麻豆社

Have you heard of Sarah Baartman, known by the derogatory term Hottentot Venus? She was a young South African woman from the Khoisan people who was taken to Europe by a British doctor, and paraded and displayed in the freak shows that were popular at the time. Her body shape - in particular her large buttocks - attracted a lot of attention.

Sarah died in 1815, but her brain, skeleton and sexual organs remained on display in Paris till 1974. President Mitterrand responded to a request from President Mandela by returning her remains. Now her story is back in the news as it seems a movie could be made of her story, and Beyonc茅 may or may not be involved. Rachel Holmes has written a book about Sarah Baartman.

(Photo: A female Hottentot, possibly Saartjie 'Sarah' Baartman, with a disease (steatopygy), which results in a protuberance of the buttocks due to an abnormal accumulation of fat. Watercolour painting. Credit: Wellcome Library, London)