How Do Eugenics Influence Deaf People

Eugenics is the science of using artificial selection to improve genetic features of the population. It is thought that improvement of the human race can be seen through sterilization of people who exhibit undesirable traits and selective breeding. Often called Social Darwinism, the concept was widely accepted during the time of World War I. It quickly became a taboo after World War II when Nazi Germany used it as an excuse for genocide. The thought of improving the human race by manipulating who is allowed to breed can either be appalling or compelling. There are a few appealing aspects to the act of eugenics. If eugenics were applied, the world could potentially see a decrease in disease, a rise in intelligence, and heightened physical aesthetic in humans. But, ethically it crosses many boundaries that have prevented this idea from going into world-wide effect in the past.

Eugenics and Concentration Camps Most people have a common knowledge on the holocaust, and about the horrible things that happened with it, but to what extent? Therefore, I will be typing this paper about Hitler; his beliefs and intentions on the concentration camps. I will also be typing about the concentration camps, how they formed, the way people were treated, how the people got there, and how eugenics was used in the concentration camps and in other countries too. Concentration camps did not start out as a location where the Jews were tricked and or forced to enter. But instead, concentration camps started out as a location Germans were sent to when they oppose fascism that Hitler was trying to make Germany become instead of a Republic

The Eugenics Movement began when Francis Galton wanted to explore if society and culture in a country would excel if the powerful, distinguished genes were to be passed down. Through his theories, he wanted to prove that the human race can be more intelligent and stronger. The overall goal was for those genes to be passed down through generations overtime. Francis Galton was half cousins with Charles

Eugenics or “good breeding” is meant to improve the human race through the gene pool using various methods. Similar to designer babies, the process could be used for good, but like Colin Tudge points out, “…although guns and bombs can be used as agents of peace, [humans] should not be overly surprised when in practice they are used to make war” (Tudge 282). Eugenics can be performed simply by regulating who and who cannot mate. It can also be done by sterilization, a procedure that permanently blocks pregnancy in a woman, which was a reality for many. The most famous account was performed by Germany, specifically the Nazis, during WWII, when 400,000 women were sterilized (Tudge 284).

It is impressive that this idea originated from a period of time where there was little knowledge about genes. In conclusion, the idea of eugenics develops during the progressive era and it affect many people during this period of time. This idea of eugenics was where more progress occurs in science. Well not all about the idea of eugenics is bad is has some good points like it can reduce number of babies born with some mental illness or some with really bad illness.

For instance, in the movie, one deaf man’s uncle took him to a Zulu medicine man to be cured. When the nephew chuckled he was pinched and reprimanded, and when the procedure didn’t work, the uncle blamed the child and told him that the reason the treatment didn’t work was his fault because he laughed. This obviously scared the child for life, because he is now a man and is recounting the story with sadness. Some parents don’t accept the deafness of their children and treat them like they need to be fixed. Redundant ear surgeries, chemicals aimed at the ear via the nasal cavity, and cumbersome hearing aids that were bothersome to the child are some of the futile attempts to fix deaf children.

“Eugenics and Compulsory Sterilization Laws: Providing Redress for the Victims of a Shameful Era in United States History,” is an article by, Michael Silver, that addresses the issue of eugenics and involuntary sterilization laws. He specifically looked at the sterilization laws that were practiced in the 20th Century in the United States. Silver brings forth the argument that sterilization laws violate the constitutional rights of Americans of procreation and childrearing. Throughout the article, Silver explains the history of how the laws were created, practiced, and how they affected those that were involuntarily sterilized. As the article progresses, Silver gave examples of how individual states and the United States, collectively as a

When learning about some of the laws and policies enacted throughout history, it is important to understand the historical, social, and political context in which it was created. This does not mean that these contexts justify or alleviate blame from those who enacted these laws or policies, rather, examining the origin of these laws through an interdisciplinary approach can help to understand why these laws may have been created. Adam Cohen’s Imbeciles, discusses the United States eugenics movement and the sterilization of Carrie Buck. Using concepts from Kitty Calavita’s Invitation to Law and Society, Carrie Buck ’s sterilization will be analyzed from the lens of law and society scholarship.

Eugenics was a racist pseudoscience the aimed at clearing out all human beings that we regarded as unfit leaving behind only a selected that were conformed to a Nordic stereotype. Sterilization and segregation policies and marriage restrictions were enacted enshrining elements of philosophy. California was among the top five states to adopt such laws by early 1910. This attributed to a substantial number of marriages being barred and thousands of Americans being sterilized. On average about half of coercive sterilizations were done in California before the eruption of World War II in the 1940s.

According to Munson (2014), through genetic screening or testing, birth of infants with debilitating or crippling defects can be avoided. Also through testing, disease and illness could be eradicated because the gene that causes the disease or illness would not be passed on to the next generation. This is consider eugenics. Some in the medical field have a negative feeling towards this, as if to be playing God. There are others in the medical field on the extreme end feel that laws should be developed that couples with known genes that cause genetic disorders must not have children or if they do selection of embryos are done (Munson, 2014).

Perry argues that while theologians claim that genetic engineering is condemned as “violating the dignity of human life”, parents who desire healthy children is not a violation of human dignity, but rather acceptable and even praiseworthy (Can we Play God?,

An example of this is Csikszentmihalyi’s idea of raise IQs. He suggests the uncertainty about what would happen if humans “enhance[d] everyone’s intelligence (625),” by following this suggestion with rhetorical questions. This leads Csikszentmihalyi into his position that argues giving children the same genome would decrease biodiversity and put the human race more at risk with emerging diseases. He implies a historical element of diseases that almost ended the world, much like the Spanish Flu and the Black Plague. Genetic diversity allowed some people to survive these

Furthermore, men were the majority of sterilization victims and then intension shifted dramatically to women. The unfit mother and well-fit dependency affected many people. Plan Parenthood has led to the eugenics movement with eugenics mania occurring. The unfit motherhood was the real problem in the society. In the 1960’s, black power groups formed and race genocide occurred.

It is important to realize that Sanger’s campaign for a women’s to choose birth control was at a time when women where not thought of as equals and contraception was considered to be obscene at the time. In fact, she provokes a hostile reaction among Christian leaders that considered her concepts for birth control to be offensive and evil to society. Her advocacy work drew controversy from political followers that criticized her association with science to be immoral for seeking to improve or change the human population. She was often criticized and associated which eugenics, the branch of science that believed in improving the human species through selective mating. However her goal was to allow women to have control over how many children

Historical Progression of Disability/Sexuality Rights Early in our history, the societal notion of eugenics in reference to disability, a theory that lends to the belief that persons with disabilities will only give birth to babies with disabilities, spawned the practice of involuntary sterilization (Harader, Fullwood, & Hawthorne, 2009). The aim of the eugenics movement in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century was to prevent the degeneration of the white race (Stubblefield, 2007). Forcibly, many individuals with disabilities were sterilized in residences of institutions. American eugenics refers inter alia to compulsory sterilization laws adopted by over 30 states that led to more than 60,000 sterilizations of disabled