Ch 13 Human Biological Diversity
Human brains are categorization devices,
we constantly work to classify the world
around us, to label things as this or that
– But, the world can’t always be
classified into discrete categories,
often things exist on a continuum of
continuous variation
– For instance human traits; skin color,
height, hair color- all exist on a line of
continuous variation
Human populations are often
categorized by sex and race, and
these categories are assumed to be
discrete, objective and essential.
•But can we objectively, discretely
categorize humans into
– Two categories for sex?
– Three, five or six categories for
race?
A key understanding in this chapter is to
be able to differentiate between
biological categories and social/cultural
categories
– Sex is a biological category,
gender is a cultural category
– Race is presumed to be a
biological category, ethnicity a
cultural category
 Ch 13 Human Biological Diversity
Scientific taxonomies and cultural/social taxonomies
– Scientific taxonomies- ideally objective, based
on facts, but paradigm and positionality bias can
impact them subjectively
– Folk taxonomies- subjective categories based
on cultural values, norms, ideologies
Jonathan Marks states “we don’t objectively categorize
the world around us, culture always influences our
categories. This leads to a great deal of confusion and
ignorance in regards to the nature of things (facts) and
our ideas about things (beliefs).
 Sex, Gender Identity, Expression and Sexuality
We create categories that are meaningful to us and come to see them as absolute
and natural. However, most of the categories we create, come out of our
cultural system. They don’t exist in nature. They are often false dichotomies.
Can we really divide the concepts below into two discrete categories or do these
exist on a continuum of continuous variation? Note- each category here is listed as
continuously variable, not discrete (either/or)

Biological Sex- anatomy, chromosomes, hormones

Male------------------------intersex---------------------female

Gender Identity- psychological sense of self

Man--------------------two spirit, third gender---------women

Gender Expression- communication of gender

masculine----------------androgynous-------------feminine

Sexual Orientation- erotic response

Attracted to women-----bisexual/asexual----attracted to men
Here’s another look at categories which are continuously variable. Discrete, binary
categories would be female and male, or women and men, or gay and straight.
 Sex is a biological category
Gender is a folk category that rests on sex
Sex: biological category. See the criteria Gender: Folk category. These are the
used to determine sex. But, there isn’t cultural expectations based on assigned
consistency in these, individuals can have biological sex. Worldwide and historically
variable chromosomes- so how do we label cultures may have 2, 4, 5 or more gender roles.
them? People can have ambiguous and The USA is undergoing a tremendous shift in
variable reproductive traits and secondary sex conceptualizing this category
traits…these aren’t always clear and binary. •Typically in the USA there are clear
– Chromosomes; XX for female and and expectations as to; dress, jobs, personal
XY for male. But there are X, XXX, interests and activities, etc. based on your
XXY, XYY, and intersex gender.
– Reproductive organs; internal and •These are culturally created, and have
external, some 2-5% of births are changed over time, but many still see them as
ambiguous in some way absolute, often in the context of religious
– Secondary sex traits; voice, breasts, beliefs.
adam’s apple, hair distribution, etc. •If I talked about my friend the nurse and my
other friend the mechanic, what would your
assumptions be about their sex/gender?
Sex, Gender, and Sexuality are separate categories, they aren’t
linked, although it is commonly assumed they are…
It is common to conflate these three categories. However data shows that all three
categories are separate and not linked. Data also shows these are not discrete/binary
categories
•For instance a persons gender identity does not predict their sexuality
•They are not discrete/binary categories. Using objective criteria we can talk of more
than two sexes, including intersex. We can see gender identity along a continuum of
variation, what is considered female or male behavior has varied over time and by
culture. Sexuality has not always been seen as binary, and real world data reveals
there is a great deal of variation in sexuality, it doesn’t fit into a binary, either/or
category over a lifetime.
 Race “as applied to humans a vague term that has multiple meanings,
both cultural and biological, referring to group membership” Relethford

