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• 1 2021-01-28T08:53:28-08:00 Shattering Gender Roles: Women in the Circus 50 by Elizabeth Harman plain 1039914 2021-06-11T17:40:51-07:00 by Elizabeth Harman

  As circus goers watched the array of performers, they witnessed various powerful renditions of female beauty, strength, vulnerability, humor, sexuality, and ugliness; each type of performance conveyed its own meaning and offered its own vision of what women were capable of achieving. ¹

  
  The Gilded Age brought forth many changes in American society, from the expansion of the railroad system and rapid growth in the west to political issues like the temperance movement and prohibition, immigration laws, and the suffrage movement. Exploration of the world was ever increasing and there were great advances in science, medicine, technology, and media. However, while some areas of American society were taking great steps forward, others were facing great resistance, including how women should be present and involved in society. ²
  
  Courageous, daring, strong, and capable. These are words that would not typically be used to describe women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. On the contrary, societal standards trended towards the exact opposite regarding the view of the ‘ideal woman’. Dress was always supposed to be formal, polite, and conservative, with long skirts and dresses being the standard. Women were not encouraged to join the workforce (with exceptions made for ‘acceptable work’), society believing that their place was within the domestic home.³ Their demeanor should be polite, feminine, and quiet, not showing too much emotion or sharing too many opinions. 
  
  Circus women were in direct contrast to this narrative. Despite the barriers placed on them, as the new era was ushered in women began advocating for their right to work. “The expansion in female employment in the circus reflected a national trend as the number of women in the workplace more than doubled from 1870 to 1910.” ⁴ Women had existed in the circus prior to this time, but they were much less prevalent and much less accepted by the general public. Certain states even prevented circus women from performing due to state laws. In the face of these laws, the advice of the media, and what society deemed as ‘appropriate work’, the women of the circus were a visible representation and celebration of female power, making their voices heard and their contributions to society known. 
  
  This chapter will focus on the women who made their own seat at the table; women who faced exploitation and social rejection daily yet were some of the most celebrated of their time. By making a living for themselves and choosing to be visible, they became advocates for working, successful women and a force for change. 
  
  
  Author’s Statement: Much of the language used in the Circus Route Books collection and other primary sources is outdated, sexist, racist, and offensive to many people groups. The use of these terms within this chapter is in no way meant to harm others, and appropriate terminology is used whenever possible.

   

• 1 2021-02-26T07:52:48-08:00 Big Women 26 plain 1060626 2021-04-29T14:14:26-07:00 A feature in many sideshows during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were women who did not fit into society’s standard size. Whether it be height or weight, these women were ostracized from regular society due to these visible differences. Advertised as "fat" ladies and "giantesses", their purpose in the sideshow was simply to be observed, awed, and gawked at by the paying customers.
  
  While men were not excluded from this profession as an exhibit for curious onlookers, women (especially "fat" women) were more often lauded. They drew in much larger audiences, as they were viewed “worthy of exhibiting” for the inappropriateness of their nature.⁵Similarly, giantesses were viewed as more unique than their male counterparts. This alone shows how strict standards were on women that, carrying the same ‘afflictions’ as men, were more of a spectacle. 
  
  Though the circus fervently advertised their side show performers and plastered them on posters and billboards to announce their impending arrival in the city, they were rarely given any spotlight in traditional news media at the time. Most often, the "fat" ladies were only listed among a large, general list of performers. If any other piece was made to specifically talk about them, it was usually regarding either their marriage or their death with the exception of a rare biographical piece explaining the events leading to their larger size.⁶
  
  Comparatively, the female giants were more often portrayed and talked about in the news, with an illustration of them standing by another person, emphasizing their height. Articles about their daily life and the challenges being so tall had brought can also be found. 
  
  Despite the exploitive nature of their work, big women were able to find a place within the circus that they could not find outside, and though they were constantly stared at and compared with “normal” people, it was often less damaging than the torment they had faced trying to fit into regular American society. They were able to use that exploitation and that “otherness” to work and make a successful living for themselves. 
• 1 2021-03-14T18:03:00-07:00 Big Cat Trainers/ Tamers 22 plain 1064286 2021-04-29T14:26:45-07:00 While some women were exhibited for their appearance or strange talents in the sideshows, others were fighting for their right to a place on the big stage. Training the big animals in a circus was a feat that required strength, versatility, and courage, something women of that time were not supposed to possess. Every menagerie head at the time was a man, and almost all big trainers were also men, “who neither desired women trainers, nor believed that any feminine performer could possibly develop herself into a position of control over wild beasts.” ¹⁸ So, it took time and effort for a woman to make her way into the field. In the past, if a woman worked with animals, it was typically in the background, never in the ring itself, unless they were being used as a prop to look pretty and fragile next to the giant beasts. 
  
