Sarah Lewis uncovers how the 19th-century 'Circassian Beauties' sideshow challenged perceptions of racial hierarchy, illustrating the constructed nature of racial identities in America.
The photographs showed women portrayed as paragons of white beauty, revealing the absurdity in the definitions of race and challenging the legitimacy of racial hierarchies.
My research revealed how an entire narrative, perpetuated by the fascination with the Caucasus, was used to stabilize racial hierarchies and maintain false truths.
What the performance did was skewer our idea of race, confronting Americans with the fictions supporting the racial system and how they were organized.
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