Freaky Girls Of The Sideshow

When you’re known as "Percilla the Monkey Girl" or "Julia the Baboon Lady,” your life is anything but ordinary.

But the sideshow life could be empowering for women who were born different -- and those who demanded to be different. So says Ilise “The Lady Aye” Carter and Marc “Backwash” Hartzman, two featured speakers at the Morbid Anatomy Museum, who join us on the HuffPost Weird News Podcast. 

LISTEN: Freak Girls of the Sideshow

Hartzman, the author of  "American Sideshow," documents the lives of midway stars past and present. Carter, a writer, sword swallower and burlesque performer, explores the fringe side of show business through a feminist lens.

Part of the allure for these women in these show was taking control of the word "Freak," turning it from an insult into a badge of honor -- the right to be be different.

Check out photos of many of these ladies below as you listen to our guests. Many of the woman below were sideshow stars. Other starred in movies and plays that borrowed heavily from that tradition. It's an art form that is a curious reflection of American tastes and obsession.

• Julia Pastrana, circa 1855
  
  UniversalImagesGroup via Getty Images
• Lady Eye, New Orleans, 2015
  
  Shadow Angelina
  Lady Eye
• The Circus of Horrors, 2009
  
  sarahphotogirl via Getty Images
• The FreakShow Deluxe, 2015
  
  Miikka Skaffari via Getty Images
• Hilton Sisters' 17th Birthday Party, 1925
  
  Visual Studies Workshop via Getty Images
• Emily Padgett and Erin Davie in "Side Show"
  
  Walter McBride via Getty Images
• Josephine-Joseph, in "Freaks"
  
  Fox Photos via Getty Images
• Todd Browning's "Freaks," 1932
  
  Movie Poster Image Art via Getty Images
• Pig-Faced Lady, 19th Century Victorian Freakshow
  
  Culture Club via Getty Images
• Trashique D' Lamour, Tinderbox Circus Sideshow, 2013
  
  Stephen J. Cohen via Getty Images
• World's Shortest Woman Jyoti Amge at 18
  
  ASSOCIATED PRESS
• Giantess Sandy Allen
  
  John Allen/Cast A Giant Shadow
• Jessa "The Bearded Lady" in AMC's "Freakshow"
  
  JB Lacroix via Getty Images
• JoAnn the Double Sex Wonder in Abingdon, Virginia, 1967
  
  Robert Alexander via Getty Images
• Kali Von Wunderkammer, "Storyville Rising"
  
  JonGunnar Gylfason
• Alex Doll, Sideshow Scribe
  
  Katherine Gaines/ AmbientEye Photography
  Photo by Katherine Gaines / AmbientEye.com
• Gala Of Union Artists In Paris , 1975
  
  Keystone-France via Getty Images
• Married Giants, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus 1930
  
  Transcendental Graphics via Getty Images
• Regan Brunetti, Olde City Sideshow
  
  Shadow Angelina
  Regan Brunetti
• Asia Ray In AMC's "Freakshow," 2014
  
  JB Lacroix via Getty Images
• Insectavora, World of Wonders Sideshow, 2014
  
  Mel Melcon via Getty Images
• Stella the Bearded Lady, World of Wonders Sideshow
  
  Courtesy of Ward Hall
• Percilla the Monkey Girl And Emmett The Alligator Skin Man
  
  Courtesy of Ward Hall
  Percilla the Monkey Girl