Does sexual exploitation obliterate individualization? Do differences necessarily bring about superiors and inferiors?
Within Alexander’s “The Venus Hottentot” is depicted a woman who “left Capetown with a promise of revenue: half the profits and [a] passage home” (Mercer Reader 395). The individual is subjected to a life so inferior to her superiors, so demoralizing that individualization seems to halt. However, the individual does “speak English [and] Dutch. [She] speak[s] a little French as well… Now [she is] bitter and now [she] is sick” (396). Through the exploitation of her body, emotional and physical suffering breed only writing and imagery so disturbingly grotesque, so refined that the system which oppresses her, to the reader, no longer maintains its validity. It exists now only as a system run by indecency and greed. Since her “own genitals are public, {she] has made other parts private” (396). This serves to illustrate that dehumanization by oppressors is not successful in ridding the individual of any human attributes but serves only as a system collectively executed by members of an oppressive party, leaving only more room for individualization, though not made public. Columbus writes “Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea” as a memoir of all that transpired on his immediate journey to the Americas. He notes that “all these islands are very beautiful, and distinguished by various qualities; some [fruit] were in other conditions; each one was thriving in its own way” (358). The fruits in this passage relate to the discovery of different ways of living. Christopher Columbus saw the different plants are beautiful but saw another way of living as human beings as inferior. He hopes that the natives “might be made worshippers of Christ,” (359) as if their own religion was inferior and he had a duty to “save their souls.” There are, however, many similarities between the native and the Spaniards; “for in a short time, we understood them and they us” (359). Commonalities are shown but are overruled by differences in religious and warfare practices.
There is an austere lack of communication between the individuals in both "Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered..." and "The Venus Hottentot." In "Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered...", Christopher Columbus has to deal with the societal differences between the men he sailed with and the natives he encounters on the islands. Each group had its own interest in items, where the natives would "give valuable things for trifles, being satisfied with a very small return, or with nothing" (Mercer Reader 359), where the Europeans found pleasure in gold. This, of course, led to manipulation by the Europeans, and even though Columbus forbids the sailors from practicing such behavior, Columbus plans on using such mercantile practices to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, and have them "be full of love toward...the who Spanish nation; also that they might be zealous to search out and collect, and deliver to us those things of which they had plenty, and which we greatly needed" (359). Because of the Native Americans' innocence to the Europeans' culture, they are more susceptible to falling into this trap.
Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" focuses around the true story of Sarah Baartman and her inability to successfully communicate with those she was around. Brought to England due to her "Master's brother [who] proposed the trip" (395), Baartman is put into a circus, where "cabbage-smelling citizens [would] stare and query 'Is it muscle? bone? fat?'" (395) and her "neighbors" are also part of the show. She is not seen as a human, or even as competent by the stanza referring to Monsieur Cuvier, who "complains at my scent and does not think I comprehend, but I speak English. I speak Dutch. I speak a little French as wee, and languages Monsieur Cuvier will never know have names" (396). Only in her mind can she truly communicate with the reader. The vivid imagery in the final stanza: "If he were to let me rise up from this table, I'd spirit his knives and cut out his black heart, seal it with science fluid inside a bell jar, place it on a low shelf in a white man's museum so the whole world could see it was shriveled and hard, geometric, deformed, unnatural" (397) is full with passion with her attempt to show how she was indeed the human, while those who had wronged her were the deformed human beings. She would mutilate him similarly to how he would mutilate her, and post him in an exhibit like she had been for decades. She would be able to show the world that those who had exploited her were the sub-humans.
[437]
What groups still have the inability to communicate with one another? At what point does desire overtake the rational portion of the soul?
How are the two readings similar in what reveal about identity?
What do they say about perspective and deception?
