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Systemic racism and sexism have permeated civilization since the rise of agriculture, when people began living in one place for long periods of time. Early Western scientists, such as Aristotle in ancient Greece, were indoctrinated with the ethnocentric and misogynistic narratives that permeated their society. More than 2,000 years after Aristotle's writings, English naturalist Charles Darwin also extrapolated the sexist and racist stories he heard and read in his youth into the natural world.
Darwin presented his prejudiced views as scientific facts, such as in his 1871 book "The Descent of Man," in which he described his belief that men are evolutionarily superior to women, Europeans superior to non-Europeans, and hierarchical civilizations superior to small egalitarian societies. In that book, which is still studied in schools and natural history museums, he opined that "the hideous ornaments and the equally hideous music which are admired by most savages" were "not so highly developed as in certain animals, e.g. birds. ' and compared the appearance of Africans to the New World monkey Pithecia satanas.
'The Descent of Man' was published during a moment of social unrest in continental Europe. In France, the Paris Commune of the working class took to the streets and demanded radical social change, including the overthrow of social hierarchies. Darwin's claims that the subjugation of the poor, non-Europeans and women was the natural result of evolutionary progress were music to the ears of the elites and those in power within academia. Science historian Janet Browne wrote that Darwin's meteoric rise within Victorian society did not occur despite his racist and sexist writings, but in large part because of them.
It is no coincidence that Darwin had a state funeral in Westminster Abbey, an honor that was emblematic of English power, and was publicly commemorated as a symbol of "English success in conquering nature and civilizing the world during Victoria's long reign ."
The story continues
Despite significant societal changes that have occurred over the past 150 years, sexist and racist narratives are still common in science, medicine, and education. As a teacher and researcher at Howard University, I am interested in combining my major fields of study, biology and anthropology, to discuss broader social issues. In research I recently published with my colleague Fatimah Jackson and three medical students at Howard University, we show how racist and sexist narratives are not a thing of the past: they are still present in scientific articles, textbooks, museums and educational materials.
From museums to scientific articles
An example of how biased narratives are still present in science today are the numerous depictions of human evolution as a linear trend from darker and more "primitive" humans to more "evolved" lighter-skinned humans. Natural history museums, websites and UNESCO heritage sites have all shown this trend.
The fact that such images are not scientifically accurate does not discourage their continued distribution. About 11% of people alive today are 'white' or European descendants. Images that show a linear progression toward whiteness do not accurately represent human evolution, nor do they accurately represent what living people look like as a whole today. Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence to support progressive whiter skin. Lighter skin pigmentation arose mainly within just a few groups that migrated to non-African regions of high or low latitudes, such as the northern regions of the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Sexist stories also still permeate the academic world. For example, in a 2021 article about a famous early human fossil found at the Sierra de Atapuerca archaeological site in Spain, researchers examined the canine teeth of the remains and discovered that they were actually those of a girl between 9 and 11 years old. The fossil was previously believed to be a boy because of a popular 2002 book by one of that paper's authors, paleoanthropologist José María Bermúdez de Castro. What's especially telling is that the study authors acknowledged that there was no scientific reason to label the fossil remains as male in the first place. The decision, they wrote, "was arrived at arbitrarily."
But these choices are not really 'random'. Depictions of human evolution often show only men. In the few instances where women are depicted, they are usually depicted as passive mothers, rather than as active inventors, cave painters, or food gatherers, despite the available anthropological data showing that prehistoric women were all of these.
Another example of sexist narratives in science is how researchers continue to discuss the "puzzling" evolution of the female orgasm. Darwin constructed narratives about how women were evolutionarily "reluctant" and sexually passive, even as he recognized that in most mammalian species, women actively select their sexual partners. As a Victorian, it was difficult for him to accept that women could take an active role in choosing a mate, so he argued that such roles only applied to women in early human evolution. According to Darwin, men later began to sexually select women.
Sexist narratives about women being 'more reserved' and 'less sexual', including the idea of the female orgasm as an evolutionary puzzle, are contradicted by a wide range of evidence. For example, women are the ones who, on average, experience multiple orgasms more often, as well as more complex, extended, and intense orgasms, compared to men. Women are not biologically less sexual, but sexist stereotypes were accepted as scientific fact.
The vicious cycle of systemic racism and sexism
Educational materials, including textbooks and anatomical atlases used by science and medical students, play a crucial role in perpetuating biased narratives. For example, the 2017 edition of "Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy," which is often used by medical students and clinical professionals, contains approximately 180 figures depicting skin color. Of those, the vast majority show male individuals with white skin, and only two show individuals with "darker" skin. This perpetuates the portrayal of white men as the anatomical prototype of the human species and fails to represent the full anatomical diversity of humans.
Authors of children's educational materials also replicate the biases in scientific publications, museums and textbooks. For example, the cover of a 2016 coloring book titled "The Evolution of Living Things" shows human evolution as a linear trend from obscure "primitive" creatures to "civilized" Western man. Indoctrination comes full circle when children use such books. become scientists, journalists, museum curators, politicians, authors or illustrators.
One of the key characteristics of systemic racism and sexism is that it is unconsciously perpetuated by people who often do not realize that the stories and choices they make are biased. Academics can address long-standing racist, sexist, and Western-centered biases by being both more alert and proactive in identifying and correcting these influences in their work. Allowing inaccurate stories to continue to circulate in science, medicine, education, and the media not only perpetuates these stories in future generations, but also the discrimination, oppression, and atrocities they have justified in the past .
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit organization providing facts and trusted analysis to help you understand our complex world. It was written by: Rui Diogo, Howard University Read more: Rui Diogo does not work for, consult with, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
