The statistical war on equality: Visions of American virtuosity in<i>The Bell Curve</i>

Grey, Stephanie Houston

doi:10.1080/00335639909384263

Cited by 12 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…One way that discourses gain legitimacy is through the use of statistics and quantification, which historically constructed certain bodies as inferior through the statistical use of finding marginalized populations to be “significantly different” than the dominant population (Hughes 1995; Meleo-Erwin 2012). For instance, the authors of The Bell Curve relied upon the statistical center of the bell curve to establish sameness and normalcy, whereby standard deviations away from the center are used to explain and justify the difference (Grey 1999). Power and domination have been embedded within a scientific approach to measuring bodies, where “[q]uantification creates the scientific illusion that subjectivity and politics have been transcended.…”

Section: The Quantifiable-body Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

The Quantifiable-Body Discourse

Robinson

2015

Social Currents

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The majority of gay men are now meeting online; however, little is understood about how body presentations in cyberspace affect gay men’s intimate contacts. In this article, I develop the concept of the quantifiable-body discourse to illuminate how a dating Web site’s infrastructure measures the body, impacting how gay men interact with one another. Through in-depth interviews and analyzing profiles on a top gay personal Web site, I show how gay men numerically discuss and compare bodies online. Bolstered by Connell’s concepts of hegemonic masculinity and cathexis, I reveal how this quantification of bodies leads to the valuing and desiring of fit bodies and discriminating against fat bodies in cyberspace and off-line. I also illuminate how dating and “hookup” Web sites perpetuate hegemonic norms around bodies, beauty, and biopower.

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Section: The Quantifiable-body Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

The Quantifiable-Body Discourse

Robinson

2015

Social Currents

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“…20 Stephanie Houston Grey has even dubbed The Bell Curve "the most vilified book of the decade." 21 But it is not necessarily the case that what the press reports is what the populace believes. Indeed, Herrnstein and Murray have suggested that it is the more conservative view, one with an "accusatory" tone that dominates the discussions of lay people.…”

Section: The Debate Over the Linkage Between Race And Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lay understandings of the relationship between race and genetics: Development of a collectivized knowledge through shared discourse

2002

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Throughout the past century, research into human genetics revealed the relationships between biochemistry and various human characteristics in increasing detail. At each step of this path of discovery, social critics warned that knowledge of genetics, and especially social attention to genetics, might heighten racist attitudes. In light of these warnings and the recent sequencing of the Human Genome, it is important to inquire into the interpretations laypersons might hold of the relationship between race and genetics. A variety of recent efforts have described the insufficiency of public opinion polls for arriving at sophisticated understandings of such complex attitudinal structures. Therefore, this essay offers a sketch of some lay understandings of race and genetics in the United States based on a series of focus group sessions. In order to interpret the responses, the analysis employs a novel template for interpreting focus group research based on the theoretical concept of rhetorical formations. This approach reveals the way in which the knowledge of individual members is brought to bear upon collective decision-making through the social process of discussion to produce a pool of information that is similar to expert knowledge, although phrased in a popular vocabulary. Differences in the ways in which cultural groups negotiate this knowledge are discussed.

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Visualizing Risk: Images, Risk and Fear in a Health Campaign

Kuperavage

2015

J Med Humanit

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This essay considers the structure of risk in health campaign formation and design by examining an early 20th century federal campaign to reduce infant mortality. Health campaigns navigate the gap between study and practice, translating quantitative findings into prescriptive responses for individual consumers of the text. By focusing specifically on the visual rhetoric of risk, this campaign serves as a case study to examine how the public was taught to see and understand risk and preventive health at a critical point in the development of public health in the United States.

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The statistical war on equality: Visions of American virtuosity inThe Bell Curve

Cited by 12 publications

References 52 publications

The Quantifiable-Body Discourse

The Quantifiable-Body Discourse

Lay understandings of the relationship between race and genetics: Development of a collectivized knowledge through shared discourse

Visualizing Risk: Images, Risk and Fear in a Health Campaign

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