Slavery is a major root as to why the over sexualization of African American women is a social issue today. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in the US in 1863, white people continue to assert their power over African Americans everyday. One of the ways they do this is by over sexualizing African American women. One of the main figures in African American history is Saartjie Baartman. You can see a photo of her in the first blog post that I posted. Baartman was brought to Europe from South Africa in the 19th century. There she was put on display for thousands to observe. Many thought of her as a rare species because she did not look like the typical white European women. Her full lips and exaggerated hips, buttocks and breasts astonished people. Baartman would travel all across Europe in a “freak show” to showcase her abnormal body. She was exposed to everyone, wearing nothing but a cloth when being shown. People would poke her, touch her and do as they pleased just because her body was different then theirs. Baartman definitely influenced the stereotype of African American women’s bodies today. Just because her breasts, buttocks and lips were larger than the average white women’s they were seen as more sexual. Baartman is a perfect example of how white people suppressed African American’s and asserted their power over them. Just because Baartman did not look “normal” in their eyes they suppressed her and made a fool out of her. They most definitely over sexualized her by putting her naked body on display for thousands to see. Her body set the state for more oppression to come for African American women in the years to come. There is a great YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDcSXQ8QjsA) where I got my information. It tells the story of Saartjie Baartman, what her life was like and how the oppression and over sexualization of her has continued years after her death. The video talks about how African American women continue to exploit themselves in the media for money and materialistic things. This is something that I will be discussing more throughout my blog.
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