Tristan Leopold and Cameron Gantz
Identity: who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group, and what makes them different from others. This definition of identity demonstrates how individuals or a group seek to stand out from the rest. By establishing differences and furthering yourself away from others, you are able to establish who you truly are. Or so that’s what the people of Mexico believed following the Mexican Revolution. During the 1920s Mexico established itself and its freedom. Through a sense of nationalism, the Mexican people wanted their voices to be heard around the world, they wanted everyone to know that they were Mexican. Though, in this new and growing society, the category of who fell under the umbrella of “Mexican” was changing. Post-war ideals and influence from outside countries altered Mexico’s perspective of who belongs in their desired society. This podcast examines the chronological change that Mexico enacted following the Mexican Revolution in the 1920’s until the late 1950s, where they utilized various tools of separation including eugenics, biotypology, and race science.
Further Reading:
“Dreaming of a Cosmic Race: José Vasconcelos and the Politics of Race in Mexico, 1920s–1930s.” Cogent Arts & Humanities, 2016, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2016.1218316. Eraso, Yolanda. “Biotypology, Endocrinology, and Sterilization: The Practice of Eugenics in the Treatment of Argentinian Women during the 1930s.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, vol. 81, no. 4, 2007, pp. 793–822, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629848/, 10.1353/bhm.2007.0130. “Ley Sobre Relaciones Familiares 1917 [Od4p1m20mw4p].” Idoc.pub, 2019, idoc.pub/documents/ley-sobre-relaciones-familiares-1917-od4p1m20mw4p. Sánchez‐Rivera, R. “The Making of “La Gran Familia Mexicana”: Eugenics, Gender, and Sexuality in Mexico.” Journal of Historical Sociology, vol. 34, no. 1, 18 Feb. 2021, pp. 161–185, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/johs.12308, 10.1111/johs.12308. Stern, Alexandra Minna. “Eugenics in Latin America.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, 22 Dec. 2016, oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-315#acrefore-9780199366439-e-315-div1-7 Wikipedia Contributors. “Eugenics in Mexico.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_Mexico#cite_note-:8-8.