Christopher Columbus, in his account of his travels, unknowingly discovered how diverse and rich human culture truly is while at the same time exposing how destructive and forceful people can be. He explains how he renames all the islands he visits, seizes “by force several Indians on the first island in order that they might learn” Columbus’ culture’s ways, and despite trying to trade fairly still believes them lower in stature because the natives would act as if they “were getting the most beautiful jewels in the world” over shoelace tips (MR 358, 359). He explains how primitive the natives appear to be; he cannot ever find any type of city or large establishment, but “they were small and without government” (357). Yet, he comments on their behavior as if it is surprising and rare—their first instinct is not to fight, but rather run from unfamiliarity, and upon seeing no threat, invite the foreigners in and give glorious gifts as if it were nothing. He then comments that he “did not see any monstrosity,” but continues to talk about them as if they were specimen being studied in a lab for their experiments—worth no value save the results they yield. Columbus describes them in favorable light, but fails to recognize them as equal human beings; he seems to try to find something wrong with them or explain how astounding it is that they share some similarities with themselves. He also fails to make the connection that they resemble the “very warlike neighbors” that afflict the natives with “continual fear” and “seize and carry away everything that they can” (361). That sounds like what Columbus described he did earlier—took natives captive to teach them their superior ways. He completely overlooks the unique identity of the natives and fails to see them as equal, but very different, humans with a rich culture and heritage. He does not simply describe how they are but must always compare it to himself or a Spanish idea, custom, or plant.
Correspondingly, Alexander depicts a parallel feeling in “The Venus Hottentot”, but from the other perspective. The first part appears to talk about what she interests her, what makes her human and relatable in the same way the natives showed fear in a strange situation with which they were unfamiliar. However, in the second part there is a shift—it is still her perspective but it seems to be what everybody else sees about her. It describes how she is essentially a display in a London circus, which the reader can infer from when she speaks of “this cage/where I am working,” and of the “abnormal” people around her such as “the Sapient Pig” and “Prince Kar-mi” (395). Her and all of her neighbors have lost their true identity, individualism, and privacy. They are on display to the white Europeans because they are “strange” and “unusual” and a specimen to be looked at and only seen for their distinctive characteristics, not for their value as a person. She was promised “half the profits/and [her] passage home” but the reader can see that she does not receive that promise and is stuck in a foreign place where they do not value her worth (395). They are all victims of broken promises, victims of humanity’s ceaseless greed, left in the path of destruction on the power-hungry plow to the top.
The value of human beings is something that lifts a community to heights never seen or the lack of will drive them down to the depths of what men are capable of. When we appreciate every person as equal to ourselves the best in humanity is set free to flourish in love and understanding. When a community forgets what it means to be human, when a group or individual is set apart as different, lesser, humanity is divided and all that is inherently evil within us consumes us. This can be seen both in Christopher Columbus’ letter to the Spanish Monarchy entitled “Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered” and in “The Venus Hottentot” by Elizabeth Alexander. In the Columbus narrative, he remarks on the generosity of the people he refers to as Indians by saying “they show greater love for all others than for themselves” (Columbus 359). Ideally this observation would be the basis of mutual understanding and cooperation between the Indians and the Spanish, but instead it is used as the foundation for taking advantage of the generous people. The Spanish settlers would allow the Indians to trade gold and cotton “for articles of very little value” (359). Their intention was to use the indigenous people “to search out and collect, and deliver those things which they had plenty” (359). If this was done of love, then there is so harm, but because it is the product of calculated manipulation on the part of the Spaniards for their sole benefit, it is the result of inhuman greed. This kind of abuse of people can also be found in “The Venus Hottentot” by Elizabeth Alexander. Because the narrator is black and is a woman, she is taken advantage of by the owners of a circus. She is more than the “tassels [that] dance at [her] hips” (Alexander 396) and more than the newspaper’s image of her “buttocks …show[ed] swollen and luminous as a planet” (396). It is this kind of objectification that breeds a hate that would conceivably allow her to “cut out [her oppressor’s] black heart, seal it with science inside a bell jar [and place it on display]” (397). When a person or group loses value for people, no act of love is fostered nor can peace become a mainstay. Fear and neglect, oppression and abuse will allow the darker side of the self to come forth and flourish. {400} What causes the racism of the circus owner to dominate him? Does Columbus actually see the monarchs as people?
One of many racist images of the "Venus Hottentot" online. It's worth a Google search to find out more about Sarah Baartman.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yorku.ca/caitlin/1900/postcolonial/postcolonial_art_files/hottentotvenus.jpe
Seth's daily:
ReplyDeleteDoes sexual exploitation obliterate individualization?
