Editing Human zoo (section)

=== Objectification in human zoos ===
Within the history of human zoos, there are patterns of overt sexual representation of displayed peoples, most frequently women. Such [[objectification]] often led to treatment that reflected a lack of privacy and respect, including the dissection and display of bodies after death without consent.

An example of the sexualization of ethnically diverse women in Europe is [[Sarah Baartman|Saartje Baartman]], often referred to as her anglicized name Sarah Bartmann. Bartmann was displayed both when she was alive throughout England and Ireland and after her death in the [[Musée de l'Homme]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last1=Lederman|first1=Muriel|last2=Bartsch|first2=Ingrid |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/44426765 |title=The gender and science reader |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415213576 |oclc=44426765}}</ref> While alive, she participated in a traveling show depicting her as a "savage female" with a large focus on her body. The clothes she was put in were tight and close to her skin color, and spectators were encouraged to "see for themselves" if Bartmann's body, particularly her buttocks, were real through "poking and pushing".<ref name=":22" /> Her living display was financially compensated but there is no record of her consenting to be examined and displayed after death.

Dominika Czarnecka theorizes on the relationship between the radicalization and sexualization of black female bodies in her journal article "Black Female Bodies and the 'White' View."<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last=Czarnecka |first=Dominika |date=9 November 2020 |title=Black Female Bodies and the "White" View |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.30965/18763308-04702006 |journal=East Central Europe |volume=47 |issue=2–3 |pages=285–312 |doi=10.30965/18763308-04702006 |s2cid=230653783 |issn=0094-3037|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Czarnecka focuses on ethnographic shows that were prominent in Polish territory in the late 19th century. She argues that an essential part of why these shows were so popular is the display of the black female body. Although the women in the shows were meant to be depicting Amazon warriors, their wardrobe was not similar to amazonian dress, and there are several documentations of comments from spectators about their revealing clothes and their bodies.<ref name=":32" />

Although women were most frequently objectified, there are a few instances of "exotic" men being displayed due to their favorable appearance. Angelo Solimann was brought to Italy as a slave from Central Africa in the 18th century, but ended up gaining a reputation in Viennese society for his fighting skills and vast knowledge about language and history. Upon his death in 1796, this positive association did not prevent his body being "stuffed and exhibited in the Viennese Natural History Museum" for almost a decade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kontler |first=László |date=9 November 2020 |title=Relocating the "Human Zoo": Exotic Displays, Metropolitan Identity, and Ethnographic Knowledge in Late Nineteenth-Century Budapest |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.30965/18763308-04702002 |journal=East Central Europe |volume=47 |issue=2–3 |pages=173–201 |doi=10.30965/18763308-04702002 |s2cid=230656558 |issn=0094-3037|url-access=subscription }}</ref>