What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
The term 'eugenics' refers to the set of beliefs and practices that aims to improve the perceived genetic quality of a human population. While it is most commonly associated with the Nazi regime of the 1930s and '40s, in fact its history is much broader than that, both temporally and geographically.
Intrigued? Check out this gallery for a brief history of eugenics.
For anyone with a basic understanding of eugenics, it is impossible to imagine a history that is anything other than dark.
The basic idea of eugenics is that the human race can be genetically improved by excluding those groups that are considered to be inferior, and promoting those groups that are thought of as superior.
While the term is most commonly espoused with the Nazi regime of the 1930s and '40s, in fact the concept of eugenics dates much further back than that.
There is evidence of attempts to try and control human populations going as far back as the ancient Greeks.
Around 400 BCE, Plato actually suggested that selective breeding should be applied to humans.
The contemporary history of eugenics began in the late 19th century, when the discovery of evolution and genetics prompted a new scientific movement dedicated to the cause.
The movement first emerged in the United Kingdom, where it was given its name by the British scientist Francis Galton. The word ‘eugenics’ stems from the Greek word meaning "to be well born."
From the United Kingdom, the movement spread to many countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Australia, and many European countries.
As the movement spread, people became concerned with which genetic traits were desirable and which weren’t.
The problem was that the desirability of genetic traits was largely determined, of course, by the prejudices that existed in the relevant country at the time.
Entire groups of people, including immigrants and people with disabilities, were considered "unfit" to reproduce based on their genetic traits.
Many countries took measures to control reproduction among "undesirable groups," such as restricting immigration and outlawing interracial unions.
Arguably the single most horrific example of eugenics in action was the Nazi regime in Germany, which systematically eliminated millions of Jewish people and other minorities.
The sheer scale and brutality of the Nazi regime makes it the standout event in the history of eugenics.
However, the Nazi eugenic policies were not dissimilar from policies enacted by other governments around the world in the middle of the 20th century.
Many countries introduced formal eugenics policies, of which sterilization was often a key element. Sweden, Canada, and Japan, for example, forcibly sterilized thousands of people.
The sterilization of individuals possessing ‘undesirable’ characteristics was particularly common in the United States.
Between 1907 and 1979, over 60,000 people in the US were sterilized according to eugenics policies, and 32 states passed laws for the sterilization of "mentally defective" individuals.
A person was often labeled "mentally defective" on the basis of superficial mental health diagnoses and IQ tests.
What's more, the tests used to determine an individual’s mental capacity were often linguistically and culturally biased against immigrant populations.
And the general sterilization rate in California was extremely high: the state performed one third of all the country’s forced sterilizations.
After the atrocities of World War II, many countries started to ban their eugenics policies, although some countries continued with forced sterilizations for decades.
Countries that were slow to abandon forced sterilization include Sweden and the US, and in California laws were not repealed until 1979.
When the Californian laws were finally repealed, it was only as the result of class action lawsuits and protest marches forcing the arm of the law.
Although the general influence of eugenics has been blunted since the middle of the 20th century, many countries continue to carry out illegal forced sterilizations.
Furthermore, since the 1980s and '90s, there has been concern that eugenics may come back with a vengeance thanks to new technology.
The development of assisted reproductive technology procedures, including cytoplasmic transfer, which was first performed in 1996, has generated concern about a new, more potent form of eugenics.
It may seem obvious, then, that the history of eugenics is dark. Less obvious perhaps is that the story is wide-reaching and, perhaps, not confined to the past.
Sources: (TED)
See also: Why is the far right gaining popularity among young people in Europe?
The consequences of past efforts to create superior races
Learn about the troublesome theory of human improvement
LIFESTYLE Genetics
The term 'eugenics' refers to the set of beliefs and practices that aims to improve the perceived genetic quality of a human population. While it is most commonly associated with the Nazi regime of the 1930s and '40s, in fact its history is much broader than that, both temporally and geographically.
Intrigued? Check out this gallery for a brief history of eugenics.