'When something different or unusual is presented before you -whether it's living or inanimate- you're intrigued, amazed, or maybe even disgusted. But you want to see it.'
pg1

'Throughout history, those who have been born somehow different from the rest of us have had the opportunity to profit from human curiosity, the sense of wonder at their difference.'
pg2

'To complicate matters further, the new attitude of political correctness made it wrong to stare at and profit from human oddities. This was relevant, for example, in the 1960s and early 1970s in cases in North Carolina and Florida, where two girls were offended after attending sideshows. One of these was fifteen-year-old Carol Grant, who had deformed arms and legs. "Handicapped people are seeking more in life than being stared at in a sideshow," she wrote in a 1968 letter to the North Carolina agriculture commissioner, and a copy of her letter was sent to the governor's wife, sparking controversy in the press. Grant's concern may have been justified for certain people, some said, but why take away the option of appearing in a sideshow if someone wanted to? Those who did want to fought back. They had a right to earn a living, and the sideshow was a place to do it.'
pg4

from American Sideshow by Marc Hartzman