Are You Really What You’re Supposed to Look Like?
Introductory-
Eugenics is the process of controlling how the human population looks by selecting traits that seem desirable to the eye. The term eugenics means “well-born” according to Sir Francis Galton, the first person to even use the term. Galton’s goal was to make the human population almost more attractive. The movement of eugenics started in the Unites States later in the 19th century.
Information-
Eugenic researchers start their studies by recognizing the basic patterns of inheritance based on a paper that Mendel conducted in 1865. The Mendelian inheritance method was then used on other plants, animals, and humans, initiated in 1900. The study of the inheritance of genes needs two vital elements, “finding relatively large families that express the trait under study” and “scoring each family member for the presence or absence of the trait.” Many universities such as Yale and Harvard offered eugenics courses.
A main positive for eugenics is that more desired traits would be increased but a main negative toward eugenics was that the less desired traits were being decreased. The use of eugenics changes the genetic makeup of the population of humans which could be seen as unethical. An example of an undesirable trait could be race.Those who have such traits weren’t encouraged to reproduce all because they didn’t look attractive or didn’t fit society’s view of attractiveness.
The most desired traits parents want in their unborn child is intelligence. Intelligence is looked to be a “positive eugenic” while the “negative eugenics” are the undesired traits.
Movies were created during the 1900’s to promote eugenics such as “The Black Stork”, “The Garden of Knowledge”, and “Married in Name Only.” These movies conveyed messages that looked down on marriages that had spouses who carried or inherited diseases and reproduced. Pros to eugenics include improving public health, can detect a child’s medical disorder early on, and can prevent hereditary conditions. The cons concerning eugenics include preventing human diversity in the country, could create discrimination between engineered children and natural born babies and the process to have eugenics done is very costly. A risk that comes with eugenics is that it’s not guaranteed to eliminate genetic mistakes.
In 1911 the Eugenics Records Office was formed as a corporation in Cold Spring, New York. The company tracked the histories of families and came to the conclusion that people who are poor, a minority or came from a low economic status were viewed as “unfit”. Later the researchers discovered that the undesired traits didn’t come from a lack of resources, but from the traits of the family. The state of North Carolina has sterilized 7,600 individuals because of the eugenic sterilization program.
The sterilization law was intended to make society a better place, but the women who were sterilized in North Carolina did their own research and found that the government labeled them as poor, uneducated black people, being the reason for taking away a mother’s right of birthing her child. A victim of sterilization lived in Charlotte, North Carolina and her story is that at the age of fourteen, Deborah Blackmon was sterilized under the laws of eugenics in the state of North Carolina, she was the last woman to be sterilized in 1972. Blackmon’s parents were talked into thinking that sterilization was the best option for their daughter. Being sterilized was based on the families eugenics history which included their IQs. The mindset of the government while putting this law into order was that instead of waiting for criminals to be born, because of who they are born to, was to just prevent that child from being born. Justice Oliver Wendell stated that society can be improved by preventing the unfit from multiplying “their kind”.
The majority of sterilization were female. Young women could undergo the surgery of getting the tubes tied without even knowing. Another woman name Castella Jefferson didn’t find out about her surgery, that she was forced to partake in at the age of fifteen, until years later when she tried to have a child. Jefferson was told that her mom signed the consent form. Later, Jefferson uncovered that her mom never signed the paper. During the 1960s African American females were the main target for sterilization.
The Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims in partner with the NAACP are looking for more victims so that they can be compensated.
Conclusion-
In my opinion I don’t think that money should still be wasted on this practice. This is my opinion because I don’t see the need for wanting to create the perfect world or basically forbid minority races from reproducing. The topic of eugenics makes me feel sympathetic towards the women who were sterilized at a young age. So many great and talented young men and women could’ve been born but they weren’t given the chance. As for creating a “dream child” I completely disagree with the idea.
I feel that children should be born the way they were formed. Whether that means being black, white, autistic of having certain colored eyes. If that baby was born to be that way then don’t try to put your artbrush on a completed canvas.
Eugenics. Digital image. Eugenics. John Lynch, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <https://www.google.com/search?q=eugenics&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiokPHwhs3TAhWITSYKHSHNAjAQ_AUICCgD&biw=1600&bih=1094#imgrc=wQMeXWgzxElyJM:>.Eugenics. Digital image. Eugenics. John Lynch, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
Citations-
Introductory-
Eugenics is the process of controlling how the human population looks by selecting traits that seem desirable to the eye. The term eugenics means “well-born” according to Sir Francis Galton, the first person to even use the term. Galton’s goal was to make the human population almost more attractive. The movement of eugenics started in the Unites States later in the 19th century.
