Everytime we walk out our front door we are subconsciously measuring ourselves against everyone else we see. This comparison is how we learn social cues, assess current trends, mimic emotional responses, and how we measure our self worth. This process of measuring ourselves against our contemporaries is how we answer the question “What is normal?”

Hideous Kinky: Fetishizing the Freakshow, is the exploration of how disabled and marginalized minorities where historically exploited for the sake of mass entertainment. Concurrently freaks were being used by mainstream society as a benchmark of what is “normal” versus what is “other”.  Freakshows, circuses, carnivals, and roadside attractions have been a microcosms for “otherness” humans who are different. Physical abnormalities, race, and mental disabilities were all showcased to the public as polarizing views of “extraordinary bodies”. Freaks were put on display not only as entertainment, but as a look at something exotic, unnatural, and taboo; especially from the late 1800s to the early 1900s when circus’ were in their golden era.  Looking at a freaks served to reassure the public of their normalcy. The freaks ensnared an audience in a morbid fascination of measurement- where does Normal end and Other start?