He and fellow eugenicists believed that, rather than let nature run its course to the detriment of humanity, human intervention was a necessary guiding force in the shaping of future generations. Galton had found a science to confirm 19th century social thinking, rendering colonization, the class system, and the subservience of women a scientific necessity. Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, expanded on his cousin’s ideas of survival of the fittest and developed a scientific theory which fitted the era of industrialization and empire like a glove – that of superior human genetics, and the need to ensure the survival of society’s fittest. As the vehicle for the next generation, who the woman frequents, who she marries, how she dresses, where she works, how much she works, how she behaves whilst pregnant, and how she raises her child, all pose a potential threat to the future of our species when we adopt a biological approach to healthy human life, based around the preservation of certain social groups.Įugenics as a science entered the mainstream in the late 19th century. From the moment she begins to engage romantically with men, the woman is controlled and monitored this is deemed to her own benefit lest she slip up left to her own choices. The woman, as mother, is at the centre of this process.
Based on Darwinian notions of survival of the fittest, British society has inbuilt mechanisms to ensure the proliferation of its favoured elements. The woman is intrinsically dangerous to the established order of things. She writes in her spare time, as a way of trying to unpick the logic of our confused times as well as trying to find a narrative thread that can guide our society towards a kinder space. She is currently working with young people with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties and training to become a counsellor. Mena is a SOAS graduate in History & Law.
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