Madison Goracke on "Images of Sarah Bartman"

The Abraham’s perspective on Sarah Bartman and her story was that of gender concepts. What happened to Sarah Bartman wouldn’t have been what it was without assuming things about all genders and races.

The author’s views on Sarah Bartman enlightened the topic of why what happened to her, actually happened. She said that if you looked at the history of what was happening at the time, the entire situation was much more understandable. Reflecting on the reading shows that Sarah Bartman endured racism to the fullest extent. The author points out that not only was there a racial problem, but there was also a problem with assuming of gender roles. I feel as if now studying more about the topic, those two topics do go hand in hand.

Abraham’s perspective led me to think that the two topics of racism and gender were the main problem that she faced. Sarah Bartman was looked on as that of an object who had been enslaved by someone who thought she would be a fine attraction in Europe. I think that the society then and our society now still place women as objects and sexualize them in the same way, jumping to conclusions based on gender and what is considered to be “normal.” With what the author presented, it showed that at the time the middle class saw black women as savages who couldn’t control themselves sexually.  

Today, although maybe a bit less barbaric, I feel as if we face some of the same struggles in our society that Sarah Bartman had to endure. There are still racial stereotypes and gender assumptions that women and men both face on a daily basis. I’d hope nothing like what happened to Sarah Barman would happen in today’s society. Women in today’s society still get treated like they are less than what they are. We are able to see on the news, on TV, in books, and everywhere that women and women of color have assumptions following them on a daily basis telling them who they need to be.

What assumptions and discriminations are faced by women and women of color based on ideas of gender roles and/or gender concepts?