This statement by physical anthropologist Relethford implies that race is

an ambiguous term, that crosses two categories, culture and biology. A
look at the development of the scientific concept of race is a classic
example of how science works. It requires the following to understand
the myth and reality of the race concept.
•Critical thinking and a knowledge of; paradigms, history, nature of
science, taxonomic classifications and species concept
 Race- means different things in different times and contexts

Biology- what is the data in regards to the race concept

as a valid way to biologically divide humans?
– Race means subspecies in biology
– Can humans be divided into subspecies?
Science- what paradigms (cultural values, norms,
political, economic and social interests) affected the
development of the race concept?
– What historical events converged in the USA
which lead to the development of the race
concept?
– What other cultures developed the scientific
concept of race, and how did their history and
culture affect it?
 Race. Ethnicity. Nationality.
These categories are often conflated and confused. However, like sex,
gender and sexuality, they are separate categories, they aren’t linked,
although they can overlap.
•Consider what criteria is used to categorize each group?
– Nationality; is based on citizenship. However, it is common in
modern day nation states for the dominant group (dominant socially,
politically, economically) to see their ethnicity/race as the norm for that
nation. But all modern nations have been created in a specific time
and place, and all are multicultural in their population.
– Ethnicity; can be categorized in a more narrow way with culture,
language, and/or religion. Or it can be categorized in a broader way
overlapping with ideas of race. Consider, how do you identity
individuals ethnicity when you meet them?
– Race; has been held up as a biological category, and in modern
biology a race is a subspecies. However, humans are very similar
biologically and cannot be divided in discrete biological categories
 What is the fallacy of race as a biological category?
What is the data and reasoning used?

What do scientists think of race? Subspecies Race as a biological means of

concept? Can we divide humans into discrete
categories?
•Race= subspecies in biology,
subspecies= physically distinguishable
population within a species
•What traits are used? How much variation is
enough to grant subspecies designation?
•Do humans meet the criteria for subspecies?
Data, reasoning?
categorization
– Implies humans can be divided into
discrete groups
– Versus Homo sapiens as differing
along a continuum
– Individuals are assigned group
membership based on a few, obvious,
physical traits; skin color, hair color
and type, eye color, the shape of the
lips, eyes, nose. These are a very
small percentage of our genes and
physical traits.
 The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes
Watch the brief video linked to the right. • https://www.youtube.com/watc
•It’s a brief look at race in the USA. h?v=VnfKgffCZ7U
One thing that is inaccurate is they
discuss having a chromosome for race
versus a gene (of which there isn’t).

•Consider the questions asked,

– What is your race? What criteria
can you use to prove your race?
 Race is a social construction, not a biological reality. The
assumptions of the race concept led to biological determinism

Biological Determinism- is a belief that assumes…

• humans exist in discrete groups
• there is a connection between physical
traits/appearance, culture, average intellectual
abilities, temperament
• some groups are inferior, and some groups are
superior

Is this a common or uncommon belief today?

Biological determinism is not accepted in science.
However, what are the beliefs of most people? To
what degree do people have facts regarding the
race concept?
The belief of biological determinism was grounded in the science of its day. It is now
undermined by today’s scientific knowledge. Science works to self correct bias from
earlier paradigms with peer review and continual testing...

Stephen Gould researched the history of
the race concept which developed with the
development of science as a discipline.
Carol Tavris looked at how biological
determinism affected the perception
and rights of women.
•I recommend both books if you want to
further explore this topic.
 Park discusses how the rise of science in the West coincided with the
development of the race concept. As I developed the class Celtic Cultures, I
found it fascinating to see how the English colonization of the Celts affected
their science of race.

