Content-oriented or audience-oriented: the approaches to define freak

For a long time, people define the freak by means of the so called “the content-oriented approach”. It is not enough when theorizing stage freaks because this approach alienates the key role of the audience in defining someone as a stage freak, when the occurrence of stage freak is constantly associated with the notion of giving performances to the audience. So in this article, the author will talk about both “the content-oriented approach” and “the audience-oriented approach”. After offering background, the author will then discuss the methods employed by different materials to define stage freaks under a framework consisting of the two approaches. Finally, the author will give some recommendations on how to define stage freaks in a more comprehensive way.