Saartjie Baartman's story in Venus begins in South Africa in the early 1800s, where she is introduced as a servant called 'the Girl'. The Brother is currently trying to persuade the Man (his brother) to financially invest in a two-year performance act in London. While the Girl scrubs a floor on her hands and knees in the presence of the Man's Brother and the Man, she becomes an object of their interest to create a Freak Act that will exhibit the Girl's unique genitalia and buttocks– also referred to as steatopygia. The Girl agrees to travel with the Brother to London under false pretence that they will split the profit of her African dancing act, believing that in two-years' time she will return to South Africa with fame and wealth. However, before the Girl reaches the end of her supposed contract, the Brother sells her to a new boss called the Mother-Showman. The Mother-Showman runs a freak show in London, consisting of 8 Human Wonders, and she intends for the Girl to be the 9th Wonder. It is during scene 27–when the Mother-Showman forces the Girl to bathe herself–that the Girl begins her life as the Venus Hottentot.