In England the race concept came in to being with the

colonization of many areas around the world, including
Ireland. It was easier for the English to rationalize inhuman
treatment of people far away in other places like India, but it
was harder with the Irish, a short journey by sea and people
who looked more like them….
•Robert Knox wrote about the Celts (the people conquered or
colonized by the English- Irish, Welsh, Scots) and the Saxons
(the English categorize themselves as Anglo-Saxons)
– Race is everything, literature, science, art, in a word,
civilization depends on it” Robert Knox
 Robert Knox compared the Celts and the Saxons.
The Celts were conquered peoples of Ireland, Scotland, etc.
Saxons were proper British or English peoples.
Knox wrote down his observations of the Saxons and
Celts. He claimed what he was observing was
objective fact…
– Saxon: cannot sit still an instant, so powerful is
the desire to work, labor, excitement, muscular
exertion…
– Celts- deformed, decidedly dodgy characters,
glowering, malingerers, miserable, wretched
men, from dark and filthy hovels, they never
sought to purify. Source of all evil
Look at how the drawings characterize the
Saxon/English women on the left and the Irish women
on the right…Do you think this is an objective
comparison?
•How similar is this to Linnaeaus’s classification
of humans?
English newspapers, magazines and books from the 1800’s to early 1900’s
often portrayed the Irish as a separate and inferior race to the English
• The Irish were portrayed as apes. Some claimed
the Irish were the missing link between apes and
humans.
• The cartoon portrays an Irishman (as an ape)
viewing an ape in the zoo
• Racist cartoons portrayed societal views of the
groups the British colonized
• However modern genetic data reveals that Saxons
and Celts are not distinct groups, they share the
same ancestry.
 When the Spanish colonized the America’s they developed racial
categories, and a social hierarchy.

• The painting on the right shows some of the racial

categories the Spanish had. These were folk
categories, not scientific categories but many took them
as factual.
• The Spanish outlined (see images to the right) what
happened resulted with unions between Spanish,
Indigenous Peoples, Africans, etc. and the resulting
offspring were labeled on a racial hierarchy.
• Once again, these categories were portrayed as
objective and factual. Would we accept these as valid
categories today?

•
 Brazil, based on its history and culture has different racial, and ethnic
categories. In Brazil racial categories are based on physical appearance,
wealth, and education. Two individuals from the same family may be put in
different racial categories
Western Europe- Age of Exploration, Colonization, Missionization,
Rise of Science
• All of these converged to begin a scientific description and categorization of
humans…
• Encounters with very different peoples in context of wealth creation, empire
building, and rise of science, and missionary proselytizing …
 Race, as scientific concept developed during the formation of USA as a nation.
Key was in the USA, the ideal was a different kind of nation in which “all men
are created equal”

However, these legendary ideals were written during

the reality of enslavement, genocide, and denial of
basic human rights based on race, sex, and class.
•How do you reconcile an ideology of equality with
genocide, enslavement and empire building?
– You say there is something about these
people…they’re not the same as us…
The race concept became a rationalization, they are
different…and so they can’t have the same human
rights. This happened with females as well.
•The picture at right shows Manifest Destiny bringing
“civilization” westward… (this targeted the Indigenous
Peoples who were not viewed as civilized)
 IQ tests, Race, and Eugenics
Eugenics is the improvement of the The belief was that the negatives of
species through selective breeding. From society (poverty, crime, etc) came from
the 1920’s-1970’s the USA engaged in those that were biologically unfit and so
eugenics. The idea of biological society had a right to stop their
determinism with the practice of eugenics reproduction
was used to improve the biological fitness
of our nation. In his book “Mismeasure of
Man” Gould writes of how people were
given IQ tests to determine their biological
fitness. If they scored low they were seen
as unfit and were subject to being forcibly
sterilized for the good of society.
 It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring
for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who
are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind…
Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Holmes was a Supreme Court Justice and

