Throughout history, society has had an impact on how everyone views things, especially who is “normal” and whom is a “freak”. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word freak as “a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality” (n.2). The Oxford English Dictionary also defines the word freak as “a person regarded as strange because of their unusual appearance or behavior” (n.2.1). The last definition that the Oxford English Dictionary gives is “a person who is obsessed with or unusually enthusiastic about a specific interest” (n. 3). The meaning of the word freak has been a rollercoaster, it’s meaning has meant both positive and negative things. “Freak,” has always meant someone who is not considered “normal” and a source …show more content…
Using people as entertainment and putting them on display happens all the time, for example, TV shows. In today’s society, they are not paying some people for this kind of display of entertainment. In today’s culture, people do not have the ability to control being a source of entertainment, unlike the earlier freak shows. In Eli Clare’s, “Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation,” he writes, “the women and men who worked the freak show, the freaks who knew how to flaunt their disabilities- the tall man who wore a top hat to add a few inches to his height, the fat woman who refused to diet, the bearded woman who not only refused to shave, but grew her beard longer and longer, the cognitively disabled person who said, “I know I look like an ape” (Clare). Clare continues, “Here let me accentuate the look”-can certainly teach us a thing or two about identity and pride” (Clare). This is such a powerful thing to read, he is saying we should not let people dictate how we live or how we want to live, we need to stay true to ourselves. Clare is saying that people today can learn something from the “freaks,” how to stay true to ourselves and embrace that we are different, it is what makes everyone themselves. So being a “freak,” today is knowing who you are and accepting that you are …show more content…
They have no clue that the term “freak” was meant to downgrade people who were not what others thought to be “normal”. Society is more concerned with making people think that the word “freak” is meant to be something pertaining to scary or strange. There are TV shows today that are historically accurate, but all people are going to see is that people who are different than them, or “freaks,” are supposed to be thought of as scary and strange. Today’s culture is bringing back the term “freak” as a popular word to say, but are completely lacking the understanding of what the word means. “Freak” once meant someone who had a disability. Shinn wrote “disability is not simply a metaphor for the struggles of those without disabilities. And “freak,” when applied to a person with disabilities, is not a title of mystery and wonder. It’s a slur- and though it might be accurately portrayed on screen or on stage, it’s not yours to reclaim for someone else, even characters in a show” (Sherman qtd. Shinn). Shinn is saying the word “disability” actually means people that have a mental disability not what society today thinks disability means. Shinn also is saying, that when using the word “freak,” it is not for the people in the entertainment business to use as entertainment. The word “freak,” when dealing with people who have disabilities, is not something that should be
As highlighted by the author, Mary Louise Adams in her article, “Excerpts from The Trouble with Normal”, ‘a norm’ “can be defined as something that is usual, typical or standardized” (Hacking, Adams, 2003). Norms are often already so established that most individuals do not realize how much they have shaped society and the people who live in it. Audrey Lord tells us that being a “White, thin, young, heterosexual, Christian, male” defines the characteristics of being “normal” and “privileged,” in which she calls “the mythical norm” (Perry, 2011). We use our sexuality, race and class as a way of giving ourselves an identity for the world to see. This identity will ultimately allow us to understand our place in the world and give
...t only symbolizes difference in terms of societal norms of appearance, but it emphasizes the cruelty of man. People will always isolate in order to appreciate. We as humans judge before evaluation is complete, instead of appreciating in order to evaluate. It seems to be a sad yet convincing truth, since it takes a blind man to actually see the person that The Creature truly is. People see him and then become blind to what he really is.
This fictional story, Lusus Laturae, is written by Margaret Atwood. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the origin of the Lusus Naturae is from Latin and the meaning is “freak of nature.” That is direct enough to assume the story is about a monster figure that will be a symbol of the story. According to the book “Freak of Nature,” the history of freak of nature to scientists and philosophers is an unfortunate, grotesque creature because it is odd or abnormal such as a conjoined twin which has two heads and shared a body (Blumberg 5). The criterion of being odd or abnormal starts from the visual difference seen by people. In the story, through the narration and point of view, character, symbol and figurative language, plot, and setting, it is revealed that the society and even the family ostracizes the protagonist who is defined as a monster due to her different appearance from others.
Oftentimes, in the public, people have to be “normal” to be successful and accepted. Author William Saroyan believes that society steers people to be conform and fit in, but he disagrees. In the short story “Gaston,” Saroyan shows that carving a unique path can turn out to be erroneous. Through symbolism and contrast, Saroyan conveys the theme that society does not always accept people’s differences.
Many people struggle to be accepted in our world because of disabilities. Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, is a dramatic and inspiring novel about how two boys, who are “different”, become friends and unite towards a common cause. Kevin, an eighth grader who lives with his mother Gwen, is one of the two protagonists in this extraordinary novel. Kevin is a very knowledgeable young boy who doesn't let his disability limit his abilities.
Nancy Mairs, born in 1943, described herself as a radical feminist, pacifist, and cripple. She is crippled because she has multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a chronic disease involving damage to the nerve cells and spinal cord. In her essay Disability, Mairs’ focus is on how disabled people are portrayed, or rather un-portrayed in the media. There is more than one audience that Mairs could have been trying to reach out to with this piece. The less-obvious audience would be disabled people who can connect to her writing because they can relate to it. The more obvious audience would be physically-able people who have yet to notice the lack of disabled people being portrayed by the media. Her purpose is to persuade the audience that disabled people should be shown in the media more often, to help society better cope with and realize the presence of handicapped people. Mairs starts off by saying “For months now I’ve been consciously searching for representation of myself in the media, especially television. I know I’d recognize this self becaus...
