Portrayal of human evolution ‘racist and sexist’ Science & Health

Authored by researchers at Howard University in the United States, and published in the Scientific Journal Evolutionary AnthropologyThe study resulted from an analysis of images presented in scholarly research, museums, cultural heritage sites, documentaries, television programmes, medical books and other educational materials, which reach millions of children around the world.

By giving the example of a representation of human fossils unearthed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, the researchers showed how the traditional representation indicates that human evolution moved from darker skin pigmentation to lighter skin.

In the article published about the study, the researchers note, however, that only 14% of people identify as “white.”

Rui Diogo, associate professor at Howard University School of Medicine and lead author of the article, Llosa said that all the racism and sexism that represents human evolution shows the imposition of the Western viewpoint, even if it is unconscious.

“For the study, we contacted painters and curators… The curious thing is that racism and masculinity are almost unconscious. Few admit to being racist or sexist. They don’t even think about it, they just repeat the same stories without thinking,” said the investigator. .

Rui Diogo says he understands why people follow these narratives unconsciously, and says it’s what they’ve been offered since they were young, but adds that this can’t be an excuse. “We all have a responsibility, the curators, the journalists, the people who write books for young people in schools.”

“When I talk about the cave man, I immediately erase the woman from prehistoric times,” he says, adding that what you see in books and on the Internet about human evolution gives an idea that does not correspond to reality. “It is as if we are all white and doomed to disappear. Charles Darwin already said it.”

In response to a question from Lusa, Rui Diogo also noted that even in publications in Asia, the narrative can be racist, putting Asians in the spotlight, but essentially replicating the Western narrative.

In general, he says, and especially in children’s books, evolution is represented not only by the white man, but by “the Western white man in a tie”.

In the article titled “Not Just in the Past: Racial and Sexist Prejudices Still Permeate Biology, Anthropology, Medicine, and Education,” the lead author laments that even today there is this tendency to position darker humans as “supposedly more primitive” and lighter ones as ” more civilized.”

This inaccurate representation distorts “true human biodiversity,” assert the researchers, who acknowledge that the persistence of racism and sexism may serve the purpose of “preserving white and male supremacy” and excluding “others,” and warn that the images published “underestimate the complexity” of human evolution. .