he made that statement in 1927, validating
the states right to sterilize a young women
deemed unfit to reproduce. The chart at
right was one used to categorize an
individuals ability level. These are
common insults today, but at the time they
were scientific categories based on IQ.
 Take an IQ test used in early 1900’s
• On the following page is an IQ test
used to test 1.75 million men in the
military during WW I. Many men
were illiterate and so it was
developed using pictures.
• Get a sheet of paper and write down
what you think is missing from each
picture.
• The test was to fill in what is missing-
be specific, what exactly would you
draw to fill in what is missing...
• As you take the test, analyze it.
Does it test innate cognitive abilities
or learned cultural knowledge?
• After you take the test, correct your
answers, how did you do?
 Key to IQ test. Stephen Gould gave this test to his students at Harvard
and found some didn’t do very well…
• 1-3 are pretty obvious • 11- trigger
• 4- spoon drawn in right hand of child • 12 – tail. Gould had several students who
• 5-chimney above bricks. Two of Gould’s came from countries without pigs get this
students from El Salvador drew a cross on wrong
the roof because they came from an • 13- missing leg on left
equatorial climate without fireplaces and • 14- shadow in right place
large buildings were often churches • 15- bowling ball should be drawn in hand
• 6- ear on opposite side of man. Ball in motion or in women’s hand
• 7- filament missing. How many people had no credit
electricity in 1915? • 16- net is missing. How many people
• 8- proper location for stamp would have had knowledge of tennis and
• 9- strings. How many cultures have this tennis courts?
musical instrument? • 17- hand
• 10- missing part is the rivet (to anchor the • 18-gramaphone
blade). I’ve only had 3 students in 15 • 19- hand and powderpuff on right side in
years get this one mirror
• 20- diamond is missing
 Critical thinking in regards to IQ

• What is IQ? Can it be tested? Reified?

• What do IQ tests test? (ability, performance)
• Is IQ genetic (inherited) or affected by
environment? Or some combination of the two?
 How is race both a reality and illusion?
Biologically is race a reality or an illusion?
– Data and reasoning
Socially is race a reality or an illusion?
– Data and reasoning
 Race, and racism are often unconscious paradigms or prism’s through
which we view the world
These two photos came through the Do you think the individuals who labeled
associated press within a few hours of these photos were avowed racists? Or
each other during the Katrina disaster unconsciously funneling stereotypes based
on skin color?
 An anthropological, holistic perspective distinguishes between personal
prejudice & racism and institutional, systemic racism. Paradigms affect the
way in which we view and interpret the world. To what degree does skin color
and presumptions of race affect our views of the world? How much is
conscious and how much of our view is tacit (under the surface)?
 Nicole Hannah Jones has developed 1619 Project in which she states
1619 should be looked at as foundational to our nation.
History is always contested, it forms the basis of • Race the Power of an Illusion
who we see ourselves as and how we see
others. Watch the interview of Jones by
The House We Live In
Trevor Noah on 1619 Project • Watch the video linked below which
•http://www.cc.com/video-clips/h10vv0/the-daily-show- outlines what happened post WWII,
with-trevor-noah-nikole-hannah-jones---reframing-the-l with the GI Bill, and the housing
egacy-of-slavery-with-the-1619-project---extended-inte
rview boom. What happens in Levittown
•9.45 minutes- How important is a holistic regarding loans, redlining, and white
understanding of history? flight
• How does this history give insight into
the systemic racism we live with
today? – 6 mins
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW764dXEI_8
 How have things changed and remained the same?
Watch the two videos, one from 1968 and one
from 2020
•James Baldwin, novelist, talks with Paul
Weiss, Yale, professor in1968
•Baldwin had recently experienced the murder
of three close friends (among others)
– Medgar Evers, Malcom X, and Martin
Luther King, Jr
•Watch Baldwin’s take on the experience of
Black men in America in 1968,
•3.3 mins
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fZQQ7o16yQ
Watch Kimberley Jones, activist
being interviewed by Trevor Noah
after her video on the Black Lives
Matter protests went viral. What
does it mean to break the social
contract?
•11.30 minutes
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
U1k9APedIUY