Eugenics
Eugenics is a science based on the work of Sir Francis Galton, that most traits are heritable, and that bad traits (like mental illness, intellectual disability, or any kind of physical disability) should not be allowed to continue. The three main goals of the eugenics movement were prohibition of marriage for undesirable people, segregation into asylums, and forced sterilization. This was thought to help the population overall, by culling undesirable and weak traits from the human population. Eugenicists also spent much time identifying traits in humans that were desirable, in addition to those which they wished to eradicate.
Do these attitudes continue in U.S. Society? In other societies? Are the goals of eugenics still being pursued, and if so, how?
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ReplyDeleteEugenics
ReplyDeleteI feel like the attitudes of eugenics absolutely still continue today; just maybe not on the same level as they did before. For instance, women can chose to abort their babies and these decisions can be based on the identified disabilities in utero. Another example is the search for someone with desirable characteristics when deciding to have a child. Not only does this happen when evaluating paperwork at a sperm bank, but people also do it when meeting and deciding to have a relationship with someone. Even the late Anna Nicole Smith wanted to have another child and chose her daughters father based on his blonde hair and blue eyes. I think all societies operate in this way to an extent.
Sabrina, your example about searching for someone with desirable characteristics made me think of how technology has helped the goals of eugenics be pursued..( of course not in a good way ) We've now come across the idea of Genetically Modifying babies!
DeleteThat is so true. It's wild to imagine where things will be 10, 20, even 50 years from now!
DeleteDo these attitudes continue in the US society? In other Societies? Are the goals of eugenics still being pursued, and if so, how?
ReplyDeleteThese attitudes continue in the US society to a certain extent. Though it may not be called eugenics anymore that belief still does exist. For example, there is a test a pregnant mother can decide to take to determine whether her unborn child has Down syndrome or not, and then with that information the mother has the right to keep or abort her unborn child. Instead of bringing a child into the world with Down syndrome, some mothers believe it is the right thing to do to abort the fetus so they don’t have to be a parent to a child that is considered not “normal”. There are many people who like to think that the goals of eugenics are not practiced today in our US society, but there are many things that leave me to believe it is such as: abortion, segregating special Ed children in school, and the test pregnant mothers can take to determine whether their unborn child has Down syndrome.
Erin, you're right, a lot of people think goals of eugenics are not practiced today, but I bet a lot are unknowingly pursuing the goals. I couldn't agree more with your examples given, but I could see where ignorance might get in the way of these people realizing what they're doing.
DeleteI recently read about how researcher are trying SO hard to figure out the biological basis of autism, so they can screen for *that* in utero, too. It's funny how people in our society strive so hard for physical perfection and ignore what that kind of pursuit does to their souls.
DeleteAttitudes of eugenics exists in U.S society and I personally think it always will. Although it doesn't seem to be to the extent it was, in some ways I think it's as equal. We just have a tendency to "sugar coat" or reword things to make it appear better to the public.
ReplyDeleteI agree Bridgette that it's equal. Just done differently and more accepted as the norms of society whether its right or wrong.
DeleteBridgette, great point that it's the same, just under a different name. I wonder if this aversion to the term eugenics comes from WWII and the Nazi's ideology. Either way, I agree that eugenics is still alive and kicking in America and I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon.
DeleteIt kind of seems like, in the eyes of mainstream America, eugenics is to mental illness/disability what slavery is to African Americans -- it's a shameful and horrible part of our past that it's not "polite" to bring up, and everybody likes to act like attitudes have progressed so much since that era but they really haven't.
DeleteThis ideas about and attitudes towards eugenics most definitely continue in the US today. The idea of racial difference, the attitudes of people considering themselves of high class, and even the way people tend to treat those with both mental and physical handicaps as lesser is all a shadow of eugenics.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the continuing practice of eugenics, both in the US and other countries comes from the fact that people don't know what eugenics is. There are a lot of people who, if asked, can't define eugenics at all. And then once it is defined people only really think of Nazi Germany. It's actually really irritating that a lot of high schools don't even mention the practice of eugenics really started in the US, I know my high school didn't. I learned about eugenics in Hebrew School. It's understandable that the country might be ashamed of what it started, but ignoring it does nothing but lead to ignorance.
