Enfreakment In Freakery

Enfreakment In Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, One of the most fascinating excerpts is the idea of “enfreakment”. This term incorporates the many elements that contribute to the creation of an individual as what most members of so-called normal society might deem a freak: "Enfreakment emerges from cultural rituals that stylize, silence, differentiate, and distance the persons whose bodies the freak-hunters or showmen colonize and commercialize. Paradoxically, however, at the same time that enfreakment elaborately foregrounds specific bodily eccentricities, it also collapses all those differences into a “freakery”, a single amorphous category of corporeal otherness. By constituting the

Enfreakment argues that the body may be different, strange, even unusual, but it is the cultural norms that make them or their bodies "freak" or “freakish”. In fact, not one of these people in original freakshows were actually freaks. The identity of "freak" or the “freakshow” is a cultural construct created by circus mastermind, P.T. Barnum. There were numerous ways to show the "freak" to the public. One way this was shown in the readings is when exciting showmen on stilts and fancy outfits called the crowd to the show and presented “the exhibit” to appeal to people's interest in the culturally strange (ex. The elephant man Joseph Merrick). Another way to show the "freak" was glorified is to make sure that the audience knows their body is different. A problem with "enfreakment" is that it did not take into consideration what we now know as

It looks at ways of eliminating obstacles that limit life choices for the disabled. When obstacles are removed, the disabled can be independent and equal within societal norms, while being in control of their own lives. The disabled developed the social model of disability because the traditional medical model did not explain their personal experience of disability or help to develop more inclusive ways of living. An impairment as mentioned in class discussion is defined as: “long-term limitation of a person’s physical, mental or sensory function.” A fundamental aspect of the social model concerns equality. The social model of disability focuses on changes required in society. These terms as discussed during class discussion involve attitudes, for example non-disabled forming more positive attitudes toward certain mental traits or behaviors, or not underestimating the potential quality of life of those with impairments. Information, for example using suitable formats (ex. braille) or levels (ex. simplicity of language) or coverage (ex. explaining issues others may take for granted). Public Buildings, such as buildings with elevators and ramp access to make their business more readily