Editing Freak (section)

==Usage==
''Freak'' saw usage as [[jargon]] by promoters and performers of [[freak show]]s, though its use in this sense has decreased along with the popularity of freak shows.<ref>The Rise and Fall of Circus Freakshows https://priceonomics.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-circus-freakshows/</ref> One well-known example of this word was in reference to [[Joseph Merrick]], the "Elephant Man."<ref>{{Britannica | id=184406 | title=Joseph Merrick}}</ref> As a jargon, side-show freaks were classified into two groups: natural freaks and self-made freaks.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stephens |first= Elizabeth|date=2005|title=Twenty-First Century Freak Show: Recent Transformations in the Exhibition of Non-Normative Bodies|url=https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/580/757 |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=3|doi= 10.18061/dsq.v25i3.580|access-date=June 18, 2021|doi-access=free}}</ref> A natural freak would usually have been born with a [[Congenital abnormality|genetic abnormality]], while a self-made freak was a person who was altered artificially (with methods such as [[surgical implant]]s).

The term has a variety of much more recent meanings. An example is something strikingly unusual about one's [[Human physical appearance|appearance]] or behavior. This usage originated from "[[freak scene]]" during the 1960s and 1970s, most famously promoted by the album ''[[Freak Out!]]'' made by the [[rock music|rock]] band ''[[The Mothers of Invention]]''.

A recent usage of ''freak'' is as a synonym for [[enthusiast]], such as a ''health freak''{{refn|For example, in the name of the British television show, [[Teenage Health Freak]].}}; or referring to obsessive behavior, such as ''[[control freak]]''.<ref>{{OEtymD|freak|accessdate=2020-04-01}}</ref>