Did you know the upper-class European bustle is rooted in the exploitation of black women? Specifically Saartjie Baartman. A South African woman from the Khoikhoi tribe. God rest her soul. Baartman was forced by William Dunlop and Henrik Cesars to work as a slave. She was put on display at “freak shows” across Paris and London. Later in life, she became associated with an animal exhibitor, who forced Baartman into prostitution. At the age of twenty-six, Baartman died due to an inflammatory disease believed to be syphilis. Now, the Baartman-inspired bustle replaced the hoop skirt to provide wealthy women with a desirable figure that exaggerated the curvature of their butt. If you’re not figuratively blind you might see the newer versions and variations of how this still happens today.
