2009年3月10日星期二

Frank, 1998, PRC in Imperfect conceptions

Air, water and food: the foetus and the environment
经济改革和人口政策的实施创造了优生学讨论的空间,许多出版社出版了健康手册,性教育和生育健康手册,这反应并塑造了消费者的消费欲求(reflect and shape the concerns of consumers eager for better knowledge in reproductive matters)。当优生学讨论与母婴健康的关注结合时,它从社会中受过教育的人群中获得了大量共识。当一孩政策进行时,只有一个孩子的压力让父母更加焦心于怎样使这唯一的孩子健康出生和成长。新的出版品无疑满足了人们的日常需要,但同时,这些材料给出的关于生殖健康的优生建议由于偏见和无知的缘故,常常是非常有限的(eugenic advice on reproductive health is constrained by prejudice and ignorance)。The medical knowledge provided is structured by cultural, social and political values which portray the individual as an organic part of a broader collectivity: rather than enabling parents to make informed choices, medical knowledge stresses the duties and responsibilities of individuals in the achievement of a eugenic future. 人类再生产被视作可以通过优生来提高的生物性的机制(Biological mechanism)。这种想象又因为因果力量(causal power)被归咎于病原体(Pathogenic agent)而得到强化,即关注微生物,细菌等病原体如何侵扰受孕的妇女。整体论(Holistic approach)连接了生理报应(biological retribution)和社会失调(social disorder),妇女在怀孕期得病被认为是她无力在外力侵袭中自我保护[外在的方面,outer environment]。另一方面,the health of individual is linked to a particular way of life: a causal chain is established between illness and morality, as biological disorders are explained as a consequence of a breakdown in social order and human conduct。现代社会的空气和水都已非自然,被污染和人为制造的生存环境有可能就会在生殖问题上有所反映。

胎儿和外在环境的关系中,两者是脆弱的联系着的。The foetus is part of a larger environment in so far as the individual belongs to a collectivity. It listens to external sounds,比如母亲胃/腹部的隆隆声,血液流动的声音,心脏跳动的声音,这些都是胎儿面对的外在环境。超声波探测器就是探测胎儿对外在刺激反应的器械。胎儿能健康的一个基本要求是由一个良好健康的外在环境,父母因此有责任创造这样一个健康的环境。

在饮食和健康的关系中,医学家借用了传统观念中的阴阳平衡等概念。这种观念在偏食问题上表现的最明显,孕妇的饮食被认为应该平衡营养,冷热均衡,而其他产品有可能被认为是不健康的,如罐装食品,因为它们是人工制造的且有可能添加了各种化学成分。

孕妇的责任:孕妇生育是有很大责任的,她是胎儿的携有者,她要保证胎儿在母体中的健康成长。在许多发达社会也如是。母亲饮酒和抽烟是被禁止的,because it may lead to foetal malformations or mental retardation,因为这些不健康的成分会通过各种生理循环营养到胎儿健康;父亲抽烟也要避免,因为抽烟污染环境,也会影响胎儿。生育手册也要求规范婚姻年龄(marital age),它用统计数字表明超过30岁和少于20岁的女性生育缺陷儿的比率会较大。Adolescent mothers are thought to be not fully developed, 比如年青女孩的骨盆尚未完全钙化(硬化),而胎儿生长需要损耗母亲的钙量,可能会引发她的疾病,并最终影响到胎儿。她们也有高血压(high blood-pressure),风湿病(rheumatic fever),心脏病(heart diseases)和肾脏的疾病(renal problems)。而父亲一方的精液(semen and sperm)的质量对胎儿形成也至关重要。

关于年龄的限制可能得到医学证明,但也有其他一些措施来源于内在生育观念。比如季节(晚秋出生的孩子被认为多天资),生物钟(biological clock)等观念对生育的影响。

Blood, genes and DNA: the inheritance of social deviance
健康手册为防治幼儿医学疾病和遗传病有重要作用。但是很多疾病和遗传病并不是可见/预见的,有些甚至隐性基因(hidden genes)造成的,因此genetic counselling is part of this process of medical assessment。事实上很多人身上都带有良性的和恶性的基因,于是关于这些疾病/遗传病的监控和预防被列入国家生育政策的计划。以未来新一代和民族健康的名义,许多遗传病携带者,精神病和畸形者在法律上被确认为不适宜结婚生育的人,尤其是有家庭遗传病史的人。近亲结婚也容易造成defect births.