I think one of the most noticeable for of eugenics that is being practiced today is designer babies. Science is developing ways that people can alter the genes of their unborn children. The end goal of it is to cure genetic disorders (ex. autism) before the child is born, but it's looking like soon parents will be able to choose hair color, eye color, sex, etc of their baby.
Designer babies....plastic surgery....how we strive for hollywood-style perfection...not to mention the very negative attitudes espoused against people who resort to state aid to get by. As a society, we seem to have a very static definition of being "worthy." How many babies with disabilities are aborted every year, now that many genetic abnormalities can be identified early in a pregnancy? If someone KNEW they were going to have a child with schizophrenia, would that person choose to end the pregnancy?
ReplyDeleteMy PhD research will be focusing on how our culture defines the boundaries of "humanness" through the medium of cinema, and with that in mind I find it kind of baffling that we seem to be seeking some kind of ageless, flawless state of being when it's our flaws and our mistakes that *define* the human experience. How could we appreciate pleasure without the contrast of pain? How can we understand the value of respect if we've never been disrespected? And more importantly, who gets to decide whose lives are worth living? Who do we give the power to judge what a person is capable of before they're even born? Especially considering that all the prenatal genetic manipulation in the world can't prevent life from happening - people will still be paralyzed in car accidents, people will still develop conditions like lupus and cancer and PTSD and countless others. Given a long enough timeline, we all become disabled in some form or another. It seems like scientists really haven't thought things through. If people didn't have mental illness, or hereditary or congenital disabilities, or if they didn't have that ticking clock of inevitable death, how would our behavior change? Without all these threats to our bodily integrity and that of the ones we love, how would that change how we conceive of the world?
DeleteMaybe I think too much.
Janice...join the club. If we are going to progress in the field of disability studies, I think we must question everything. Freeman was a perfect example. He was so SURE of himself, and his treatment...and refused to listen to the negative feedback and refused to see negative outcomes...and look at the wake he left. We have to think...and reflect...and question.
DeleteMy disability studies professors refer to the variety of disability-related professions (doctors, therapists, case managers, nonprofit organizations, special education staff, etc) and disability-specific product manufacturers (those who make prosthetics, wheelchairs, communication technology, occupational and physical therapy equipment, special education curricula, etc.) as the "Disability Park" because it's like a messed-up Disney World (and it makes WAY more money), where once you're inside everything is so much more expensive and you can't get anything other than what is offered to you.. except with the disability park, you're never allowed to leave.
DeleteIt's amazing how much the overall attitude toward mental illness has changed throughout the years. Although the majority of the population accepts mental illness, there is still a large percentage that haven't accepted it. The term "Eugenics" isn't commonly used, but it still exists today. It's becoming more and more common for a person to choose the traits they want in their child, and there is testing to see if the child will be born with a mental illness. What most people don't know is that sterilization is still an issue throughout the world, even in the United States. Time Magazine printed an article about a California Prisons that are responsible for sterilizing 148 women between 2006 and 2010 against their own will. That is just one known example, and I'm sure there are many more cases out there.
ReplyDeleteThese attitudes are definitely still around. While people with mental illness or developmental disabilities may be able to get married in many cases, if they are in any kind of “assisted living” situation, they won’t be allowed to live together or even have sex, since most states have laws declaring them unable to consent to sex. The eugenics mindset is insidious and pervasive in our culture; nearly all pregnant women in America are pressured to take prenatal vitamins to minimize the chances of fetal health problems and prenatal genetic testing can identify conditions like Down Syndrome so the mother can choose to abort the fetus. People in America have even won “wrongful birth” lawsuits against genetics testing companies after discovering their infants were born with disorders they tested negative for.
ReplyDeleteForced sterilization is still going on today, though not quite the same way as it did in the past. And now, thanks to the miracles of modern science, people can choose to become pregnant through the use of sperm banks, where they can select from a menu of “desirable” genetic traits like eye color and education level. Sperm donors have a huge amount of criteria to meet: they must be 5"9' or taller, redheads and ethnic minorities are rarely accepted, and most sperm banks require donors to possess at least a Bachelor’s Degree. Worldwide, ethnic cleansing hasn’t gone out of fashion either – France is still enthusiastically trying to deport every Roma from the country, for example.
