The Phenomenon of Freak Shows

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People of color held an influential role in the era of freakshows. Though physical abnormalities and fantastical abilities were still enjoyed by the audience, what really thrilled them was the sight of foreign bodies on stage. Oftentimes, the only oddity that these immigrants held was their ethnicity, yet this made them strange enough for British and American audiences to be amazed. Ethnocentrism ran rampant through Western society, especially concerning who they deemed as socially acceptable. Simply being a person of color qualified many immigrants to be placed on stage, reduced to…

Freakshows have undergone a metamorphosis over the past few centuries since their inception. In the beginning, freakshows were meant to financially gain and berate those who have abnormalities or disabilities. It has changed throughout history and has come to develop new meaning. How did this change occur? How did one of the blackest marks on human history, manipulating the poor, helpless, and disenfranchised, turn into a more positive mark on our history? This exhibit goes over some of these changes via the artifacts provided. We have made strides in becoming a more progressive society in…

Description

A freak show is an exhibit of natural abnormalities, often known as "freaks of nature", in pop culture. Physically unique people, such as those that are extremely huge or little, those with intersex abnormalities, and those with remarkable illnesses and disorder are many of whom are intended to surprise audiences, would be typical traits. Freak shows were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; from the 1840s until the 1940s, organized charitable exhibits of people with physical, psychological, or behavioral deformities were common. Although not all…

During the perturbing and bizarre era of freakshows, there was a vast number of human beings who were paraded around and cast off by society as though they were peculiar circus creatures—accompanied by a vast number of human beings who peered at them on their stages, fascinated by their unusual physical appearances, and treated them as such. While these “freaks” were clearly isolated from the rest of society, many of them leaned into their uniqueness and embraced freakshows as a form of employment and perhaps as a way of obtaining the strongest sense of self-agency that society would be…

In the Victorian era, a new form of entertainment became increasingly popular. People from all over would pay to gain entrance into these “freak shows,” where individuals with a variety of different disabilities performed. One disability, in particular, drew people in. Individuals who were born without certain limbs like arms, hands, feet, and even heads became a spectacle, their disabilities being exploited all for profit. These seemingly “normal” tasks wouldn’t be exciting to watch today, so, why would able-bodied people pay money to watch these individuals perform tasks that many of…

Introduction

In the Victorian Age, there was an emphasis on normalcy. Therefore, those who differed in appearance and ability were often mistreated and ostracized, as they were labeled as unproductive and ugly. However, those who were considered "ugly" decided to reclaim this label and form ugly clubs, where members were inducted based on their appearance and ranked based on who was the ugliest. Unfortunately, ugly clubs were mostly made up of disabled individuals who did not meet the Victorian standard of beauty and normalcy. Now, ugly clubs have taken on a new form and have…