儿童的智力同样也很重要,教育被认为并不能完全提高人的智力水平,优生学因此仿佛更为紧要了。有研究表明,父母智力低下的生育的孩子成为呆子的可能性有55%-60%。高智商和智力低下都是不能更改的事。精神病也被认为是有基因基础的,精神病患者如果生育,其胎儿患有精神病的可能远超过平均水平。

近亲结婚(consanguineous marriage or intermarriage)被认为会导致更高的疾病/遗传病发生率,这被认为是在中国农村经常有智力迟钝和其他遗传性疾病频发的原因,因而被以collective health的名义尽力清除。Consanguinity is closely linked to older ideas of patrilineality, and represents isolation in a world of movement, symbolizes a closed and self-contained localism in an age of open and interdependent globalism, and backward rural ways in opposition to the modern city。有近亲结婚的村庄总被认为是对现代化的一种反抗。在乱伦禁忌解释科学化的年代,医学知识对近亲结婚的反对更多地出自于社会价值观念而非遗传学的现实。近亲结婚确认了可容忍的生殖活动的内极限(it identifies the inner limits of admissible reproductive behavior),it defines the minimum level of participation of the individual in the social field and fixes a threshold(门槛) of tolerance below which intimate behavior is seen to be morally corrupt and biologically degenerative。政府对家庭和宗族生活的合法介入,使它能够以公共卫生健康的名义对个人施以前所未有的干预和管理。

农民和少数民族是优生学上经常饱受诟病的social groups,仿佛他们的政治和经济的边缘地位就是因为他们的遗传上的缺陷,他们常常有的近亲结婚的现实使其被认为是更为“封建”,“落后”的communities。中国的一些优生学杂志公开指认这些communities是cutural backwardness and genetic inferiority。比如说有文章研究新疆伊犁五个少数民族的近亲结婚增长,以及导致的大量的遗传病婴儿的产生。也有人呼吁政府介入这些民族的生育行为,强调他们经济和社会发展程度的落后源自于inbreeding同系繁殖/近亲交配。但这不过是scientised version of Han prejudice against Hui endogamic practices.

关于农民不优生的问题,杭州浙江医科大学的人口研究中心有专门的期刊《人口与优生》撰文指出农民的优生知识缺乏,他们有许多生育上面的陈规陋习,经常intermarry or reproduce outside the marital bond。即使是比较富裕的农村也同样存在这些问题;除此之外,学者指出除近亲繁殖外,第二大问题在于农民不健康的生活方式,可能威胁到下一代的健康。那些文盲和半文盲的农民越生越多,优胜劣汰的自然法则不再奏效,成了劣胜优汰。另外也有研究城镇地区的农村移民,这些游民有超高的生育率和近亲结婚率,他们在城镇参与各种犯罪,而且他们中很多是弱智者。学者要求采取新加坡式的的人口管理政策,让社会当中高素质的人多生而限制“低素质”的节制生育。

城市当中的人对于计划生育提高人口素质政策在城乡不同的实施感到愤怒,他们要求限制移民,农民和贫民减少“劣质”人口的再生产,学者也有这样的意见,政府遂也作出类似决策,鼓励城镇的“优质”人口多多生产,而乡村的则discourage peasants from doing so, on the grounds that quality stock is indispensable to China's modernization。

计划生育已造成一个社会环境,父母们热衷于生育“优质”的下一代,出版业也开始从出版医学健康的内容转向the identification of what is thought to be socially desirable。有本小册子讨论怎样初生儿的身高,作者认为身材矮小是遗传造成的,他鼓励那些长得高的父母生育,那么他们身高高的特征将会在他们的下一代延续下去。

