freak shows
Human oddity displays
Freak shows were exhibitions displaying people with unusual physical characteristics or abilities—giants, dwarves, conjoined twins, the heavily tattooed.
Popular entertainment from the 19th century through the mid-20th, they declined as attitudes shifted toward viewing such displays as exploitative.
The term now applies figuratively to any spectacle of human oddity or dysfunction: The committee hearing devolved into a freak show.
- sideshowSecondary carnival attraction
- odditySomething unusual or unexpected
- Tom ThumbTiny folk tale hero
- dehumanizationDenying personhood to others
- curiositiesUnusual things worth examining
Barnum and Bailey · disabilities · exploitation · spectacle · gawk · barker · performances · attractions · deformity · anomaly · pinheads · rubbernecking · circuses · stare · display · exhibition · traveling shows · giant
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- carnivalparade, costume, float, ferris wheel, roller coaster
- folk entertainmentfolk dancing, folk theater, busking, street performance, street theater
- curiositiesoddities, curiosities, rarities, wonders, anomalies
- lowbrowreality TV, tabloids, gossip magazines, trash TV, celebrity gossip
- Victorian odditiesphrenology, cabinet of curiosities, human zoos, resurrection men, curiosity shops
freak showstalent shows
Contests displaying performers' abilities
variety acts · magic acts · acrobatics · musical performances · dance recitals
freak showshigh art
Culturally elevated creative works
opera · ballet · legitimate theater · art house cinema · gallery openings
show, freak, showcase, freakish, freaking, freakishness, freakier, freakout, freakiest