Soaiba Fatima on Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot"

In the second part of her poem "The Venus Hottentot", Elizabeth Alexander writes from the perspective of Sarah (Saartjie) Baartman. As she depicts the environment and situation Sarah is in, Alexander mentions how Sarah's "Master" doesn't realize that Sarah understands everything that is happening; not only his language, but also the truth of her predicament. 

There is a specific line in which Alexander writes, "I speak English. I speak Dutch. I speak a little French as well, and languages Monsieur Cuvier will never know have names." These lines made me realize that Sarah Baartman, a woman abused under the guise of furthering science, is more educated than the man keeping her in a cage. Besides speaking her own native language, Sarah speaks and understands multiple languages that are completely foreign to her. On the other hand is the "Master", Monsieur Cuvier, who speaks no other language than his own.  In the first part of the poem, Alexander used the perspective of the master, playing up his part to make him seem educated and scientific. However, the way the author described Sarah's thoughts really made me realize that for all his scientific knowledge, Alexander doesn't find him as smart as he considers himself. In fact, I believe the author thinks that he might have initially not been aware that he was abusing Sarah. He doesn't realize she speaks his language, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think he doesn't even consider Sarah to be a human. 
I however disagree with this because it seems like the master knew Sarah from before she became his showpiece. In fact Cuviers brother convinced Sarah to even go into "business" with him, which confirms that there is history between them. I find it hard to see how one could be so abusive without realizing the damage they're doing. I believe Cuvier knew from the start that he would be using and abusing Sarah, but the fame and money made him ignore the fact that his "success" was stemming from Sarah's suffering. Although the author is fully condemning Cuvier, she did not emphasize the point that he knew he was hurting Sarah.

The abuse of Sarah Baartman, I believe was the first major occasion of the exploitation of women in an effort to gain fame and money. On a much smaller scale, this reading made me think about how women are more often featured, even in entertainment media, and their entire lives are put on display for the public to view and judge. For example, some female figures whose lives are often broadcasted on media outlets are the Kardashians, Taylor Swift, and almost any other female public figure. The public seems to have an obsession with studying these women's lives and picking them apart to judge for entertainment. 
This link for example: http://www.anewmode.com/dating-relationships/taylor-swift-sucks-relationships-learn/ is an article about Taylor Swifts past relationships. The media is advertising her life under the guise of "helping readers not make her mistakes". 

I would love to discuss how major problems like Sarah Baartmans mistreatment have led to minor situations like a public obsession with female public figures personal lives.