Man by nature, judges people and things by their appearance. If a person is pleasant looking then they will be given more of a chance to express their internal self. If they are ugly, or cosmetically deformed, they usually aren't given much of a chance to show who they really are. Grotesquely ugly people are sometimes thought of as monsters, and are ostracized. Many cosmetically inferior people are afraid to go out into society. Mankind seems to be fearful of the unfamiliar and unknown. People are afraid of what they do not understand. Deformaty is something that most people can not comprehend.
In the essay by Judith Butler, Besides Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy, she describes the social norms of society slowly changing and designing new social norms of society by the awareness of Gays, Lesbians, and Transgender preference people. She is also describing the struggles of everyday life for gays, lesbians, and transgender people. Butler states a question that makes a good point for this way of thought, “what makes for a livable world?”(Page 240). This question is asked to understand what a livable life is first. A livable life is life that is accepted by society. If society does not accept certain individuals because of the choices they choose to make or the way they are brought up, then society chooses to stay ignorant and uneducated on these types of situations. Individuals who are not accepted by society receive less treatment than that of some who is accepted by society. This does not only extend to gays, lesbians, and transgender, but extends to people who are less fortunate than others. People judge people. This is human life. People are influenced by other people and want they have. The media is a big part of what people strive to be like or accomplish. People watch th...
When I think of abnormal behavior, the first thing that comes to mind is one of my aunt’s. She committed suicide when I very young, so early 1970’s. As I got older, inevitably stories of her would arise during holiday get togethers. She was married with three children and in her early thirties, residing in Florida, when she walked out and away from her husband and small children. For over a year, no one knew what happened to her, she made no effort to contact anyone. Eventually, the Salvation Army somewhere in Michigan called my grandmother and they sent her home on a bus. She never returned to her husband or children. The doctors diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic. My mother told me that when she was on her medication she was fine, but once she felt “fine”, she would stop her medication. When the medication left her system, she became anxious and afraid. She once chased my grandmother, who was in her late sixties down the driveway with an ax, because she thought her mother was trying to kill her. After several inpatient stays in mental hospitals, she came back home again and she was doing good. She left my grandmother’s one night while everyone was sleeping, made it approximately fifteen miles away to a lake.
Freaks is a struggle between separate institutional ideals for power. The two bodies from the “freaks” (Cleopatra) and the “normal” (Hans) people are representative devices. Cleopatra and Hans allow the other access to themselves through their romantic endeavors. Cleopatra seeks fortune from Hans, upon whom she attempts to poison. She disrespects Hans, seeing only him only for his money without considering his emotions as she would a “normal” person. As Cleopatra’s body is morphed into a bird and Hans does not die from her poison, she is outwitted: she experiences the loss of her agency, while Hans only loses some pride.
...ther." (14) Each of the grotesques depicted follow a unanimous theme of being gifted, creative dreamers. Unable to satisfy their hunger for life and expression, their desolation is multiplied. The most critical theme found throughout Anderson's stories is the clear reflection of real life. The problems faced by the people are actual troubles faced by society at large. The only difference is that these tribulations, as well as their effects, are exaggerated to make a point. Everyone lies to himself or herself at one time or another, and living outside one's heart is not uncommon. All individuals have some way of uniquely expressing themselves, some passion to focus their lives on. Perhaps Anderson is trying to warn us that the decision to establish all of one's existence on an absolute truth transforms people into grotesques, and thus their truths into lies.
The definition of ‘monstrosity’ and what it means to be ‘monstrous’ can be understood to mean something that is visually unattractive, malformed and/or terrifying. However, monstrosity is not exclusively about something aesthetically ugly, it can also apply to what differs from what is considered ‘normality’. What is ‘normal’ versus what is ‘monstrous’ is closely linked when exploring ideas about the human condition. The representations of monstrosity in Frankenstein and in The Tempest reveal how what is monstrous and what is normal are often found side by side, challenging the idea that it is limited to outcasts who do not ‘fit-in’, and that deep down, a desire to be understood, accepted and included and to live life with meaning are central to the human condition and that monsters in society often reveal our deep seated fears and anxieties about our own existence.
...nes, ads, schools—the devastating effect is one that is constantly making deviants the outcast. These outcasts take on labels that usually have a negative connotation of a freak. Should these deviant groups stride to fit this "normal" expectation and assimilate into a culture that has rejected them or rather try to gain strength to add to their uniqueness? Each individual has a role on how he is perceived.
...e freak show and nobody wants to accept that turning into an adult, or vampire, is inevitable no matter what we do. We want to keep our friends and family close, but life will interfere and you will be taken away from them by experiencing your own “death” or cruel transition into something you never wanted to be in the first place. Maybe the spider black mail and the crazy friend just displays the evil in life and how it can speed along the process or growing up mentally faster. The more and more I try to think about the connotation of Cirque De Freak the more I realize that it’s probably just a very bad book. No matter what Cirque De Freak was supposed to achieve in this story, the book can be identified as whatever the reader makes of it. I guess that’s kind of the point of literature. We’ll always find a reason to relate to the words on a page one way or another.