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Of course, Michelle Obama is no "Hottentot." But that was not the point I was trying to make.
I just did some quickie research on Sarah Baartman in Wikipedia. She was born to an ethnic Khoisan family in the Eastern Cape of So Africa. Apparently a characterisic of Khoisan women is steatopygia (a high degree of fat in and around the buttocks) and elongated labia. These characteristics regarded as a sign of beauty by the Khoisan. Not so for white Europeans, who viewed her body as freakish and ugly. I could not find any picture of her other than a caricature. But, frankly, even though it is caricature and looking through 21st century eyes she doesn't look freakish.
The point in bringing up Sarah Baartman's story was to note how important it is to acknowledge that women like Sarah Baartman were and continue to be exploited, abused and objectivitied. This article celebrates the fact that we can look at Michelle Obama and see her for who she is - a beautiful, intelligent, autonomous woman. Her "booty" does not define her rather it is simply a part of everything, both internal and external, that goes into making her the woman she is.
