"Cultural Fixions of the Freak Body"

As I read this essay, I kept going back the the statement that said, "Who’s exploitative, the critic who condemns the performer or the producer who pays him a salary?" I think this was a very interesting comment. The thing is, it is ultimately the choice of the performer whether or not they want to take the job, and be labeled as a "freak." I think it actually may be rude to assume that people who would not be a candidate for this show to judge those who are in it. They may be perfectly fine being called a freak. It doesn't necessarily have to have bad connotations with it. Obviously people pay money to see the interesting things they can do with their body... i think that's kind of cool. So the critics who wanted to get rid of the term "freak," may actually be doing their would-be-clients a disservice. They didn't ask for help, but the critics created a problem for them. If they want that job, and they want the salary, I feel like the critic is the one being exploitative, because they're the ones who gave the negative connotation to the word "freak," and the job these people have. It's just an interesting topic to think about, and I think an individual's view would definitely depend on their own personal experiences, but I definitely feel like the critic is doing the performers a disservice in this situation.