I believe that Eugenics, or at least the idea of it, is still around in our society and others. As noted above in a previous comment, with advanced technology, doctors are able to spot things such as physical deformities while children are still in utero. Women then have the option to abort their pregnancy. Another trend that has been on the rise is searching for a mate who has the physical (or psychological) traits that they desire their children to inherit. In this way, we are selecting certain genes in order for our children to be attractive, smart, stable, etc. This practice is common at fertilization centers where clients can look through a book of "donors" that has a picture of them as well as information about their health history, educational background, etc. I think it's rather unfortunate that we, as a society, place so much emphasis on perfection and waste time and resources attempting to attain something that isn't truly important. We are who we are. We are meant to be and we should accept others for what they are meant to be. Unfortunately, this isn't a perfect world.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has brought us a long way. Medical research has made it possible for us to be immune to diseases that took out entire towns at one time. It has also made it possible for us to be whoever we want to be, with plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, hair dye, sex-change operations, etc. People can change themselves into whoever they want to, or think they should because of societies' definitions of norms. Its really too bad that people don't just love themselves and everyone around them. Wouldn't life be so much easier that way?!
DeleteI feel that just because we can with Technology doesn't mean we should.
DeleteDo these attitudes continue in U.S. Society? In other societies? Are the goals of eugenics still being pursued, and if so, how?
ReplyDeleteI think these attitudes are very much continuing in the United States and all over the world. People are always trying to control other people and this is just another way of doing that. Labels, or naming certain groups of people, create the opportunity for people to segregate, stereotype, and judge those around them. When someone fits into one of the groups that are branded into our minds as weird or strange, it make them a little less human and more of a statistic, which in turn makes it easier to try and control them.
We could try looking at eugenics in a very simplified biological way. For instance, all throughout history, there have been instances of epidemic, tragedy, disaster, etc. where thousands of people are killed. Eugenics is in a way, another disaster or epidemic. Survival of the fittest. Wrong place, wrong time. Whatever cliché you want to use. The difference is, people are the ones causing these epidemics or disasters, rather than "mother nature".
Do these attitudes continue in U.S. Society? In other societies? Are the goals of eugenics still being pursued, and if so, how?
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is yes! In ways Eugenics s still around. Sterilization is still happening although the law stays that you need to be consenting of the procedure in some cases people are found unable to made proper decisions and the choice is made by family or doctors who fear a child could be born into a bad circumstance or to a mother or father with a severe mental handicap that will not be able to properly take care of a child. Also the whole new research in human genetic engineering where scientists can find and predict diseases the child could have as well as the matter of in vitro conception were parents can choose to discard and select based on gender. I think in many ways the ideas of eugenics are still widely around.
The ideas at the foundation of the eugenics movement are still incredibly pervasive in our society, even if they've begun to manifest themselves in much different ways. In cultures in other parts of the world, we have examples such as the Chinese gendercide or Uganda's death penalty laws for homosexual activity. Meanwhile, in America, some examples might be the movement to prevent gay couples from adopting -- based in the attitude that homosexual orientations are rooted in nurture rather than nature -- certain organizations' work to reduce fertility rates in "inferior" classes or ethnicities (I found an article on the Rockefeller Foundation's work toward this, though I'm skeptical as to how reliable that source might be it's interesting to think about), or others' work to give those who want to be parents access to "designer babies" (or simply our own selective attitudes toward what traits we may want in children, from avoiding conditions such as Down Syndrome to looking for very specific traits in a mate in order to increase our chances of future children looking a particular way). An interesting manifestation of the ideals behind the eugenics movement is the segregation and, in a way, criminalization of any gender/sexual identity that isn't considered "normal", cutting off groups such as the transgender community as if shutting them out will cause them to cease to exist. That may be a stretch, but that was the first idea that came to mind when I read the question and may merit discussion. (Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been in and out of the hospital all week.)
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