Artículos de revistas
Prenuptial medical exams in debate: a proposed eugenic intervention in Brazil, 1910-1940
Fecha
2016-12-01Registro en:
Historia Ciencias Saude-manguinhos. Rio De Janeiro, Rj: Fundaco Oswaldo Cruz, v. 23, p. 253-259, 2016.
0104-5970
10.1590/S0104-59702016000500016
S0104-59702016000900253
WOS:000394163600016
S0104-59702016000900253.pdf
Autor
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Institución
Resumen
This text results from research undertaken for a master's degree that focused on the proposed introduction of prenuptial medical exams in the early 1900s in Brazil. This was strongly defended by Brazilian eugenicists as a much-needed means of bringing about the racial improvement of the population. The exam would help prevent the marriage and reproduction of individuals considered degenerate or inferior, seen as inadequate for the eugenic development of future generations. The debate in Brazil between doctors and intellectuals who supported the introduction of a law that would make a prenuptial medical exam mandatory is analyzed, as are the controversies and objections voiced by its critics, ultimately helping ensure it was not adopted in the country.