Venus in the dark
Subtitle: blackness and beauty in popular culture
By: by Janell Hobson.
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 180
Subjects: Women in popular culture; Body, Human in popular culture; Women, Black; Beauty, Personal -- Social aspects
Description: "Western culture has long been fascinated by black women, but a history of enslavement and colonial conquest has variously labeled black women's bodies as "exotic" and "grotesque." In this remarkable cultural history of black female beauty, Janell Hobson explores the enduring figure of the "Hottentot Venus." In 1810, Sara Baartman was taken from South Africa to Europe, where she was put on display at circuses, salons, and museums and universities as the "Hottentot Venus." The subsequent legacy of representations of black women's sexuality-from Josephine Baker to Serena Williams to hip-hop and dancehall videos-continues to refer back to this persistent icon. This book analyzes the history of critical and artistic responses to this iconography by black women in contemporary photography, film, literature, music, and dance." -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Re-presenting the black female body : an introduction; title: Venus and the hottentot : toward an iconography of black female sexuality; title: The hottentot venus revisited : the politics of reclamation; title: The "batty" politic : toward an aesthetic of the black female body; title: Mirror, mirror : framing the black female body for still and motion.