Eli Clare Freaks And Queers Analysis

Eli Clare in Freaks and Queers observes how individuals use certain words to reaffirm their identities and also distinguish themselves from the rest of society. Being a disabled transman, Clare mentions various words, like handicapped, cripple (crip), gimp, amongst others, which have come to be accepted by the disabled community. He says, “cripple makes me flinch…but I love crip humor, the audacity of turning cripple into a word of pride” (p. 83). Some of these words, like queer for the LGBT community, are used as a means of agency and community for minority groups. But he also turns to the ugly side of language, which can be used to decrease and erase the worth of an individual. He mentions his discomfort with the word ‘freak’ and how

it has been used to treat disabled individuals and non-disabled people of color as mistakes and marginalize them even further. Clare’s piece highlights ways in which societies use language to uplift or depress individuals, and how the disabled have used their difference and these words to form resistance against society’s perception of them, and choose to present themselves as proud of that difference. This article will delve further into how the author relates with these words and his understanding of them.

Clare takes us back to a time, when freak shows were a highly desired form of entertainment, in which people who did not fit the form of the ‘normal’ human – white and without any disabilities – were put on a stage to absorb the amusement and gawking of their “paying customers… rubes” (p.

86). I like his definition of the word freak show, which is “an elaborate and calculated social construction that utilized performance and fabrication as well as deeply held cultural beliefs” (p. 86). The freak show was a place in which white people could come and recognize their difference and privilege and reaffirm their superiority over individuals who were different from them, who fall into the realm of the ‘other.’ It causes me to wonder that if some individuals saw this as a morally unjust thing, why was it such a popular phenomenon that had a great turn out? And it takes me back to what a friend said, that the only way things sell, is because there is a high demand for it. These freak shows were able to thrive in society, because some individuals needed to know and confirm that they were indeed higher than some other saps out there, whatever they had, they had it better than others. Yes these spectators were being duped into pay high prices to see people with highly exaggerated features, but they did not mind, because why they were there, was to have an opportunity to look at themselves and say Thank God, we are not like them and to reassert their dominance over the

‘other.’

I appreciate the honesty in his work, and he was able to call out his privilege as a white individual, and the resources he had, which were able to keep him away from the “special class.” Also how he was able to confront himself about the internal tensions he had to deal with about his disability at a younger age. He is able to recognize the differences amongst individuals that were ‘freaks’ and how their relationship and experiences of this word varied. His work forces me to be question and recognize ways in which I have been a gawker.

While reading this article, it causes me to think of how the word ‘freak’ flows much more easily in modern-day vocabulary, and has become a hip and trendy term.

For instance, in the show Freaks and Geeks, we find individuals, calling themselves freaks, because they do not belong in the ‘status quo,’ and live or desire to live alternative lifestyles. Would this be disrespectful to individuals who according to 19th and 20th century lingo, were called freaks? I think it is highly disrespectful indeed, because in the show, we find these kids who are not disabled, and are all white using a term which has caused so much pain to others,used it in such a free way, to be different and alternate. It goes back to what he was saying about how individuals who identify with the pink triangle and the term freak, need to also be a witness to the pain that other individuals suffered, like the gay POC and non-disabled POC. And it is worse because these kids in no way bear any semblance with either of the categories mentioned. It’s becoming some sort of norm, in which white people of years passed create words which are meant to relegate different individuals to the outside, and then after this relegation is done, choose to use it as freely as they want. For instance the use of the word ‘nigger’, white people want to include this word in their vocabulary so bad, because slavery happened more than 300 years ago. But they forget the pain that comes with this word, but you cannot truly forget what

you never experienced.

Also, there are statements now like, ‘freak in the sheets’ to explain someone who is a sexual deviant, for instance in Childish Gambino’s Freaks and Geeks and Estelle’s Freaks. They discuss their sexual escapades and sexual capabilities. Would it still be acceptable by ‘disabled individuals and people of color to use this word, especially since these two individuals are POC and engage in sexual acts, that may have been frowned upon 50 years ago? I’ll refer to the ‘nigger or nigga’ argument here. Most times black people say, if you are going to use that word, then you should be willing to take on the struggles that black people contend with on a daily basis. With these two individuals, if they were to call themselves freaks, P. T. Barnum would probably agree and say they were right. But the issue here is that the term has taken on a sexual connotation to it, and is employed by all races and all varying bodies of groups, who fall under the sexual deviant category. And it still goes back to bearing witness to the word, when it’s being used, do we remember the pain behind it or just how cool it sounds. It’s recently become trendy to be different, and this trendiness applies to only white people.