Do differences necessarily bring about superiors and inferiors?
Within Alexander’s “The Venus Hottentot” is depicted a woman who “left Capetown with a promise of revenue: half the profits and [a] passage home” (Mercer Reader 395). The individual is subjected to a life so inferior to her superiors, so demoralizing that individualization seems to halt. However, the individual does “speak English [and] Dutch. [She] speak[s] a little French as well… Now [she is] bitter and now [she] is sick” (396). Through the exploitation of her body, emotional and physical suffering breed only writing and imagery so disturbingly grotesque, so refined that the system which oppresses her, to the reader, no longer maintains its validity. It exists now only as a system run by indecency and greed. Since her “own genitals are public, {she] has made other parts private” (396). This serves to illustrate that dehumanization by oppressors is not successful in ridding the individual of any human attributes but serves only as a system collectively executed by members of an oppressive party, leaving only more room for individualization, though not made public.
Columbus writes “Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea” as a memoir of all that transpired on his immediate journey to the Americas. He notes that “all these islands are very beautiful, and distinguished by various qualities; some [fruit] were in other conditions; each one was thriving in its own way” (358). The fruits in this passage relate to the discovery of different ways of living. Christopher Columbus saw the different plants are beautiful but saw another way of living as human beings as inferior. He hopes that the natives “might be made worshippers of Christ,” (359) as if their own religion was inferior and he had a duty to “save their souls.” There are, however, many similarities between the native and the Spaniards; “for in a short time, we understood them and they us” (359). Commonalities are shown but are overruled by differences in religious and warfare practices.
Word Count: 324
Robert Akers
ReplyDeleteThere is an austere lack of communication between the individuals in both "Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered..." and "The Venus Hottentot." In "Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered...", Christopher Columbus has to deal with the societal differences between the men he sailed with and the natives he encounters on the islands. Each group had its own interest in items, where the natives would "give valuable things for trifles, being satisfied with a very small return, or with nothing" (Mercer Reader 359), where the Europeans found pleasure in gold. This, of course, led to manipulation by the Europeans, and even though Columbus forbids the sailors from practicing such behavior, Columbus plans on using such mercantile practices to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, and have them "be full of love toward...the who Spanish nation; also that they might be zealous to search out and collect, and deliver to us those things of which they had plenty, and which we greatly needed" (359). Because of the Native Americans' innocence to the Europeans' culture, they are more susceptible to falling into this trap.
Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" focuses around the true story of Sarah Baartman and her inability to successfully communicate with those she was around. Brought to England due to her "Master's brother [who] proposed the trip" (395), Baartman is put into a circus, where "cabbage-smelling citizens [would] stare and query 'Is it muscle? bone? fat?'" (395) and her "neighbors" are also part of the show. She is not seen as a human, or even as competent by the stanza referring to Monsieur Cuvier, who "complains at my scent and does not think I comprehend, but I speak English. I speak Dutch. I speak a little French as wee, and languages Monsieur Cuvier will never know have names" (396). Only in her mind can she truly communicate with the reader. The vivid imagery in the final stanza: "If he were to let me rise up from this table, I'd spirit his knives and cut out his black heart, seal it with science fluid inside a bell jar, place it on a low shelf in a white man's museum so the whole world could see it was shriveled and hard, geometric, deformed, unnatural" (397) is full with passion with her attempt to show how she was indeed the human, while those who had wronged her were the deformed human beings. She would mutilate him similarly to how he would mutilate her, and post him in an exhibit like she had been for decades. She would be able to show the world that those who had exploited her were the sub-humans.
[437]
What groups still have the inability to communicate with one another?
At what point does desire overtake the rational portion of the soul?
How are the two readings similar in what reveal about identity?
ReplyDeleteWhat do they say about perspective and deception?
