Show notes
Today we are talking about Circassian Beauties. For a period of time, Circassian women were considered the epitome of beauty. With their fair skin, blue or green eyes, and delicate features, they became an idealized standard of feminine beauty in both the Ottoman Empire and 19th-century Western Europe. But this admiration was deeply entwined with systems of power, slavery, and the commodification of beauty.
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Sources:
Alloula, Malek. The Colonial Harem. University of Minnesota Press, 1986. This work explores how Western colonial powers constructed and eroticized the idea of the harem, particularly through photographs and art, drawing connections to the exploitation and objectification of Eastern women.
Bell, James Stanislaus. Journal of a Residence in Circassia. London: Edward Moxon, 1840. A travelogue by a British explorer who spent time in Circassia, providing firsthand accounts of the people, customs, and the widespread Western fetishization of Circassian women.
Carnes, Mark C. American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press, 1999. A detailed entry on P.T. Barnum and the cultural phenomenon of the "Circassian Beauty" sideshow act, examining how Barnum commodified these women as part of his freak show empire.
Davidson, Alastair. Russia and Circassia: Diplomacy, War, and the Tragedy of the North Caucasus. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. This book explores the historical background of the Russo-Circassian War and the impact of Russian imperialism on Circassia, including how the displacement and enslavement of Circassian women became part of the slave trade.
Faroqhi, Suraiya. The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It. I.B. Tauris, 2004. A comprehensive look at the Ottoman Empire, including the role of the harem and the political influence of women, particularly those who were slaves or concubines like many Circassian women.
Gilman, Sander L. Creating Beauty to Cure the Soul: Race and Psychology in the Shaping of Aesthetic Surgery. Duke University Press, 1998. This work examines how race and beauty ideals influenced the development of aesthetic surgery, tracing the origins of Eurocentric beauty standards back to the fetishization of women like the Circassians.
Gilman, Sander L. Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery. Princeton University Press, 1999. A cultural history that explores how the pursuit of beauty, especially within Western standards, has been shaped by racial and colonial influences, with Circassian women serving as early examples of these ideals.
Hirsch, Francine. Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union. Cornell University Press, 2005. Explores how Circassians and other Caucasian groups were racialized and fetishized, both during the Ottoman and Russian empires, and later in Soviet ethnography.
Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique. The Turkish Bath. 1862. Louvre Museum, Paris. This painting is one of the most famous representations of the harem fantasy in Western art, depicting pale-skinned, sensual women lounging in a bathhouse—emphasizing the eroticization of Eastern women in European culture.
Pierce, Leslie. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press, 1993. A foundational text for understanding the political and social roles of women in the Ottoman harem, detailing how women of Circassian descent, despite being enslaved, could rise to powerful positions.
Robnett, Belinda. How Long? How Long? African-American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights. Oxford University Press, 1997. Although focused on civil rights, this book provides useful comparisons in how women of color, including Circassians, have been racialized and fetishized across different societies.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. Pantheon Books, 1978. The seminal work on Orientalism, explaining how the West constructed the East as a place of sensuality, decadence, and mystery, with the harem—and its women—becoming central to this fantasy.
Spencer, Edmond. Travels in Circassia, Krim-Tartary, &c., Including a Steam Voyage Down the Danube, from Vienna to Constantinople, and Round the Black Sea, in 1836. London: Henry Colburn, 1839. This 19th-century travel account played a large role in popularizing the myth of the Circassian Beauty, romanticizing the appearance and demeanor of Circassian women while ignoring the harsh realities of their lives.
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. Harper Perennial, 1991. This feminist classic deconstructs how beauty standards, including those rooted in historical myths like the Circassian Beauty, have been weaponized to control women's bodies and autonomy.
Ze'evi, Dror. Producing Desire: Changing Sexual Discourse in the Ottoman Middle East, 1500-1900. University of California Press, 2006. This work delves into the shifting discourses of sexuality and the erotic in the Ottoman Middle East, with a particular focus on the harem and how enslaved women, including Circassians, were both sexualized and politicized.
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