I watched Todd Browning’s “Freaks” last night. It is a wonderful, disturbing little flick about a group of circus “freaks” who exact revenge upon a particularly obnoxious trapeze artist. Browning managed to hire real sideshow “performers” to appear in the film, including two women who typified what were once called “pinheads.”
What condition were these women suffering from? They both had very similar facial features and general appearance, and while they may have been related I don’t know if that is the case. Like people with Down’s Syndrome who have very similar facial characteristics, these women could have just looked very similar to one another (short stature, sloping forehead, underslung jaw) but I suspect that their appearance is related to their condition. In every other respect they seemed perfectly charming and very sweet, just like many of the people I’ve met with Down’s Syndrome (who have never failed to be good natured, without guile, and anxious to be of help).
Additionally, I’m assuming that whatever condition these women had was genetic, but I’ve never seen anyone else who seemed to be like them (except for “Zippy the Pinhead” and he doesn’t really count).
If you haven’t seen the movie, BTW, you should try and find it. It really is a classic.
I don’t know much about the subject, but I have two theories.
First theory: a friend of mine has a daughter in law who gave birth several years ago. We sat up all night at the hospital for moral support, because it was a difficult birth. After many hours, they elected to do a Caesarian delivery. When the baby was brought out, the constant strain gave her a somewhat conical head. This corrected itself over time, but I wonder (and shudder to think) what would have happened if Caesarian had not been an option. Perhaps in such a case the mother would have been lost and the baby’s head permanently affected.
Second theory: there was (is?) a culture somewhere (I forget where) which had a “head binding” tradition, where people (I remember an illustration of a woman) would strap two boards to their heads to create that “conical” shape over time. This was considered attractive. Sounds weird, I know, but then, what would their culture make of stiletto heels or cherry-red lipstick?
Like Bougainville, Cook observed that distinctly different races inhabited different parts of the islands. He also observed the peculiarly flattened and elongated skull shapes of many northern islanders but had no idea it was due to traditional head binding.
Couldn’t find anything about contemporary head-binding though.
The conical shape of the head isn’t really what I’m after - these woman obviously also had an amount of mental retardation and that’s what leads me to believe that they suffered (if that’s the right term) from a chromosomal defect or other hereditary condition. Hence, the Down’s Syndrome analogy.
I have met two children with this disorder. They were both patients at a monthly pediatric orthopedic clinic that my daughter (who has cerebral palsy) attended as a baby and toddler. One boy was extremely disabled – almost to the point of a vegetable (not the best term, I know, but descriptive). The other child (a girl) was higher functioning – she talked and walked and was mainstreamed in school. She was in her early teens when I met her and had a mental age (according to her mother) of 7 or 8. She looked very much like the Snow girls in Freaks – very short for her age and with that distinctive head shape. Of course, her head wasn’t shaved (as where the heads of sideshow microcephalics to enhance the ‘pinhead’ look) and so her appearance was not so startling. She was a sweet and disarming child.
It took a full six posts (not including the OP) before someone took the bait. I thought you folks would have driven a truck through that opening. Must be early in the morning where you are.
