The Venus Hottentot

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1989

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

The Importance of Names

Alexander argues for the importance of names, as names and titles play an crucial role in the poem. While the first half begins with Cuvier’s name and perspective, the second section’s narrator is not named, reflecting how the woman’s identity was devalued and erased. Cuvier’s section also underscores the importance of names. He uses the name the Venus Hottentot as if it were a scientific name of a genus that he is placing upon the specimen. Historically, Baartman’s actual name was not preserved by the people in control of her life and legacy. Baartman, the first woman forced into the role, was only widely known by her job title, the Hottentot Venus. This title was the name then given to the long string of women in the role, as reflected by the speaker’s conflation with another Hottentot Venus in lines 67-74. Without their own names, the women and their experiences blend together, much like the unnamed “daughters” (Line 98) in ostrich feathers and banana skirts.

Alexander also uses names to hold people accountable. She attaches the scientific racism of the first section to Cuvier specifically. In the second section, she twice names Cuvier specifically in lines 75 and 85 when referring to his actions. Alexander does not allow the individual to escape blame for his participation in the dehumanization of humans and the perpetuation of racist ideologies.

The Objectification and Sexualization of Black Women

Baartman is literally objectified when her body is dissected into parts. In contrast to Broca, whose brain is preserved, Baartman’s genitalia are the primary object of study. Unlike the white man who is represented by his intelligence, the Black woman is represented by her sexuality. Her labia are studied by Cuvier and others as one of the notable qualities of Black women, suggesting a sexuality more akin to apes. By framing these observations as scientific, Alexander draws attention to the subjectivity of science, the potential for cruelty and dehumanization, and how pseudoscience can be used to support racism. In addition, Baartman’s performances focus on her individual body parts, especially her buttocks, while she is nearly nude. Her enlarged buttocks were viewed by white Europeans as representative of her African heritage. This sexualization transcends the individual when Alexander has Baartman blur her own identity with the other Hottentot Venuses.

The speaker’s “daughters” (Line 98) are the inheritors of this legacy of objectification. Alluded to in the poem, Josephine Baker was a wildly popular performer in France in the 1920s. At a 1926 performance, Baker performed a dance essentially wearing only a pearl necklace, wrist cuffs, and a skirt made of rubber bananas. In her dance, she descended from a palm tree onstage and performed what was called a “danse sauvage.” This dance established her as one of the world’s biggest stars. While many argue that Baker was subverting the image to manipulate the white gaze, Baker still performed stereotyped behaviors in her dance that depended on racial bias. Through this lineage, Alexander implicitly prompts the reader to question how this sexual objectification of Black women has carried into the present

The Misuse of Science

Alexander draws attention to how science has been misused against Black people across history. In this instance, the Black body is manipulated by men like Cuvier to support extreme claims of racial difference. Her buttocks were unusual amongst Africans as a whole, as it was largely a genetic trait of Khoikhoi women. This trait was a result of steatopygia, which creates an accumulation of fat on the buttocks. While this trait was used by scientists to draw conclusions about Africans as a whole, it was not a representation of African women as a whole.

Baartman’s rage at the dissection of her body also emphasizes the lack of consent in both her life and death. When she was brought to London, she was not given the information needed to consent. She does not agree for her body to be dissected and preserved. Instead, science is only used to treat her body as an object. Baartman did not receive medical treatment or an autopsy—two legitimate processes in scientific medicine; instead, she is treated as a specimen so that her body can be objectified and displayed.