Freak
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"The true freak, however, stirs both supernatural terror and natural sympathy, since unlike the fabulous monsters, he is one of us, the human child of human parents, however altered by forces we do not quite understand into something mythic and mysterious, as no mere cripple ever is. Passing either on the street, we may be simultaneously tempted to avert our eyes and to stare; but in the latter case we feel no threat to those desperately maintained boundaries on which any definition of sanity ultimately depends. On the true Freak challenges the conventional boundaries between male and female, sexed and sexless, animal and human, large and small, self and other, and consequently between reality and illusion, experience and fantasy, fact and myth." --Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self (1978) by Leslie Fiedler |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
A freak is a person who is physically deformed or transformed due to an extraordinary medical condition or body modification. This definition was first attested with this meaning in the 1880s as a shorter form of the phrase "freak of nature", itself a broader term attributed at least as far back as 1847. The term's original neutral connotation became entirely negative during the 20th century; therefore, freak with its literal meaning of "abnormally developed individual" is viewed purely as a pejorative today. However, the term is also recently used playfully to refer to an enthusiast or obsessive person.
Tod Browning's film Freaks tells the story of a traveling freakshow.
Contents |
Usage
Freak saw usage as jargon by promoters and performers of freak shows, though its use in this sense has decreased along with the popularity of freak shows. One well-known example of this word was in reference to Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man." A natural freak would usually have been born with a genetic abnormality, while a self-made freak was a person who was altered artificially (with methods such as surgical implants).
The term has a variety of much more recent meanings. An example is something strikingly unusual about one's appearance or behavior. This usage originated from "freak scene" during the 1960s and 1970s, most famously promoted by the album Freak Out! made by the rock band The Mothers of Invention.
A recent usage of freak is as a synonym for enthusiast, such as a health freak; or referring to obsessive behavior, such as control freak.
In science
Freak is used in science to describe plants and animals with a genetic mutation.
In early science, there were many theories concerning the existence of natural abnormalities. Many of the theories led to pseudo-sciences that are still supported by some. One persistent pre-19th century superstition is that, if a pregnant woman is scared by someone or something, the child would be born with the quality of the source. (The widely accepted scientific theory regarding inherent qualities is that of mutation).
In religion
In some religions since ancient times, the birth of abnormal offspring has been associated with astrological events. Rues cited the recent solar eclipses as reason for the increased number of mutated infants born at that time. Karma is also believed in some eastern religions to be a cause of abnormalities. In other faiths, the cause is attributed to direct intervention by the will of God. Example of the usage of this term include, "smita you're a freak" and "smita you don't sleep so you're a freak."
Cultural examples
Frank Zappa and the freak subculture
The term "freaks" became much more widely and generally used in the late 1960s and early 1970s, often as a synonym for "hippies".
"Made freaks"
The word "freak" is also used these days by people who intentionally choose to alter their physical appearance by artificial means. The motivation for the change may be bravado, a lifestyle choice (an example of this is The Enigma, rockstar Marilyn Manson or the band Murderdolls), a reaction to a disfiguring accident, an attempt to stay young, or a symptom of body dysmorphic disorder. There are various types of "made freaks", each of which may be used to create an effect which would make the person a freak.
Tattooing
Taken from the Tahitian word tatu or tatau, and incorporating Japanese traditional irezumi ("insertion of ink") methods, tattooing became very popular among sailors, and then caught on with bikers and others who like to have permanent artwork on their skin. Today "made freaks" are often associated with having excessive tatooing all over the body, as in the case of The Enigma.
Punk hair
Unusual hair coloring and styles such as spikes, mohawks, dreadlocks, and other uncommon styles designed to look as far from 'normal' hairstyles as possible, are still associated with punk, although those styles were not popular at the time of punk rock's emergence in the 1970s. It is possible to look at the 1961 movie The Rebel starring Tony Hancock and see representations of Paris artists with blue, green or crimson dyed hair and black clothing, parodying the antics of the surrealists or, looking back through old magazines and news items from the 1950s, to see news of British rock and roller Wee Willie Harris with his pink hair or Peter Sellers' early 60s comedy reference to a rock singer dying his "hair a luminous green" in the song "I'm So Ashamed".
Piercing
Body piercing has been around since ancient times, and has been attributed mystical significance. These days, it is often regarded by those who use it as an enhancement of one's natural appearance, as with most forms of body modification. Piercing of the face (especially ears and lips) has been integrated into teenage fashion, along with the subsequent stretching of these piercings by inserting increasingly larger jewelry into the healed fistula.
Cosmetic surgery
Cosmetic surgery can refer to the simple removal of a scar, or it can be totally transformative and literally serve to significantly alter the appearance of a person.
Medical implants
Medical implants are becoming more common. Speculative fiction and futurology conjecture that this trend may continue to the point where the line between human and machine becomes very blurred. According to the philosophy of transhumanism, technologies such as cybernetics will enable humans to transcend their current physical limitations. The philosophy prescribes a new kind of evolutionary mutation which transcends biology.
See also
- Ableism
- Deviance (sociology)
- Social rejection
- Teratology
- Control freak
- Freak show
- Freak out (disambiguation)
- Freaks, the film
- Freak scene
- The use of the word "freak" in some African American music of the 1970s and 1980s
- Phreaking
- Freaky Friday
- Freaky Trigger
- Medical oddity
