Eugenics is the philosophy and practice of changing humanity by promoting genetic groups with “good” genes and/or excluding those with “bad” genes.
Unlike genetics, which in its ideal state is a value-neutral science, eugenics places value on human traits and behaviors.
Eugenic ideology can be applied to any academic discipline and is sometimes multidisciplinary.
Eugenics and sex
About the same number of boys and girls are born each year, but some parents test their fetus. If the test says it is a girl, they abort it. They do this because they think being a girl is a bad trait. They think it’s better to have a boy baby. One group thinks that 126 million girls were never born, just because they were girls.
In a sexist society that believes men are better than women, women and girls will be hurt by eugenics. In a society that wants to maintain a sexist binary, intersex people will be hurt by eugenics.
Eugenics and sexuality
One person who wrote a bad book on transgender people wrote that if it’s OK to abort a fetus for any reason, testing fetus and aborting the gay ones is OK.
In a heterosexist society that believes heterosexuality is better than other sexual identities, sexual minorities will be hurt by eugenics.
Eugenics and gender
Some people would get rid of people based on their gender identity and expression.
Books
American Eugenics by Nancy Ordover (2001)
War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race by Edwin Black (2012)
The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea by Elof Carlson (2001)
Resources
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu)