Such displays featured in multiple world's fairs and then transitioned into sections of animal zoos. They then developed into independent displays emphasizing the exhibits' inferiority to western culture and providing further justification for their subjugation. They began as a part of circuses and " freak shows" which displayed exotic humans in a manner akin to a caricature which exaggerated their differences. Throughout their existence such exhibitions garnered controversy over their demeaning, derogatory, and dehumanizing nature. The idea of a "savage" derives from Columbus's voyages that deemed European culture remained pure, while other cultures were titled impure or "wild", and this stereotype relies heavily on the idea that different ways of living were "cast out by God", as other cultures do not recognize Christianity in relation to Creation.
These displays often emphasized the supposed inferiority of the exhibits' culture, and implied the superiority of " Western society", through tropes that purported marginalized groups as "savage". They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. An African girl fed by the outstretched hand of a white patron during 1958 Brussels World's Fair featuring 'Congo Village' with visitors watching her from behind wooden fences.
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