People all over the world create stereotypes for one another based on observations or experience. Whether intentional or not, we notice that certain traits may be apparent in a group of people of the same ethnicity, believing its due to their genetic make up. We say that asians are smart and short, African Americans are good at sports, American kids are lazy, and as the New Yorker's Burkhard Bilger writes, "We assume they [Mexicans] were born to be small" (27). Similarly, Shenk states, "Born to be small. Born to be smart. Born to play music. Born to play basketball. It's a seductive assumption, one that we've all made" (27).
Even though we know that stereotypes aren't necessarily true, there has to be some truth to them for us to create these stereotypes. For example, many of the best long distance runners are Kenyan. Is their beneficial body type and ability genetic or environmental? What certain traits constitute as genetic or environmental? What kind of environmental factors could possibly affect genetically inherited traits? Can some of these truthful stereotypes become genetic if they continue to be common among certain ethnic groups?
Lili Malone (lilimalone@ameritech.net)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is something to be said about stereotypes, not because I support them, but because when it's all said and done, peoples of similar races are more likely to be raised in similar environments. The human genome is so incredibly similar from person to person that with our newest understanding of GXE rather than G+E it would make sense that similar traits are seen with stereotypes. The reasoning behind why some groups of people are short is simply inbreeding between other short people. Physical appearance traits such as height are something we've understood for many years; it’s Mendelian genetics. If two short parents make a baby, that child will most likely, but not necessarily be short is because of his/her DNA.
ReplyDeleteWe have learned in the book that, as far as performance trait like athletic ability as a runner, it all comes down to the environment you were raised in and how that interacts with your DNA. Again, similar stereotypes are often raised in similar environments. Running or other sports also has been notoriously known for being historically a social outlet for many societies. This too, such as Kenyan and Jamaican runners demonstrate, alludes to why genetic stereotypes arise.
What specific factors of the environment affect genetic expression we cannot say. What we do know is even the seemingly littlest things such as breastfeeding vs. formula food for babies can affect the rest of a child’s life. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “The typical finding—that has been replicated dozens of times—is that children who are breast-fed average about 5 IQ points higher than children who aren’t breast-fed or fed formula from a bottle.” (http://www.psychcontroversies.com/inherited-traits.html)
Jane Rose (jane.sam.r@gmail.com)