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In 19th century Sweden, the concepts of Darwinism were further developed to explain the human social construct. The degeneration theory and the idea of eugenics are extensions of the theory of evolution by Darwin which attempted to explain the origins and causes of an individual’s traits, particularly in humans. During this time period, gender also played a significant role in determining a person’s characteristics and traits, as there were contrasting expectations for men and women. It was also believed that some abnormal characteristics in females could be attributed to hysteria, a disease specific to women. Despite a person’s environment and upbringing, these biological determinants themselves can be used to explain an individual’s character
and morality. These 19th century ideologies influenced Strindberg and were incorporated into his play, Miss Julie. Through the characters in Miss Julie, Strindberg demonstrates that the moralities and fates of individuals are a result of their biological factors as opposed to the traditional notions that believed that fate and morality were determined spiritually or as a result of the environment.
The concept of Social Darwinism was a widely accepted theory in the nineteenth-century. Various intellectual, and political figures from each side of the political spectrum grasped the theory and interpreted it in various ways. In this paper, we will discuss three different nineteenth-century thinkers and their conception of Social Darwinism. The conservative, Heinrich von Treitschke, and liberal Herbert Spencer both gave arguments on the usefulness of competition between people on a global scale. The anarchist, Peter Kropotkin, refuted the belief of constant competition among members of the same species and emphasized mutual aid.
The eugenics movement was a period of time when it was believe that the genes of your father and mother gave rise to any and all traits, whether it be physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, and moral. Essentially, eugenics established that all of a persons appearance, skill, and potential was rooted in your genes.
...socially directed hormonal instructions which specify that females will want to have children and will therefore find themselves relatively helpless and dependent on males for support and protection. The schema claims that males are innately aggressive and competitive and therefore will dominate over females. The social hegemony of this ideology ensures that we are all raised to practice gender roles which will confirm this vision of the nature of the sexes. Fortunately, our training to gender roles is neither complete nor uniform. As a result, it is possible to point to multitudinous exceptions to, and variations on, these themes. Biological evidence is equivocal about the source of gender roles; psychological androgyny is a widely accepted concept. It seems most likely that gender roles are the result of systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination.9
Shields, S. 1975. Functionalism, Darwinism, and the psychology of women. American Psychologist, 30(7) (1935-990X), pp. 739-754. Available at: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hope.ac.uk/ehost/detail?sid=3fc226ef-3f32-4b57-9f0c-89acb4bcade1%40sessionmgr111&vid=4&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pdh&AN=1975-29522-001 [Accessed: 10th Jan 2014].
Introduction The topic of gender differences must understandably be approached with caution in our modern world. Emotionally charged and fraught with ideas about political correctness, gender can be a difficult subject to address, particularly when discussed in correlation to behavior and social behavior. Throughout history, many people have strove to understand what makes men and women different. Until the modern era, this topic was generally left up to religious leaders and philosophers to discuss. However, with the acquisition of more specialized medical knowledge of human physiology and the advent of anthropology, we now know a great deal more about gender differences than at any other point in history.
The concept of eugenics was originally advocated by scientific and religious leaders at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was considered utopian and was driven by rhetoric of social reform. At this time, this form of eugenics was not connected to genetic testing but rather used methods such as sterilization, immigration restriction, family planning promotion schemes, and anti-miscegenation laws (Paul, 1995). In the United States, such methods were mostly directed towards immigration and focused on racial issues, whereas in the United Kingdom, class-oriented eugenicists were driven by the fear that if the “lower classes” outbred their social superiors, this would lead to evolutionary regression (Mazumdar, 1992).
The purpose of this academic piece is to critically discuss The Darwinist implication of the evolutionary psychological conception of human nature. Charles Darwin’s “natural selection” will be the main factor discussed as the theory of evolution was developed by him. Evolutionary psychology is the approach on human nature on the basis that human behavior is derived from biological factors and there are psychologists who claim that human behavior is not something one is born with but rather it is learned. According to Downes, S. M. (2010 fall edition) “Evolutionary psychology is one of the many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior”. This goes further to implicate that evolutionary psychology is virtually based on the claims of the human being a machine that can be programmed to do certain things and because it can be programmed it has systems in the body that allow such to happen for instance the nervous system which is the connection of the spinal cord and the brain and assists in voluntary and involuntary motor movements.
