Michelle Obama et Hottentot Venus: même combat?

Dans cet article du Washington post la journaliste Krissah Thompson s'intéresse à des individus qui critiquent de manière répétitive et déplacée les attributs physiques de Michelle Obama. Mme Thompson évoque même "the Hottentot Venus" (Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman, une femme noire, dont le corps nu fut exhibé dans les foires au XIXe siècle.

 "But what is it with Michelle Obama’s critics and the fixation with her derriere?

 “We have a history in this country of white people not showing adequate respect for and devaluing the bodies of black women, and this most definitely falls in line with that,” says Ayana Byrd, the co-editor of the anthology “Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips and Other Parts.” (Grisham, Limbaugh and Sensenbrenner are white men.)

 The focus on this first lady’s posterior has historical antecedents. It reaches back to the imagery of Hottentot Venus, a woman from what is now South Africa whose naked body and pronounced posterior were paraded in shows throughout 19th-century Europe. On to the selling and trading of black women’s bodies through slavery. In modern times, black women’s figures continue to be up for public discussion in ways that are celebratory (see: “Brick House” by The Commodores) and insulting (see above)."

 L'article au complet:
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/michelle-obamas-posterior-again-the-subject-of-a-public-rant/2013/02/04/c119c9a8-6efb-11e2-aa58-243de81040ba_story.html?hpid=z4