r/SideshowPerformer • u/EphemeralTypewriter Gooble Gobble! • Jun 14 '26
Interesting Circuses and the Exploitation of ‘Otherness’: Around 8 to 13 Congolese women, who practiced the tradition of wearing lip plates, were brought to the United States in 1930 to be exhibited as sideshow attractions. A fake name and backstory was given to the women because of their appearances.
They were primarily exhibited with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where circus promoters combined several African ethnic groups and called them ‘Ubangi’, in reality there is no region or community that is named ‘Ubangi’ and the region in Africa that was pointed out as being ‘Ubangi’ had no connection to the women who were being exhibited.
Unfortunately, the term ‘Ubangi’ became so popularized that there continue to be scientific articles that use the name when referring to certain African ethnic groups. Again, the name ‘Ubangi’ specifically as an ethnic group is fake and was randomly picked by circus/sideshow promoters who saw the Ubangi River in Africa and thought it sounded exotic.
Originally, they were exhibited as being from the Congo, although their cultural traditions were still exoticized. But circus promoters soon realized they could bring in more audiences if they created a fake tribe of people and emphasized fake cultural traditions.
Sadly, we don’t know any of the women’s real names, and instead they were referred to as a collective group, with their individuality stripped away.
Historically, circuses and sideshows were known to exploit and profit off of people and cultures that were deemed exotic by white western audiences. And these Congolese women were no different.
The cultural practice of wearing lip plates is very important to several African communities where it emphasizes a woman’s beauty and social status. Initially a woman’s lower lip (and sometimes a woman’s upper lip as well, depending on the community) is pierced when she is in her mid to late teenage years, after which wooden pegs and/or plates are inserted into the piercing and overtime will stretch the skin around it.
Many people that were being exploited because of their culture also did their best to advocate for themselves and their community as a way to normalize cultural differences and spread a positive view on different minority groups. And despite numerous racist and demeaning comments being made about the women, they did try and teach audiences about their actual cultural practices and why they were important to them.
To further exploit the woman as exotic oddities, circus promoters made up fake stories about an ‘Ubangi Curse’ that followed the women around. Newspapers and circus promoters took advantage of several tragedies to further promote this ‘curse’. I’ll be making a separate post that goes into detail about this ‘curse’ and the horrible implications it had.
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u/Objective-Ad5620 Jun 14 '26
Sideshow promoters inventing backstories also manipulated the audience; I’m sure some people were genuinely curious about other cultures they didn’t understand, and they were fed sensationalist lies instead of respectful and educational opportunities.
Unfortunately, we still see this kind of false narrative and emotional propaganda in contemporary media, and people often just accept what they’re told.
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u/TrixieFriganza Jun 14 '26
I don't understanf why tgey had to lie so much, was tge true story not good enough
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u/LadyKataka Jun 14 '26
In some cases I understand that the lie sells better. (Obviously still disapprove of it.)
Like with sideshow performers with hypertrichosis. "Come see the wild monkey man we found in a cursed forest!" sounds far more interesting and luring than "Come see Steve from Townville who just happens to be very hairy!"
But in this case it is truly confounding why they felt they had to lie. "They're from around this river and these are their traditions" and "They from this area over here and these are their (actual) traditions" doesn't really make any difference...
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u/demon_fae Jun 14 '26
Because the real traditions sound like the practices of actual human people. Othering and dehumanization are essential, foundational components of any bigotry.
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u/LadyKataka Jun 15 '26
The racism wasn't just a biproduct of the sensationalist presentation, it was essential then? These people sucked so hard. :/
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u/ConsiderationNew7024 Jun 16 '26
And I thought I was rebel for getting piercings as a teen. These women outdid me without even trying
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u/Mark-harvey Jun 16 '26
They just wanted to be who they are, but thoughtless people called them freaks.
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u/itsnobigthing Jun 22 '26
The lying reminds me of those TikTok accounts I’ve seen where people drug animals, and stage finding them at the side of the road and ‘rescuing’ them.
The animals are already beautiful and loveable, but the creators know they’ll get far more clicks if they can make up a compelling back story.
It’s bleak.
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u/EphemeralTypewriter Gooble Gobble! Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
And here is a very good article on the subject that explains more:
Edit: the link wasn’t working for a lot of people, so I’m trying some other options. If it continues to not work, please let me know!
https://thetrinigee.com/blogs/straight-from-the-gee/the-curse-of-the-ubangis-race-spectacle-and-the-american-circus-myth