The socio-biological theory suggests gender appropriate behaviour has evolved to allow humanity to survive. There is supporting evidence in the composition of the human body; men have a larger lung capacity and greater physical strength than women in order to better equip them for protecting their family. In contrast, women are born with child-bearing capacities and are therefore biologically predetermined to care for their children, thus ensuring the human race survives.
in addition to the previous example of biological factors can be changed due to sociological factors s this can affect not only how we view the world and how we interpret it and enjoy the society but how this is molded into us at a very early age by our parents and their social class background. 'The idea of what constitutes culture can be affected by class: for example, consumption of high culture such as opera or theatre need a disposal income not enjoyed by everyone. Class will influence the way in which parents socialize their children. Even such things as whether one is breastfed or smacked as a child are often a reflection of the social class one is born int. '(brown, K.et al 2009) Although sociology has mounted a powerful attack its opposition has a powerful defense that of science, Biological factors such as genders, age and disability play roles' While many scientists have hard evidence that human life is solely affected by biology, there is a very compelling counter argument all around us: nature vs Nurture. Giddens acknowledges gender socialization as an approach to gender studies. Gender socialization is "Learning of gender roles within help f social agencies such as the family, state and mass
Lykken, D.T (1992). Emergenesis: genetics traits that may not run in famioies. American Psychologist, 47, 1496- 1502.
Eugenics, the belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, is one that is still used to this day. The issue with this belief, as with many other beliefs, is that it is very flawed for more reasons than one. One of the issues that can be found with the eugenics theory can be found through its data. The other issues can be categorized in either interpretation or in the overall outcome of eugenics. Although this belief began long before Hitler, possibly in the Victorian age, it became very popular during his time in power. During this time the seemingly perfect person had blue eyes, blond hair, and was white, all others were deemed unfit for the Nordic race and were likely killed as a result of it. The eugenics movement began with great observation of family trees from many families. Ant families that had diseases of defects of any type were shunned and taken away so that there would be no more generations to come.
The link called Social Origins is a short paragraph describing how in the early 20th century scientists tried to explain social problems with scientific explanation and that one gene was responsible for mental illness. The next link is scientific origins of eugenics and this link describe how the term eugenics was first coined by Francis Galton, who encouraged healthy people to have more children. Galton’s form of eugenics is called positive eugenics, since it did not involve culling people. Negative Eugenics is the process to improve humanity by culling undesirables. The eugenics movement in the US, Germany and Scandinavia favored negative eugenics. The next link is research methods, this describes that eugenics at its core was research to apply Mendel’s laws to the inheritance of human traits. Eugenic researchers attempted to trace an inheritable trait through a family tree or pedigree and then used Mendel’s laws to those
Eugenics refers to the science of regulated breeding to increase the occurrence of favorable traits, decrease that in undesired ones and overall, improve a species. During the years 1890- 1930- known as the progressive era, the science sparked a movement of groups in Britain and the US who supported this controlled reproduction to achieve an improved human race in their society. During this time it was highly supported as it was believed to be a method to eliminate the increasing criminals, poor and incapable workers in society. The progressive era was a time of strong desires for reform to rid of industrial and social problems in society. The sudden influx of scientific
Sexologist are indecisive between gender explanations based on nature and culture. John Money’s he claimed, to divide pre- ad postnatal influences and attribute them to biology and culture respectively, since social influence enter the brain and are therefore also physiology.
The belief of eugenics was well-known in the 20th century and the set of its ideals were adopted by many societies across the nation. Eugenics is a study of improving human species by keeping all of the desirable races or breeds. It developed a controversial science regarding to human heredity and personal traits such as positive and negative eugenics. For example, it stated that in order to improve the genetic quality of human race, the society should encourage individuals with superior genes to produce more offspring and discourage reproduction who are considered as socially unfit. These biased eugenics ideas were inspired by Darwin’s theory of natural selection and as well as Galton’s theory of hard heredity. Even in today’s society, people