Description
Book SynopsisIn this second edition of the remarkable, and now classic, cultural history of black women's beauty, Venus in the Dark, Janell Hobson explores the enduring figure of the Hottentot Venus and the history of critical and artistic responses to her by black women in contemporary photography, film, literature, music, and dance.
In 1810, Sara Baartman was taken from South Africa to Europe, where she was put on display at circuses, salons, museums, and universities as the Hottentot Venus. The subsequent legacy of representations of black women's sexualityfrom Josephine Baker to Serena Williams to hip-hop and dancehall videosrefer back to her iconic image. Via a new preface, Hobson argues for the continuing influence of Baartman's legacy, as her image still reverberates through the contemporary marketization of black women's bodies, from popular music and pornography to advertising. A brand new chapter explores how historical echoes from previous eras map onto highly v
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations; Foreword; Acknowledgments; 1. Re-Presenting the Black Female Body: An Introduction; 2. Venus and the Hottentot: The Emergence of an Icon; 3. The Hottentot Venus Revisited: the Politics of Reclamation; 4. The "Batty" Politic: Toward an Aesthetic of the Black Female Body; 5. Mirror, Mirror: Framing the Black Female Body For Still and Motion Pictures; 6. Remnants of Venus: Evolutions of the Booytlicious Body; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index
