FREAKS
by Dave Diamond
A hard article to write about,it seems that whenever the subject appears
people cringe or don`t want to talk about it. Well for me I think its a
subject that should be discussed-after all they are part of our world
and have equal rights and views just like me and you,its just that they
look different. Many different types of `freaks` have been uncovered,
from the bizare to the unbelievable, so lets have a look at just some of
them.
Perhaps the most famous freak is joseph carey merrick otherwise known as
the elephant man.He was born on 5th august 1862 in leicester,his mother
was a cripple,the family home a slum and shortly after his birth was
abandoned to an orphanage,he could speak but his appaling deformities
made his words barley intelligible. It came to the day he was visited
by the princess of wales,the queen sent him christmas cards every year
with a message in her own handwriting.One night in april 1890 joseph was
found dead in his bead. `as a specimen of humanity,merrick was ignoble
and repulsive;but the spirit of merrick,if it could be seen in the form
of the living,would assume the figure of an upstanding and heroic
man,smooth browed and clean of limb...and with eyes that flashed
undaunted courage`.
That above statement was taken from the book `the worlds most fantastic
freaks` and I think describes EVERY human being that has been through or
is still going through this terrible ordeal.
Other freaks (I really hate using that word) are:-
A girl called alice who was only a few weeks old when her mother
abandoned her,as alice was born without a face,this was caused by a
terrible birth defect called bilateral cleft face,her eye lids were on
the side of her head but she had no eyes;where her mouth should have
been there were only small holes opening into soft mucous membranes,she
had severe problems in breathing-she could only be fed through a tube
inserted into her neck. However good fortune came to alice as the nurse
who cared for her fell in love with the child and legally adopted
her,the last that was heard,was that she is having a sucessfull
operation to repair her face at the age of 6 (please note that the book
is some 11 years old,it is unknown if the child is still living).
A french man called pascal pinon,40 had another smaller head growing
from his normal one,the head had all the normal features including
eyes,nose,mouth and brain-it lived for four years until the human was
bitten by a snake and died.I have a picture that shows the two heads if
anyones interested.
Others include...
A woman with 4 legs
The wolf boy
Lion man
A man with 108 inch nails
Human zombies
One facinating subject is the men and women who weigh over 500lbs, these
include albert who weighs 856lbs-thats 61 stone!!! A woman at the age
of 23 weighed 456lbs-32 stone. A man called bozo holds the title for
eating the quickest,apparently he can
Eat a pound of cheese in I minute 13 seconds
22 meat pies in 18 minutes
62 pancakes in 58.5 seconds
3 pounds of potatoes in I minute 22 seconds
14 hard boiled eggs in 58 seconds
32 soft boiled eggs in 78 seconds
13 raw eggs in 2.2 seconds
40 jam sandwiches in 53.9 seconds
There are many more that I haven`t added,suits his name doesn`t he?!
The record for eating the most goes to frenchman lotito who was
nicknamed monssieur mangetout (mr eat all) who in 15 days between march
and 2 april 1977 consumed an entire bicycle,eating the frame as metal
filings and stewing the tyres.
The point i`m trying to make with this article isn`t to gross out people
but to make them think-these people just look different and if you say
the`re ugly and wouldn`t give them the time of day then you`re a
rascist,its only because these people are hidden that we are
affraid-just like menatlly handicapped people,they used to be laughed at
and hidden and I suppose some still are,but they are much more accepted
than they used to be.
WHATS THE SOLUTION? well I think that these people should be brought
out into the open,to get proper jobs,to go into shops and not be laughed
or gawped at-I know this would be hard as if someone is different people
will look,but if we give them a chance (WHICH WE SHOULD) then they`d
become our friends and would be accepted by society.
In the book fantastic freaks the introduction says it all and will close
the subject of this article.
`They are loved,loathed,feared,despised and even worshipped; human
beings whose appearances and natures often conspire to defy that very
description.We call them freaks.We have exhibited them,exploited
them,applauded them,laughed at them and,sometimes,shut them far away
from the world.
But human beings they are.The short,the tall,the fat,the thin, the
mighty,the feeble,the grotesque and the downright outrageous;people
thrust into a prying,probing limelight because they are different.
Yet what lies behind the peep show curtains? Behind the sober, medical
textbooks and the screaming newspaper headlines? Since history began to
be chronicled,no-one has captured public curiosity in all its
manifestations of emotion as much as the human freak`.
End.
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