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Joseph/Josephine’s angst: sensational hermaphroditism in Tod Browning’s freaks

2017; Routledge; Volume: 28; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10350330.2017.1278915

1470-1219

Gilad Padva,

Historical Gender and Feminism Studies

Tod Browning’s controversial film Freaks [USA 1932. Freaks. Screenplay/transcript of the 1932 cult horror classic film. Horrorlair.com; http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/freaks.txt] focuses on a carnival sideshow in which people with extreme physical deformities display their unusual bodies. Although this film, in which the extraordinary characters were played by real sideshow performers, has been extensively and critically analyzed, the particular (mis)representation of Joseph/Josephine the hermaphrodite in Freaks is rarely discussed. This essay analyzes in depth the sensational portrayal of Joseph/Josephine, whose gender separation is sharply delineated vertically down the center of his/her body, as the freakiest freak. This character, whose daily abuse and humiliation receives no empathy, is initially contextualized within the ancient and modern perceptions of androgynous characters, new critical classification of cinematic (mis)representation of the androgyne (hermaphrodite martyrdom, hermaphrodite freak show, and politically queer hermaphroditism), the rise of the intersex rights movement and the emergent sexual “anti-structure” zone that challenges the oppressive biopower, and possible camp and anti-camp readings of Joseph/Josephine’s queer performance and its emancipatory potentiality.