Science Fiction Meets the Real World
Head's still reeeling from yesterday afternoon's, "Gender and Justice in the Gene Age" session. The science of human cloning and the scenarios painted were all straight out of Science Fiction, which initially suspended all thoughts / objections on the social and cultural implications of this technology. The idea of a world where one can go to a website and fill out a form to genetically design the perfect baby (right colour, right nose shape, right gender, no congenital diseases, no disabilities, no quirks) was fantastic in a Philip K Dick / Marge Piercy sort of way. Or perhaps a world where one's vanity can be taken to extreme levels by making clones of one's self. Grotesque. Bizarre. Interesting. Who wouldn't want to live in a comic book world? A part of my brain was definitely thinking: "Yeah, I'd like to witness a world like that. Live in it, perhaps."
Thankfully, the women in the panel (which included the brilliant Marsha Darling*) had tackled the issue enough that the Science Fiction of it no longer fazed them and they were able to raise really, really good points about the dangers of the Gene Age. They were voices of reason to minds which were too caught up in the idea of re-creating the world by pushing science to its limits. As they explained the science behind genetics and eugenics, they also discussed their implications. A world where one can have "designer babies" is a world that will not tolerate human frailty and aberrations. It will not accommodate people with disabilities, messed up facial and bodily features, and any kind of quirk. It will spawn mutations of existing discriminatory values and prejudices against particular genders, races, and human traits to scary levels. It will create glaringly wrong heirarchies / inequalities based on one's genetic make-up and how much one can afford to have their and their offspring's genes manipulated. It's a world where Nature wins over Nurture through expensive, artificial methods.
And a world like this is not so far off the horizon. The experiments have begun and the new reproductive technologies are already being developed. Websites where one can choose the sex of one's babies are already up and running. And these things are happening at the expense of women. The base material for all genetic experimentation is the female egg cell. To fully set up the new genetic order will require massive experimentation and testing and will need gazillon embryonic cells. And guess who's manufacturing those cells? Guess who's being offered major money to ingest harmful drugs to generate more eggs for harvesting? Guess who's susceptible / in need of such financial resources? Women. Poor, un-informed women, in particular.
So once again so-called human development is taking place on women's bodies. Surprise, surprise.
Come to think of it, a world where particular human genetic traits are valued over others is not a new idea. A crazy dude from Austria, way back in the 1940's actually attempted to wipe out an entire race simply because they were not Arian enough. He had a funny mustache and liked to be greeted people by obliquely raising his arm and saying "Hail, Hitler". He was a huge supporter of eugenics, too. And in his fucked up mind, there was nothing wrong with wanting a "perfect" race. And his experiment totally justified the scores of people he massacred.
Remembering this actually puts the whole Gene Age idea in perspective for me. It's cool for comic books, literature and movies, but we can definitely not suspend our disbelief and objections to it in the real world. Not when the cost and effect of such scientific development are bourne by those who will be further fucked by it.
________________
* I was pretty lucky to have attended a session in the last AWID Forum (in Guadalajara, Mexico) on Genetics and Gender, where Marsha Darling spoke about the gender implications of eugenics and genetic engineering. After that session, I was hanging out at the hotel bar with KarenB, who knew Marsha Darling personally. When Marsha Darling came over to join us, I was so much in awe (typical reaction to anyone who says anything that blows my mind) that I actually made a fool of myself and did the "I'm not worthy" bow to her. I think it embarassed her a bit...Sheesh. What a groupie.
Thankfully, the women in the panel (which included the brilliant Marsha Darling*) had tackled the issue enough that the Science Fiction of it no longer fazed them and they were able to raise really, really good points about the dangers of the Gene Age. They were voices of reason to minds which were too caught up in the idea of re-creating the world by pushing science to its limits. As they explained the science behind genetics and eugenics, they also discussed their implications. A world where one can have "designer babies" is a world that will not tolerate human frailty and aberrations. It will not accommodate people with disabilities, messed up facial and bodily features, and any kind of quirk. It will spawn mutations of existing discriminatory values and prejudices against particular genders, races, and human traits to scary levels. It will create glaringly wrong heirarchies / inequalities based on one's genetic make-up and how much one can afford to have their and their offspring's genes manipulated. It's a world where Nature wins over Nurture through expensive, artificial methods.
And a world like this is not so far off the horizon. The experiments have begun and the new reproductive technologies are already being developed. Websites where one can choose the sex of one's babies are already up and running. And these things are happening at the expense of women. The base material for all genetic experimentation is the female egg cell. To fully set up the new genetic order will require massive experimentation and testing and will need gazillon embryonic cells. And guess who's manufacturing those cells? Guess who's being offered major money to ingest harmful drugs to generate more eggs for harvesting? Guess who's susceptible / in need of such financial resources? Women. Poor, un-informed women, in particular.
So once again so-called human development is taking place on women's bodies. Surprise, surprise.
Come to think of it, a world where particular human genetic traits are valued over others is not a new idea. A crazy dude from Austria, way back in the 1940's actually attempted to wipe out an entire race simply because they were not Arian enough. He had a funny mustache and liked to be greeted people by obliquely raising his arm and saying "Hail, Hitler". He was a huge supporter of eugenics, too. And in his fucked up mind, there was nothing wrong with wanting a "perfect" race. And his experiment totally justified the scores of people he massacred.
Remembering this actually puts the whole Gene Age idea in perspective for me. It's cool for comic books, literature and movies, but we can definitely not suspend our disbelief and objections to it in the real world. Not when the cost and effect of such scientific development are bourne by those who will be further fucked by it.
________________
* I was pretty lucky to have attended a session in the last AWID Forum (in Guadalajara, Mexico) on Genetics and Gender, where Marsha Darling spoke about the gender implications of eugenics and genetic engineering. After that session, I was hanging out at the hotel bar with KarenB, who knew Marsha Darling personally. When Marsha Darling came over to join us, I was so much in awe (typical reaction to anyone who says anything that blows my mind) that I actually made a fool of myself and did the "I'm not worthy" bow to her. I think it embarassed her a bit...Sheesh. What a groupie.