Target girl
In circus and vaudeville acts, a target girl is a female assistant in "impalement" acts such as knife throwing, archery or sharpshooting. The assistant stands in front of a target board or is strapped to a moving board and the impalement artist throws knives or shoots projectiles so as to hit the board and miss the assistant. The image or character of the target girl has become an icon in fiction and visual media. Introduction. Although some assistants are male there is no common equivalent term for a male assistant. This reflects the fact that, historically at least , female assistants have predominated in the acts in question. The presence of an assistant as a human target provides a powerful element of risk. Without assistants placing themselves in danger these acts would be simple demonstrations of accuracy, but with the potential for injury or death the show is much more dramatic. Target girls often wear revealing costumes, thus adding an element of overt sexuality to an act. In this respect there is some similarity to magicians' assistants, although there is a distinct difference in that any apparent danger to an assistant in a magic act is mostly an illusion , whereas impalement acts are demonstrations of accuracy, nerve and calculated risk and the danger is real. While some observers have perceived target girls as masochistic or passive and some feminists criticise the concept as misogynist, several target girls have given accounts of themselves as assertive women and portrayed their experiences as empowering (see Target girls as authors). Various theories have been put forward to explain the enduring appeal of the target girl. These range from simple awe at the display of steely nerves and complete trust to more complex psychological and philosophical theories. While some point to overtones of sadomasochistic  eroticism, others cite dramaturgical works and point to parallels with the story arc of the hero in classic drama. In particular the assistant's performance is said to mirror the plot device of the hero's ordeal, in which the hero proves his or her heroic qualities through self-sacrifice or by facing extreme peril. Jim Steinmeyer, a noted illusion designer who has written well-regarded books on the history of magic, has identified a fashion for female peril as entertainment in the post-First World War period. Steinmeyer has written that P. T. Selbit's stage debut of the  Sawing Through A Woman illusion in 1921 marked the beginning of a trend for women as the victims of choice for acts simulating danger or torture. While Steinmeyer focuses on stage magic and attributes some of the trend to practical factors, he also points to a broader pattern in entertainment generally, which he links to social trends. He concludes that: "...beyond practical concerns, the image of the woman in peril became a specific fashion in entertainment". A further view on historical trends is provided by performer and blogger Ula the Painproof Rubbergirl, who has acted as a target girl for  New York-based knife thrower The Great Throwdini. In an extensive article on her experiences and philosophical approach to the art she notes: "Knife throwing is an old act. So is high wire. And rodeo. And stone throwing, witch burning, beheading, Roman gladiators, jousting, dog fights,you name it - we, humans, love it. And we love a vulnerable woman. Isn't there something oddly attractive about the woman in danger? I remember seeing lots of soundless black and white movies with a girl tied to the railroad tracks or a girl tied to a sawmill by some evil perverted landlord ." Notable real life target girls. Like magicians' assistants, target girls have often suffered the injustice of not receiving the same recognition and billing as their co-performers. Those that have received equal billing have generally been part of husband and wife acts, which are common in this field. Acts that involve a domestic partnership as well as an on-stage one have tended to have greater longevity than pairings where a thrower recruits an assistant as an employee. It has been suggested that this is because the off-stage domestic ties serve to keep the partnership together in the face  of the tensions that can occur within such acts. The lack of individual billing for target girls adds to the difficulty of picking out notable examples. The following is therefore a small selection who are distinguished by particular features of their careers rather than a definitive "hall of fame". Target girls as authors. A very small and select group of women are notable for having used personal experience to write about the impalement arts from the point of view of the target girl. They include: Celebrity target girls. A small group of target girls are notable for the fact that  they are well known celebrities who performed the role for charitable purposes or other reasons apart from their main career. These are examples of the target girl, rather than the thrower, being the main individual in the act. The annual "Circus of the Stars" television special, made by CBS between 1977 and 1994, provided a number of examples. They include: Fictional and artistic representation. The mixture of peril, nerve and sexuality inherent in the idea of a target girl has proved attractive to writers, artists, moviemakers and television executives. Movie and television. There are many instances of target girls as  iconic or emblematic images in film and television. The most notable movie example is the character Adele portrayed by Vanessa Paradis in the film "Girl on the Bridge" (1999), in which the knife throwing act is at the centre of the plot and serves as a powerful erotic metaphor. Other examples include: Theatre. The play "Pin Cushion", by Clay McLeod Chapman is based around a husband and wife knife throwing act and consists of the target girl delivering a monologue while her husband throws knives around her. It was performed as part of Chapman's "Pumpkin Pie Show" at The  Red Room Theatre, New York, in May and June 2002. The performance involved a genuine knife throwing act, with actress Niabi Caldwell as the target girl and professional knife thrower Dr. David Adamovich (aka The Great Throwdini) playing her husband. Photography. The target girl has also been used as an image in fashion and art photography. Examples include: