A-R-T of Exclusion: How Technology Shapes Race and Reproductive Desires

With a world categorized by seemingly never-ending access to media and information, it’s important to strike a balance between producing content that can break through the void while maintaining information that is valuable to creators, thinkers, and activists across multiple generations. They are always looking for new ways to express themselves and share their ideas with the world. So how do I find that right balance of ingredients needed to incorporate the roles of Assisted Reproductive Technology in reproducing race and connecting it to the scholarship of Feminist STS AS WELL AS relating to the inputs of my co-podcasters? Well, I’d like to tackle it by prioritizing strategic omission and targeted audience engagement. Let’s talk about it. 

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are medical procedures that help couples conceive a child. These technologies have been around for several decades, and their use has become increasingly popular over the years. However, while ARTs have helped many couples achieve their dream of having a child, they have also been used to perpetuate harmful eugenicist and racial ideals. One of the key concepts that I appreciate in The Assisted Reproduction of Race by Camisha Russel is the fact that not only does she consider in great depth how racial identities are described but she emphasizes that race is actionable, it is political and overpowering the natural process of reproduction using these technologies race is no longer a passive ‘social identity’. Like technology race is actionable and ARTs can justify and maintain the inequalities that come along with it. 

With the above key message in mind, the next question to be answered is who is the ideal audience for this information? Upon initial thought I would assume that it would be scholars or students with a direct interest in the field, academics of feminism, science and technology who would easily absorb the information to add to their existing knowledge, find it #relatable but also allow them the opportunity to expand their perspective on the topic and learn something new. Maybe challenge the status quo a little bit. Then I remembered that it’s a podcast and to reach beyond a small pool of scientists and scholars it also needs to be elaborative and educational enough to invite new ears onto the topic. Provoke interest in alternative members of social justice communities and beyond by providing context, and history iterating the importance of its value. I think an important way of keeping all of these audiences engaged is by providing the value of my perspective. Being able to showcase the personal value of such a topic to the audience is one thing that’s a big reason why I listen to some of my favourite podcasts; a unique and personal perspective. 

So why science and race? I’ve found it interesting the enlightening Camisha Russel has made between race, technology, and nature. Humans have developed this uncompromisable need to categorize and control this is apparent in how reproductive technologies and race have informed the ability to organize people into groups that can be easier identified and manipulated for political gain. The false ‘scientific’ concept of race created an environment akin to past eugenicist initiatives as well as the current language used by ART technologies that maintain many eugenicist ideas but hide them behind moral and medical concerns. It’s interesting that back in the day even Hitler believed that mass extermination and medical experimentation were the correct courses of action for the greater long-term improvement of the human race. 

The intersection between race, science and technology can’t be missed in how technology enables reproduction! Race isn’t just (badly done) science, it is a part of society that shapes how we view and view the world. It’s technology in that it has been developed and actioned as a means to an end both socially and politically.  Race is scientific and technology in that it is adaptable and can be weaponized which is why it’s so important to consider how ARTs function alongside these powerful discourses.