Superior births: the science of foetal education
受到传统生育观念影响,科学试验试图去证明胎儿发展和母亲情绪之间的关系(the strong link between the emotions of the mother and the development of the foetus)。有研究206个唐山大地震期间出生的儿童和144个出生在未发生地震地区的儿童,结果发现前者的IQ是86.43低于后者的91.95,these results are thought to illustrate how a natural disaster chould upset the emotional economy of pregnant women, influencing in turn the development of the foetus's nervous system。

即使是微小的情绪变化(minor emotional shocks)也有可能影响到胎儿的成长,在popular culture and medical discourse中moral character and emotional disposition of a pregnant woman have a direct relationship with birth defects。因此负面的情绪被认为是intensify the activity of the vegetative nervous system and liberate harmful particles that can affect the development of foetus,尤其是在怀孕的前三个月。强烈的情感冲动对胎儿会造成非常负面的影响,为了生育优质的孕妇被要求在怀孕期间保持良好的心态和情绪(maintain emontional stability),而其他家庭成员也尽力营造出一个好的家庭环境, because positive environment can enhance the mental capacity and physical appearance of the foetus; 比如读书可以create an ideal atmosphere for pregnant women。这些关于prenatal health内容在发达国家的medical literature中也不少见,并不是非常特别的优生学特征, however, it is important not too dismiss such ideas as superstitious迷信的 or even ridiculous荒谬的, but to underline how advice on reproductive health is offered within a broadly eugenist framework with strong normative values。Moreover, medical discourse is governed by representations of female vulnerability弱点and assigns the principal responsibility over reproduction to women。

在关于性别差异(gender distinction)的表述中,男女被认为是biologically determined structures naturally complementing each other, medical discourse also attributes duties to the male partner。父亲要保证自己精子的质量,因为精子生命力和胎儿的体质很有关系。很多健康册子都强调了生育父母双方的责任,它们stress the importance of human agency and locate the causes of illness in the behavior of both parents, they are part of a mode of causality which explains the universe in terms of individual behavior and human responsibility: the link between behavior, morality and health is reconfigured into a medical discourse that represents the monster as a biological retribution for social deviation。除此之外,一些使得孕妇健康的做法还包括她经常去公园花园海边散步,这些没有污染的环境can exert its beneficial influence on the foetus。正常的作息,有规律的生活(a regulated lifestyle with clear rules) will engender a disciplined child, and the pregnant mother should follow a strict routine to instil a sense of measure into the foetus。古典音乐 which symbolising ordered harmony, can help to convey a notion of balance, whereas popular music performed by socially deviant categories of people is thought to transmit deviance, since rock and roll music can bring about negative reactions in the foetus。

Society is thought to influence and shape the foetus's development, marking it with its signature even before it can breathe, the external forces should be harnessed and guided in a eugenic direction。很重要的方面比如胎教[foetal education], mother transmit educational materials will contribute to building the character and developing the intelligence of the future child。比如有多电子胎教仪的存在,可以传输一些外界的欢快的声音给胎儿。以及胎教内容的录音磁带since 1985,销量很大。也有相关的胎教机构的创立。最近reproductive technologies and genetic engineering的发展有利于推进positive eugenics的实现。Embryo transplants胚胎移植, artificial insemination人工授精, external fertilization体外受精, test-tube babies试管婴儿,都是能够给人类优生未来的有效的医学科技。还有模仿Robert K.Graham 1971年创立的精子库的中国机构。

试管婴儿在1988年在中国试验成功,在宣传材料上,这项技术被认为对提高婴儿质量有很大作用。还有人体细胞的无性繁殖(the cloning of human germ cells)。

Liminal figures: the medical semiology of monsters
Framed by an image, the body of the monster is a culturally constructed object which symbolically represents the physical retribution of unregulated reproduction。在PRC,怪胎有许多的意思,which represent almost anything from a pregnant women's failure to control her emotions to modern man's alienation from a polluted environment。怪胎同时也成功大众娱乐的一个点,an entire range of liminal figures occupy a prominent position in a cultural field structured by a fascination with the abnormal,比如野人的盛传。Hairly people毛人被认为是racial atavisms返祖现象的结果。

Eugenic laws and reproductive health

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