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Lisa Nakamura’s journal article ‘I WILL DO EVERYthing that Am Asked’: Scambaiting, Digital Show-Space, and the Racial Violence of Social Media explores the conditions present in society that allows these memetic images to circulate the web. On page 270 of the article, Nakamura argues that this phenomenon is the viral version of the postcards and posters associated with the Barnum Museum and traveling shows. I believe the parallels between freak shows and scambaiting extend to the motivation behind each phenomenon.
Through her work, Extraordinary Bodies, Rosemarie Garland Thomson explores the success of the 19th century American freak show. Much like Nakamura’s argument about memetic images, Thomson argues that these shows were designed for entertainment and monetary purposes. However, Thomson takes her article a step further by concluding that these shows were also meant to ease the anxieties of the “average” American. The author attributes a large proportion of the American freak show’s success to its ability to assure the masses that they were normal in comparison to those on display. The American freak show illustrates despite the country’s vocal emphasis on being a melting pot and valuing individual differences, individuals work to create a social hierarchy in which they feel powerful.
American Freak Show
The parallels between these two arguments lead me to wonder more about the motivation behind scambaiting. While individuals “operate under the sign of fun and amusement” (p. 261), what are the true motivations behind their actions? Does it resemble those who created and frequented freak shows or reflect some other implicit or explicit bias?
Thomson, Rosemarie Garland. “The Cultural Work of the American Freak Show, 1835-1940.” Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature. 1st edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. 55–80. Print.
Posted from Intro to Digital Studies by Kat