CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT.

As you may or may not know, child welfare has not always been at the priority of Western society. In fact, throughout the course of my Sociology studies back in my senior year of high school, I've come to learn that the concept of a childhood where kids' personhood is actually considered and thought about is extremely modern. (I'm talking dating around the 20th century.)

And, as you may have already guessed, clown-based entertainment also reflects these changes. Although circuses had a much more adult-oriented beginning (read more about this on my fear tab), once laws were passed restricting what could and could not be performed in those environments, things quite rapidly shifted.

I'd like to place a spotlight on a really great article by the title of American Clowns: Performance, History, and Cliche. In it, Carlyon reflects on the growth of child entertainment through the 20th century. The more that childhoods became important to the general public, the more there was for children to watch and play with. This included fun, whimsical, and engaging circus performances that were age-appropriate and even specifically catered to children.

This also extended beyond the ring. If we return to the aforementioned article, we can see that clowns broke out of their previously-restrictive stage environments and began showing up in postal stamps, toys, books, and magazines. And, soon enough, with the development of modern entertainment technology, they broke into television programming.

I believe that television programming was a huge turning point in the development of clowns and Western society as a whole. It completely rewrote artistic expression as we know them, and it allowed for clowns to shift and fit new entertainment trends. As a result, we've ended up with things such as The Bozo Show (which reflects the older trend of live on-stage television for children) and Ronald McDonald which represents the rise of gimmicky fast food chains.

Although clowns are often stereotyped or seen as these freaky, unnatural characters, it should be remembered that their presence in children's entertainment has been monumental. They have, historically, represented all forms of laughter and joy. Similar to their jester predecessors, clowns have been created as an outlet for whimsy, foolishness, and lighthearted play. I'm honestly surprised that clowns had not been introduced to kids' entertainment earlier, but in hindsight, it makes sense.

Again, children in general had gone years without being considered individual people who needed care and proper resources to grow into well-adjusted human beings. Child psychology and psychiatry are relatively recent in the grand scheme of things. I'd even argue that clowns have helped children's entertainment and the consideration of children improve because their early days as circus performers helped bridge the societal gap between adults and children.