The eye of the beholder : Julia Pastrana's long journey home / with essays by Laura Anderson Barbata, Jan Bondeson, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Grant H. Kester, Bess Lovejoy, Nicholas Marquez-Grant ; edited by Laura Anderson Barbata and Donna Wingate.
Publisher:
Lucia / Marquand,
Copyright Date:
2017
Description:
199 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color map ; 25 cm
Acknowledgments. Bess Lovejoy -- Julia Pastrana, the "Extraordinary Lady" / Rosemarie Garland-Thomson -- My quest for Julia Pastrana's mummy / Jan Bondeson -- Julia Pastrana and the art of restitution / Grant H. Kester -- The repatriation of Julia Pastrana: scientific and ethical dilemmas / Nicholas Marquez-Grant -- The repatriation pilgrimage of Julia Pastrana / Laura Anderson Barbata -- Lives on show, bodies behind glass: Julia Pastrana's parallels in museum collections / Bess Lovejoy -- Chronology -- Contributors -- Acknowledgments.
Summary:
Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Julia Pastrana (1834-1860) was a gifted singer, musician and dancer who could converse in English, Spanish and French. She also suffered from one of the most extreme cases of hypertrichosis lagunigosa on record and severe gingival hyperplasia: her face and body were covered with thick hair and her jaw was disproportionately large. Pastrana toured North America and Europe billed as 'The Ugliest Woman in the World.' After her death, her body was exhibited throughout Europe and the US. Until her recent repatriation to Sinaloa, her body was kept at the University of Oslo, Norway. Pastrana's story raises issues around beauty, ownership, science and racism, human rights, colonialism, sexism and indigenous rights.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.