Krao's parents exhibited her for money, then sold the hairy baby to "freak hunters." She was taken across the world from her home in southeast Asia to be exhibited in England as an evolutionary "missing link" between monkeys and humans.
Nadja Durbach, associate professor of history at the University of Utah, related Krao's history Tuesday at the U.'s Women's Resource Center during the weekly "Food for Thought" discussion series.
One would think Krao suffered a life of terrible exploitation, but that's not the full story. Durbach said Krao was displayed on stage but after she learned to speak English and reached about age 16, she probably had a great deal of choice. She could have negotiated terms of employment and she was the second-highest paid "freak" in a circus.
People in Krao's line of work considered themselves performers. She had pets and traveled with friends among the other performers. She may have lived a more comfortable and interesting life than many people in 19th-century England.
Exhibiting Krao was an example of phony science and the use of so-called "primitive" people from the frontiers of the empire to reinforce the British public's feelings of superiority. And reactions to her tell something about sexual attitudes during the Victorian era, according to the speaker.
Durbach is writing a book about Victorian "freak shows," with Krao's history forming one of the chapters.
The girl from Indochina was covered with hair due to a birth abnormality. In 1883, age 7, she was taken to London by a Canadian impresario named G.A. Farini, exhibited at the aquarium and advertised as living proof of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
Coached by Farini, the English press made outrageous assertions that she represented the transition state between monkey and man, giving more notoriety in a few months for Darwin's theory than he had accomplished in a lifetime.
Some descriptions and drawings emphasized her claimed monkey-like attributes. But other observers found her not nearly as ape-like or even as hairy as advertised. The missing link flimflam was "soon debunked by experts" who knew of the medical condition, Durbach said.
One paper said she showed far too much intelligence to fit the Darwinian tale, and another implied the bearded Farini might be the missing link. A newspaper remarked that many English children were more deserving of being called monkeys.
Still, "Krao reinforced British belief" that their civilization was enlightened far beyond those of people who had such "primitive" bodies.
She learned English and the news media talked about how easily she had become civilized, a "well-behaved, charming little girl." Her capture was construed as a rescue from a backward, hairy tribe.
On stage, she wore clothing common for middle-class girls except that her limbs were revealed, an alteration that likely titillated in an era when women rarely exposed their arms and legs.
By the end of the 19th century, Krao's picture was shown in a jungle setting as a reclining odalisque, like some brutish harem girl.
That attitude was especially apparent when she was exhibited in France as a young girl. "The French overtly sexualized Krao even at this very early stage of her career," she said, showing a cartoon used to promote her act. The drawing depicts her with a knowing smile over the shoulder.
The promotion of Krao as a scientific specimen was reassuring to the public, who could say they were interested in her for educational reasons. Meanwhile, for those who found her titillating, the "scientific" or civilizing aspects of the promotion amounted to a good cover for them.
Some clearly found her to be erotic, Durbach said. To them, she reinforced the idea that non-western people were more primitive than the British and thus more sexually available and aggressive, she said.
"She was a charming performer," said Durbach. In later life, Krao was stocky and one observer said she seemed somewhat masculine.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com