Agency through Otherness: Portraits of Performers in Circus Route Books, 1875-1925Main MenuIntroductionIntroduction to the book and information about ways to navigate the content.The American Experiment: Circus in ContextCircus performers and American history timelineRouting the Circus: The Things They CarriedCircus Routes Map, 1875-1925Ethnological Congresses and the Spectacleby Rebecca FitzsimmonsOutsiders in Demand: Chinese and Japanese Immigrant Performersby Angela Yon and Mariah WahlShattering Gender Roles: Women in the Circusby Elizabeth HarmanSide Show Sounds: Black Bandleaders Respond to ExoticismAnnexed Circus Musicians by Elizabeth C. HartmanNative Performance and Identity in The Wild West Showby Mariah WahlShowmen's Rests: The Final CurtainCircus Cemetery Plots by Elizabeth C. HartmanList of PerformersPerformers covered in this exhibitBibliography & Further ReadingsBibliography and readings for each chapterAcknowledgementsAngela Yon72f2fd7a28c88ceeba2adcf2c04fee469904c6f1
Annie Jones – The Esau Woman
12021-04-09T12:41:34-07:00Angela Yon72f2fd7a28c88ceeba2adcf2c04fee469904c6f1382941Citation Pageplain2021-04-09T12:41:34-07:00Angela Yon72f2fd7a28c88ceeba2adcf2c04fee469904c6f1The Human Marvels. "Annie Jones – The Esau Woman". https://www.thehumanmarvels.com/annie-jones-the-esau-woman/
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12021-02-26T07:56:16-08:00Annie Jones11Biographyplain2021-04-29T14:17:17-07:00 Annie Jones is easily the most well-known bearded lady, having been a part of the circus since nine months of age. Having been born with hirsutism, her parents chose the life for her, realizing they could make money off their child.12 And make money she did, outearning many of her counterparts in the circus, even in her youth. Annie knew no other life than the circus, but she made the most that she could of that life. She didn’t enjoy simply being stared at, so she learned different instruments and etiquette so she could perform a talent. As part of her act, she played up the womanly aspects of her, to show that she was not as frightening as people thought she may be.
During her time with Barnum and Bailey, she even advocated against the usage of the word “freak” to describe the sideshow performers, as it was dehumanizing and pushed the idea that they were so far removed and ‘other’ from the general public. As someone who spent her entire life in the circus, she was an exceptional advocate for the protection and integrity of circus sideshow performers and circus women.
