Freak Shows Week 2

I think it is very interesting to see how society's views of something change over time, and also change the perception of the public on a particular idea or thing. The Freak Show is no different. At one time, it was found to be very entertaining, but now proves to be despicable. I find it truly amazing how much society sways our opinions and ideals. Today, we see certain behaviors and styles as freakish, whereas the the 19th and 20th centuries when the freak show was popular, it was indeed the actual person that met the definition of freak. I think in that time period though, people of certain social classes did anything to their appearance and behavior to set themselves apart from lower classes. And that's part of why the freak shows were so popular. It showed a very distinct difference in the class of people, as well as the very rigid social construction of what was beautiful, accepted and normal. And if there was such a thing as abnormal, there had to be the opposite to compare it to, the "freak".