After reading about Saartjie Baartmen
I don’t know if I was more saddened by her story or angrier about what happened
to her. I was in shock by the way they treated her while she was alive but more
appalled about how they treated her in death. Before reading the chapter in Medical Apartheid I never thought about
what they would do to a “freak” after they died. Knowing now that B.T. Barnum
and other entertainers would make money selling tickets to an autopsy is crazy
(George Washington’s wet nurse). I guess it could be argued that B.T.B. and others owned the “freaks” so they
can do anything they want to them but, I guess after a person dies no matter
you consider them an animal that you own
or not they bodies should not be tampered
with or put on show for other peoples amusement.
Another tidbit I found interesting was
how people marveled and Saartjie Baartmen figure. How many people found her
backside a feature that was grossest and
something to stare at. This is interesting because just the other day I was
watching one of those Hollywood entrainment shows and there was a whole story
about women injecting themselves with
chemicals to make their backsides look bigger to imitate the celebrates because
they think it is sexy, beautiful and not Freakish . How Times Have Changed.
-Sarah Fiorella
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