The article displayed a congruency between gender and race; there cannot be sexism with racism, since they go hand in hand and develop with each other. The issue of how black women such as Sara Bartman were considered with demeaning implications is still prevalent today in our society.
The article mentioned that “scientific findings” were “disseminated through the press and public lectures, and the effect was to create a climate that validated racism”. I can see how the people probably wanted a logical and scientific explanation and justification for their racist inclinations. It is understandable, too, because it is easier for people to treat others poorly if they are made to believe that the group of people is inferior. This climate of validated racism probably promoted others who were not racist or sexist to change their perspective because of the so-called scientific evidence.
I thought it was interesting that “Victorian gender roles assumed that proper women had no sexual feelings” (234). It made me think of orientalism, that there exists a we versus them, proper versus inappropriate, chaste versus lusty, good versus bad, white females versus black females. So here, the major contrast between black females and white females was the sexuality. The author did reveal such issues that African women face living in a world run on white patriarch supremacy. For example, it was acceptable and fashionable for women to sport the “Sunday’s best” dresses that resembled the large buttocks that were considered a sign of savagery in African women. This was an example of how something that a white woman might do is acceptable but the very same aspect that regards black women is shameful or savage. This is applicable to today’s modern society; a black woman might do a noble deed but she might be looked down upon for that whereas a white woman doing the same act might be viewed as a heroine. ( See https://sambranotimes.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/the-difference-between-intersectionality-and-white-feminism/ ) In Sara Bartman’s time it was much worse –African women were actually dehumanized and were believed to be not even human but more like animals. It was acceptable for Sara Bartman’s nearly naked body to be up on posters but if that was a white woman showing that much skin, there would have been an upheaval or chaos in the social order.
We still live in a culture that objectifies the black female body. Through music and media, the exhibition of boobs and butts and labels stereotype the characteristics of women. Just like Bartman’s nude body was exhibited to the public, technology has made bodies similar to Bartman’s easy to find and very public. The article mentioned how myths were in place that all Africans were sexually deviant, barely human and almost like animals. Similarly, today there exists the idea that women behave a certain way based on the prominence of their feminine characteristics or how much skin they show. Sara Bartman’s experience made me think of today, how a girl might be raped and people might say that the girl was asking for it by the way she dresses. Honestly, this is not an old excuse since even in the 18th century, during Sara’s experience, people were justifying the degradation of black women by implying that their anatomy was at fault and not the perpetrator to blame.
Are society’s views on black women improving or are they stagnant or degrading? I mean, society has come a long way from the savage-like perspective. But I feel like there is still a gender difference between white women and black but the gap is narrowing.
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