Information-
Eugenic researchers start their studies by recognizing the basic patterns of inheritance based on a paper that Mendel conducted in 1865. The Mendelian inheritance method was then used on other plants, animals, and humans, initiated in 1900. The study of the inheritance of genes needs two vital elements, “finding relatively large families that express the trait under study” and “scoring each family member for the presence or absence of the trait.” Many universities such as Yale and Harvard offered eugenics courses.
A main positive for eugenics is that more desired traits would be increased but a main negative toward eugenics was that the less desired traits were being decreased. The use of eugenics changes the genetic makeup of the population of humans which could be seen as unethical. An example of an undesirable trait could be race.Those who have such traits weren’t encouraged to reproduce all because they didn’t look attractive or didn’t fit society’s view of attractiveness.
The most desired traits parents want in their unborn child is intelligence. Intelligence is looked to be a “positive eugenic” while the “negative eugenics” are the undesired traits.
Movies were created during the 1900’s to promote eugenics such as “The Black Stork”, “The Garden of Knowledge”, and “Married in Name Only.” These movies conveyed messages that looked down on marriages that had spouses who carried or inherited diseases and reproduced. Pros to eugenics include improving public health, can detect a child’s medical disorder early on, and can prevent hereditary conditions. The cons concerning eugenics include preventing human diversity in the country, could create discrimination between engineered children and natural born babies and the process to have eugenics done is very costly. A risk that comes with eugenics is that it’s not guaranteed to eliminate genetic mistakes.
In 1911 the Eugenics Records Office was formed as a corporation in Cold Spring, New York. The company tracked the histories of families and came to the conclusion that people who are poor, a minority or came from a low economic status were viewed as “unfit”. Later the researchers discovered that the undesired traits didn’t come from a lack of resources, but from the traits of the family. The state of North Carolina has sterilized 7,600 individuals because of the eugenic sterilization program.
The sterilization law was intended to make society a better place, but the women who were sterilized in North Carolina did their own research and found that the government labeled them as poor, uneducated black people, being the reason for taking away a mother’s right of birthing her child. A victim of sterilization lived in Charlotte, North Carolina and her story is that at the age of fourteen, Deborah Blackmon was sterilized under the laws of eugenics in the state of North Carolina, she was the last woman to be sterilized in 1972. Blackmon’s parents were talked into thinking that sterilization was the best option for their daughter. Being sterilized was based on the families eugenics history which included their IQs. The mindset of the government while putting this law into order was that instead of waiting for criminals to be born, because of who they are born to, was to just prevent that child from being born. Justice Oliver Wendell stated that society can be improved by preventing the unfit from multiplying “their kind”.
The majority of sterilization were female. Young women could undergo the surgery of getting the tubes tied without even knowing. Another woman name Castella Jefferson didn’t find out about her surgery, that she was forced to partake in at the age of fifteen, until years later when she tried to have a child. Jefferson was told that her mom signed the consent form. Later, Jefferson uncovered that her mom never signed the paper. During the 1960s African American females were the main target for sterilization.
The Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims in partner with the NAACP are looking for more victims so that they can be compensated.
Conclusion-
In my opinion I don’t think that money should still be wasted on this practice. This is my opinion because I don’t see the need for wanting to create the perfect world or basically forbid minority races from reproducing. The topic of eugenics makes me feel sympathetic towards the women who were sterilized at a young age. So many great and talented young men and women could’ve been born but they weren’t given the chance. As for creating a “dream child” I completely disagree with the idea.
I feel that children should be born the way they were formed. Whether that means being black, white, autistic of having certain colored eyes. If that baby was born to be that way then don’t try to put your artbrush on a completed canvas.
Eugenics. Digital image. Eugenics. John Lynch, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <https://www.google.com/search?q=eugenics&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiokPHwhs3TAhWITSYKHSHNAjAQ_AUICCgD&biw=1600&bih=1094#imgrc=wQMeXWgzxElyJM:>.Eugenics. Digital image. Eugenics. John Lynch, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
Citations-
- Carlson, Elog. "Scientific Origins of Eugenics." Social Origins of Eugenics. Eugenics Archive, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay2text.html>.
- Connectusfundadmin. "10 Fundamental Pros and Cons of Eugenics." ConnectUS the Global Issues Blog. ConnectUS, 24 July 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <http://connectusfund.org/10-fundamental-pros-and-cons-of-eugenics>.
- "Intellectual Disability." The Eugenics Archives. Eugenics Archive, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/connections/535eecae7095aa0000000239>.
- Carmon, Irin. "For Eugenic Sterilization Victims, Belated Justice." MSNBC. NBCUniversal News Group, 27 June 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <http://www.msnbc.com/all/eugenic-sterilization-victims-belated-justice>.