no consequences. They produced her 'mistakenly signed contract' and they were granted permission to enslave her. +
Some months later, ceaser took her to Paris & sold her to showman reaux - a man who used to showcase animals. Showman would rape her on daily basis, while and tie her in cage if she refuses that. He later impregnated her & had a baby which also died some years later. +
Along with that sexual torture and rape, he would take her all around the streets in a cage, gather whitemen, & showcase her with baby rhinoceros. Showman used to make huge profit out of her body exploitation. +
In 1815, her mental health declined to the point that she died at the age of just 26. George cuvior, a French scientist examined her body and concluded that Sara was a link between humans & animals. Thus, many white supremacists believed that africans are lesser people. +
After examining her body, the French government took out her skeleton and external private parts to display them in a French museum. +
In 1995, President Mandela requested french government to return the remain of Saraa which they refused initially but as pressure mounted up, they returned her parts 8 years later. On 9 Aug 2002, Saraa was buried in Cape town of South Africa.
She died at 26. Even her early age death couldn't prevent the sexual abuse and brutal slavery she went through just because Europian considered themselves superior. wondering which country the west would invade next to save the women rights.