Christopher Columbus, in his account of his travels, unknowingly discovered how diverse and rich human culture truly is while at the same time exposing how destructive and forceful people can be. He explains how he renames all the islands he visits, seizes “by force several Indians on the first island in order that they might learn” Columbus’ culture’s ways, and despite trying to trade fairly still believes them lower in stature because the natives would act as if they “were getting the most beautiful jewels in the world” over shoelace tips (MR 358, 359). He explains how primitive the natives appear to be; he cannot ever find any type of city or large establishment, but “they were small and without government” (357). Yet, he comments on their behavior as if it is surprising and rare—their first instinct is not to fight, but rather run from unfamiliarity, and upon seeing no threat, invite the foreigners in and give glorious gifts as if it were nothing. He then comments that he “did not see any monstrosity,” but continues to talk about them as if they were specimen being studied in a lab for their experiments—worth no value save the results they yield. Columbus describes them in favorable light, but fails to recognize them as equal human beings; he seems to try to find something wrong with them or explain how astounding it is that they share some similarities with themselves. He also fails to make the connection that they resemble the “very warlike neighbors” that afflict the natives with “continual fear” and “seize and carry away everything that they can” (361). That sounds like what Columbus described he did earlier—took natives captive to teach them their superior ways. He completely overlooks the unique identity of the natives and fails to see them as equal, but very different, humans with a rich culture and heritage. He does not simply describe how they are but must always compare it to himself or a Spanish idea, custom, or plant.
Correspondingly, Alexander depicts a parallel feeling in “The Venus Hottentot”, but from the other perspective. The first part appears to talk about what she interests her, what makes her human and relatable in the same way the natives showed fear in a strange situation with which they were unfamiliar. However, in the second part there is a shift—it is still her perspective but it seems to be what everybody else sees about her. It describes how she is essentially a display in a London circus, which the reader can infer from when she speaks of “this cage/where I am working,” and of the “abnormal” people around her such as “the Sapient Pig” and “Prince Kar-mi” (395). Her and all of her neighbors have lost their true identity, individualism, and privacy. They are on display to the white Europeans because they are “strange” and “unusual” and a specimen to be looked at and only seen for their distinctive characteristics, not for their value as a person. She was promised “half the profits/and [her] passage home” but the reader can see that she does not receive that promise and is stuck in a foreign place where they do not value her worth (395). They are all victims of broken promises, victims of humanity’s ceaseless greed, left in the path of destruction on the power-hungry plow to the top.
Word Count: 564
The value of human beings is something that lifts a community to heights never seen or the lack of will drive them down to the depths of what men are capable of. When we appreciate every person as equal to ourselves the best in humanity is set free to flourish in love and understanding. When a community forgets what it means to be human, when a group or individual is set apart as different, lesser, humanity is divided and all that is inherently evil within us consumes us. This can be seen both in Christopher Columbus’ letter to the Spanish Monarchy entitled “Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered” and in “The Venus Hottentot” by Elizabeth Alexander. In the Columbus narrative, he remarks on the generosity of the people he refers to as Indians by saying “they show greater love for all others than for themselves” (Columbus 359). Ideally this observation would be the basis of mutual understanding and cooperation between the Indians and the Spanish, but instead it is used as the foundation for taking advantage of the generous people. The Spanish settlers would allow the Indians to trade gold and cotton “for articles of very little value” (359). Their intention was to use the indigenous people “to search out and collect, and deliver those things which they had plenty” (359). If this was done of love, then there is so harm, but because it is the product of calculated manipulation on the part of the Spaniards for their sole benefit, it is the result of inhuman greed. This kind of abuse of people can also be found in “The Venus Hottentot” by Elizabeth Alexander. Because the narrator is black and is a woman, she is taken advantage of by the owners of a circus. She is more than the “tassels [that] dance at [her] hips” (Alexander 396) and more than the newspaper’s image of her “buttocks …show[ed] swollen and luminous as a planet” (396). It is this kind of objectification that breeds a hate that would conceivably allow her to “cut out [her oppressor’s] black heart, seal it with science inside a bell jar [and place it on display]” (397). When a person or group loses value for people, no act of love is fostered nor can peace become a mainstay. Fear and neglect, oppression and abuse will allow the darker side of the self to come forth and flourish.
ReplyDelete{400}
What causes the racism of the circus owner to dominate him?
Does Columbus actually see the monarchs as people?