Bottoms were big in Georgian England - Britain was a nation obsessed with buttocks. Saartjie Baartman, a young Khoisan woman was lured to England from South Africa in 1810, appearing on stage in Piccadilly where her shimmying posterior became one of the most famous sights of the 19th century.
Rachael Holmes author of “The Hottentot Venus” joins Jenni to discuss how Saartjie came to England, why she became an overnight sensation, how this colonial sexual fascination impacted on her and how attitudes towards large bottoms have shifted over time.
“The Hottentot Venus – The life and death of Saartjie Baartman born 1789 and buried by 2002” by Rachael Holmes is published by Bloomsbury, ISBN: 978 0 7475 7776 8
