The Power Imbalance by Colonization and

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Rachael Abram
Dr. Astrida Neimanis
Women’s Studies 2243G
13 March 2014
The Power Imbalance by Colonization and Objectification: An Analysis of Jan van der
Straet’s Amerigo Vespucci et l’Amérique and Buro 24/7 Magazine’s Photo of Dasha
Zuhkova
The concept of the “post-racial society”––the idea “that race matters much less than it
used to [and] that the boundaries of race have been overcome”––is one that many believe we are
currently living in (Lum, 14). This belief perpetuates the idea is that colonialism is an event that
happened in the past and has long since ended. Unfortunately, the undeniable truth is that we still
live in a patriarchal society that insists the dominance over women of colour, and the entitlement
to lands that have long histories of other cultures outside of European settlers. The evidence is all
around us; there are countless artworks that depict white bodies claiming their right over new
land. In particular, Jan van der Straet, a Flemish artist, painted the colonialist piece Amerigo
Vespucci et l’Amérique in 1589 (see Appendix A-1). These themes of conquests over women’s
bodies via colonialism has carried into contemporary pieces of iconography; a recent and notable
example is in an article about Dasha Zhukova, the Russian editor-in-chief of Garage magazine,
in the January edition of the European online magazine, Buro 24/7 (see Appendix A-2). In this
essay, I will argue that Jan van der Straet’s Amerigo Vespucci et l’Amérique and Buro 24/7’s
photograph of Dasha Zhukova illustrate the ongoing history of the conquest over women’s
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bodies, particularly those belonging to women of colour, providing evidence of a clear power
imbalance between white people and these marginalized women.
Jan van der Straet was a Flemish artist that was popular in sixteenth-century Florence
(Markey, 211). The painting depicts Amerigo Vespucci, a European explorer that tested new
navigation techniques after Columbus’ voyages (Loeb, 248), approaching unexplored land. The
painting is supposed to be an obvious example of colonialism; the white man is advancing into a
new uncivilized territory, while the woman presented in the picture is Indigenous and sitting
naked. Vespucci being clothed is symbolic of his chaste, Christian values, whereas the woman
being naked is supposed to indicate her lack of morals and civility. A power imbalance is evident
because of the levels in the painting; Vespucci is standing and fully erect while the woman is
sitting and reclined. In these depictions of white colonial men with women of colour, “the land is
female virgin territory [and] the invader is masculine” (Puar 47). Going by this analogy, Vespucci
and his explorers were penetrating the land as if the virginal land’s vagina.
On January 20, 2015 Buro 24/7 released a story about the editor-in-chief of Garage
magazine, Dasha Zuhkova. The image has Zuhkova sitting on top of a chair that is “designed to
look like a half-naked black woman” (Wilson). The chair was supposed to be inspired by the
equally controversial work of British pop artist, Allen Jones, and a similar chair that he designed
in 1969 (see Appendix A-3). Both the editor of Buro 24/7, Miroslava Duma, and Zuhkova
responded to the instant backlash that this image received; both claimed that they are against
racism and gender inequality, and that the image should only be taken as a reference to Jones’
artwork. What is unique about this photograph is that the dominating white person is actually a
woman; the patriarchal power imbalance is most often associated with men, however, it is
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important to remember the association that white women still have to colonialist histories, and
the privilege that they have in comparison to women of colour.
Although each work was created over 400 years apart, they both illustrate prevalent
themes of a conquest for bodies belonging to women of colour. Much like Vespucci in van der
Straet’s painting, Zuhkova is in an erect position on top of the black woman. An obvious power
imbalance is present since the black woman is literally on the ground and bound up to be sat
upon by a white person. The black woman is nearly naked, only wearing leather boots,
undergarments, and gloves; the leather is reminiscent of clothing that a dominatrix would wear,
which is usually associated with inappropriate or taboo behaviour. Also comparative to the
Native woman in van der Straet’s painting, the lack of clothing is indicative of a barbaric woman,
needing to be dominated by a well-mannered, white body.
