Carnivals Past

         I've indulged in a few circus shows in my lifetime. I've watched the Ringling Brothers, of course. They were a famous traveling act. At the time I found it to be nothing but fun and entertainment. I would go home with a circus hat on my head and a phone full of photos to flip back on. I've even gone to a circus camp. It never occurred to me that what I was watching had such a dark story to it. I was in such awe over the lions and the elephants I saw doing amazing tricks, not knowing that there was constant backlash over the harsh conditions that these wild animals were under. That they should not have been held in captivity or shown off like they were. The Ringling Brothers have since then shut down. 

But the controversy of circuses did not start there. The original circus was that of the freak shows. Freak shows in the past consisted of a lot of racial stereotypes and showing off those with disabilities. At the time it was seen as interesting and entertaining to the masses, but as time passed and things began to change, people started realizing that the way these shows are using minorities as objects for display were concerning and not okay. It took some time, but outsiders began to fight for these minorities. And that's great, it really is. It's great that people realized that that was messed up and wanted to do something to fix it. But although these activists got what they wanted, a lot of the minorities within the shows were out of a job since they could no longer show off their existence for money. Disabled people, such as frog boy, had to create a new act or ditch the job altogether. Job opportunities for disabled were already (and still are) so minimal, so I can only imagine how this may have messed up their lives. Thankfully now, many jobs are more accessible for disabled people, so they don't have to rely on dehumanizing methods to afford living. 

    It's nice to see that things that were so easily accepted in the past are no longer treated as such. People, for the most part, are being more cautious in what they are doing. Disabled people and POC are not being as actively degraded by their careers as they used to be. I hope that we can continue on the path of checking if what we are doing is morally correct and okay. My bone to pick is that if circuses were criticized for using wild animals for entertainment, why aren't places like zoos and Sea World facing the same backlash?