Friday, February 4, 2011

Laura Kalinowski Post 2

I agree with Jennifer G. about the scientific racism associated with the “Venus Hottentot.” I felt the movie, along with the poem, really reinforced the idea of how people use science to justify racism. In the movie, they talked a lot about how Sarah was so interesting to the Europeans because of the differences in the way she looked, but not all about her skin color. Her body size and shape were the main factors in why she was put on display. It was her physical features that really made her “a freak” to the British. This shows the people’s feelings and possibly their justification of this kind of behavior. They may have used this “scientific exploration” of Sarah to justify their display and appalling treatment of her. The fact that parts of her body were taken, and never returned, really shows how terrible the views towards other races and human beings were. They didn't care enough to even show respect when she died, by giving her proper arrangements. They could see that she was another human being because they examined her after she had died, and yet they still treated her as an animal.

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