In the process of conquest, colonialism, and racism, sexual violence is often used as “a
conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep women in a state of fear” (Smith 7). As
Europeans began settling in North America, they brought with them the idea that the Native
people are dirty and sexually polluted; colonizers referred to the bible in their criticisms,
believing that the Natives “live naked in bodie, as if their shame of their sinne deserved no
covering” (10). These women were then deemed “rapable” and acceptable for sexual assault
because sexual advances towards them did not count. Van der Straet’s painting gives feeling of
sexual violence as the Indigenous woman is recoiling from Vespucci and his imminent gaze upon
her. Furthermore, it is evident that these colonialist attitudes have carried into contemporary day
as seen in the Buro 24/7 photograph where it is seemingly appropriate to use the body of a naked
woman of colour as a chair. Responses to putting an end to such sexual violence has apparently
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made little headway––at least in comparison to what many white people believe; Andrea Smith
acknowledges an example in her article where there is consideration for building a battered
women’s shelter in Minnesota in 1990. The local, white townspeople denied the request for such
an institution on the basis that the Indian culture is hopeless, evil, and full of social disorders
(13-14). Although this shelter would have been a place for these negative stereotypes to fade, the
colonizers were still interested in keeping control over the success of these marginalized women.
While many believe that colonialism is a concept of the past, it is evident that white people of
European descent still hold a power imbalance by dominating land, cultures, and bodies that
should rightfully be provided with the necessary resources and rights.
This process of colonization has led to the objectification of marginalized women’s
bodies. The eighteen century created a stereotype called the “Hottentot” which objectified black
women on the basis that their bodies were unusual and somehow indicative of intelligence,
sexual prowess, and class. Hottentots were depicted in many pieces of art including Titian’s
Venus of Urbino, Francisco Goya’s Naked Maja, and Eugene Delecroix’s Odalisque (Gilman
225). Their presence in conjunction to white women began to indicate a “covert sexuality of the
white woman” with a “lascivious, apelike, sexual appetite” (231). Hottentot women were
reduced to their physiology, particularly around their anatomy and sexual parts, judging them as
the ““lowest” of human species [… and] the highest ape” (232). Around the Victorian era, the
prostitute became “the essential sexualized female … as the embodiment of sexuality and of all
that is associated with sexuality––disease and passion” (240). Given all of this excitement around
the need for women’s bodies and the particular sexualization of black bodies, women of colour
have been put through the constant process of objectification. The use of a woman as a chair in
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the photograph from Buro 24/7 is much like a modern-day Hottentot in the blatant objectification
of the black woman’s body, as well as the emphasis on her sexual parts and her attire (i.e., the the
woman’s breasts bulging from the pressure of her legs and the dominatrix-like leather clothing).
The positioning of Zhukova on top of the black woman is demonstrative of classism and racism,
as Zhukova is clearly from a middle-upper class based on her pose and surroundings. The fact
that taking this photograph was deemed acceptable in this time period is proof that colonization
has not ended, and that women of colour are still being heavily objectified based on these
ongoing histories.
This process of conquest and objectification of the bodies of women of colour has been
an ongoing history since colonization, which has carried into contemporary society. As seen in
Jan van der Straet’s Amerigo Vespucci et l’Amérique and Buro 24/7’s photograph of Dasha
Zhukova, there is clear evidence of a power imbalance between white people and marginalized
groups of women. To eventually achieve the ideal post-racial society, it is necessary to
acknowledge the privileges that come with having a white body, and allow women of colour to
speak out about these objectifying experiences that continue to happen. The next step is to
provide the proper resources that allow women of colour to thrive without the constant obstacle
of conquest and objectification.
Word Count: 1448
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Appendix
Image A-1: Jan van der Straet’s Amerigo Vespucci et l’Amérique
Image A-2: Buro 24/7’s photograph of Dasha Zuhkova
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Image A-3: Allen Jones’ Chair
“Allen Jones: Chair 1969.” Tate. Web. 11 March 2014.
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Works Cited
Gilman, Sander L. “Black Bodies, White Bodies: Toward an Iconography of Female Sexuality in
Late Nineteenth-Century Art, Medicine, and Literature.” Race, Writing and Difference.
Ed. Henry Lois Gates, Jr. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Web.
Loeb, Leonard B. “Amerigo Vespucci.” A Journal of Onomastics. vol. 3. no. 4. (Dec. 1955).
Web.
Lum, Lydia. “The Obama Era: A Post-racial Society?” Diverse Issues in Higher Education. (5
Feb. 2009). Web.
Markey, Lia. “Stradanus 1523-1605: Court Artist of the Medici.” Renaissance Quarterly. vol. 66
no. 1. (Spring 2013). Web.
Puar, Jasbir K. “Sexuality of Terrorism.” Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer
Times. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007. Web.
Smith, Andrea. “Chapter 1: Sexual Violence as a Tool of Genocide.” Conquest: Sexual Violence
and American Indian Genocide. Cambridge: South End Press, 2005. Web.
Wilson, Julee. “Garage Magazine Editor-In-Chief Dasha Zhukova Sits On A 'Black Woman'
Chair In Shocking Editorial (UPDATE)” Huff Post: Black Voices.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. 25 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.