  Entering any profession within the circus as a woman was generally looked upon strangely by outsiders, so undertaking a position in such a dangerous field was incredibly scandalous. It took a lot of effort on the woman’s part to convince both the circus management and their male counterparts to be able to learn the art of training the big cats.¹⁹ Whatever the cost may have been, women were determined to follow their passions. 
  
  
  Once they gained traction within the ring, they were still struggling to assert their power and be seen as equals to men in skill. “While men always appeared as vanquishers of big cats, a very different kind of depiction arose for the women who began appearing alone with lions and tigers,” often seen as interacting with the cats in a sexualized manner. ²⁰ Rather than fighting in the ring, they were lovingly interacting with the animals. This created a very different act from those of typical male trainers (e.g. Clyde Beatty), but they persevered and the women in the ring became more reputable and found new ways to train and maintain their show.
   
• 1 2021-03-14T18:06:25-07:00 Mabel Stark 17 plain 2021-05-06T17:36:14-07:00
  
  
  
  
  Known as the First woman tiger trainer/tamer, and one of the most famous trainers remembered today is Mabel Stark. Orphaned at seventeen year of age, Mabel first failed in the field of nursing before joining the circus as a background dancer. She began working with and eventually married one of the lead animal trainers, Louis Roth, another big cat trainer. Louis was one of the first trainers to use positive reinforcement while training the cats and is a training technique that Mabel used in her career.²¹
  
  While she worked on her training skills in her free time, Mabel continued to perform in other areas of the circus. During this time she was listed under a general "Performer" list, not with the other animal trainers as shown, who were all men. Only a few years after she began training, she had her first year in the big show and quickly became the star. Mabel continued to push the boundaries of animal training and improve her act and defying the norms of what was expected of a woman saying, 
  
  

  Because I was a woman and grew tired of hearing men trainers say that a woman could not do this or that, I broke a twelve tiger act sixteen years ago and began wrestling tigers eight years ago. And now I’m going to have my twenty tiger act – the biggest tiger act in the business!
  -Mabel Stark ²²
   

• 1 2021-02-26T07:57:08-08:00 Bearded Women 13 plain 1064247 2021-06-22T15:16:51-07:00 Exhibited in a similar, exploitive manner as the big women were the bearded women of the circus. In contrast to the other women of the freak show, bearded women tended to be viewed in a more negative light in the media. Even though fat women and tall women were outside of the societal norms, they were still viewed as the women that they were, whereas bearded women had to consistently prove their womanhood and femininity through other means, because their appearance resembled a man too closely. 
  
  As the times changed and women were starting to become a more integral part of society, there was obvious pushback. The newspapers used bearded women to warn people, saying they were dangerous glimpses into the future if women continued to push societal norms.¹⁰ As much as society loved to observe these women, “the bearded white woman appeared to represent much that Americans feared by the end of the century, especially the new feminist-sporting a physical demonstration of all the trouble she might cause to men.” ¹¹ Portrayed as something both frighteningly archaic and frighteningly new, they were outside of societal control and the media sent clear messages that this was to be avoided. 
  
  The bearded women made their own in spite of the negative spin on their appearances, becoming a staple act in many circuses around the country. 
• 1 2021-03-14T17:09:42-07:00 Strong Women 12 plain 1064285 2021-04-29T13:52:27-07:00 A big obstacle for circus women was finding acceptance for their strength. Showing strength in any form, whether it be through demeanor or emotion, was considered inappropriate for women. The strong women of the circus who demonstrated their strength physically were therefore a truly dangerous and unbecoming group.¹⁴ Seeing women display improper gender traits by exhibiting their strength was simultaneously something that onlookers were horrified by but also enjoyed as the acts were popular in the circus. 
  
  It was such an unusual sight that many could not help but be curious how a woman could reach that level of strength without turning into a man, even doctors stated, “any other type of physical fitness ‘of a masculine character causes the female body to become fore like that of a man’.”¹⁵ While this sentiment caused many women to stray further away from physical activity out of fear, it caused others to push even harder and become even stronger to prove them wrong. The strong women in the circus were visible proof that women had more than just a little energy and could perform tasks outside of the home, breaking the stereotype of women’s immobility.
   
• 1 2021-03-14T18:07:54-07:00 Zazel 9 plain 2021-04-29T14:23:39-07:00
  
   

  In the United States as in England, there was special power in the sight of a vulnerable young woman thus launched. ²⁵

  
  
  Born in London, Rosa Richter (known under her stage name of Zazel) was the star of a unique act, being the first human cannonball. Starting at the very young age of fourteen, Zazel first performed her act in Europe, working under the man who made the contraption that would shoot her through the sky. She made her way to the United States in 1880 to perform with Barnum and Bailey. After her performances, she was plastered in newspapers with illustrations of her flying, the audiences amazed by the feats this small yet fearless woman accomplished. 
  
  Zazel eventually married the circus manager George Starr, entering into the American Circus family, but she had made a name for herself in her own right. Her act was so popular that many copycats appeared in both act and name, attempting to take some of the fame that was associated with her.