Difference between revisions of "426--Week 12 Questions/Comments--Thursday"
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I knew eugenics had a start in the 1900s, but I did not realize how quickly it became a dominant mindset among some of the medical community. It was horrible of the eugenicists to try to determine who was allowed to have children and to mock the women who were unable to have their own children. Regardless of how badly some of these women wanted kids, they were still shunned and scorned for being infertile. It just seems like a horrible situation to be in; to be yelled at for being infertile. -Kelly W. | I knew eugenics had a start in the 1900s, but I did not realize how quickly it became a dominant mindset among some of the medical community. It was horrible of the eugenicists to try to determine who was allowed to have children and to mock the women who were unable to have their own children. Regardless of how badly some of these women wanted kids, they were still shunned and scorned for being infertile. It just seems like a horrible situation to be in; to be yelled at for being infertile. -Kelly W. | ||
| − | While I agree that many of the statistics on birth control use and the prevalence of abortion surprised me as well, I was also surprised by the adoption process. Not unlike today, it seems that there were more couples trying to adopt children then there were children up for adoption. Many individuals appear to have been desperate to adopt to escape the stigma of childlessness. I was also amazed to learn that forms of artificial reproduction were used in the late 1800s. In addition, the whole concept of "worthy" parents seemed a bit alien to me, almost as if one should have to earn the right to have parents rather then a natural biological ability. --Sarah Gardner | + | While I agree that many of the statistics on birth control use and the prevalence of abortion surprised me as well, I was also surprised by the adoption process. Not unlike today, it seems that there were more couples trying to adopt children then there were children up for adoption. Many individuals appear to have been desperate to adopt to escape the stigma of childlessness. I was also amazed to learn that forms of artificial reproduction were used in the late 1800s. In addition, the whole concept of "worthy" parents seemed a bit alien to me, almost as if one should have to earn the right to have parents rather then a natural biological ability. --Sarah Gardner |
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| + | I think, in a way, there is a bit of the "who's worthy and who isn't" going on today and the government and community are still very much involved in who has kids. Social Services and adoption agencies still have the power to determine who will make "worthy" parents and who won't. What really annoyed me while reading these chapters was that upper and middle-class people were (and still are, according to that one letter in the introduction)considered the best parents, while those who had lower incomes were thought to be unworthy. That does not make them better parents, nor does it mean that they will love or raise their children better. Ok, going off subject a little, I was floored by that story of the first recorded artificial insemination, I went and told a couple people about it. It sounded alot like a novel or some scandalous tabloid story. - Celia | ||
== Sterilization == | == Sterilization == | ||
