The Word Freak

The word freak is something that we use in everyday language without realizing that in the past, the word was not just a casual phrase to throw around. We associate the word freak with other words such as strange, weird, and odd in order to insult a person who is different than us or define something that is out of the ordinary. However, when we use the word freak so casually we are disassociating it from its original meaning and changing the words context. In most instances, the word “freak” was used to classify the physically and mentally disabled into a separate category (Adams 26). This segregation allowed for the able-bodied community to mock and ridicule freaks along with exploiting them with the dynamic of “Freak Shows”. Freak was used as a way to disgrace individuals of different races and those with disabilities. Leonard Cassuto in Keywords for Disability says the word “freak” is used as defining disability as a spectacle or putting the disabled on display (Cassuto 36). This definition of freak can clearly be seen in freak shows, which were popular sideshow attractions where the “freaks” were put on display. In some
The Brother targets Venus when he says, “Theres a street over there lines with Freak Acts but not many dark ones, that’s how we’ll cash in” (Parks 12). Venus is considered a freak due to her being from an African tribe and having an abnormally sized buttock. Venus was considered to be a “money maker” and a “freak” because her skin color and heritage set her aside from the other “freaks” in England. Venus was often referred to as “The Dancing African Princess” in order to make her appear exotic and to help her seem more like a “spectacle”. This title also helped coerce Venus into the industry because it appealed to her. It allowed Venus to believe that she would be idolized rather than ridiculed and displayed as a