In a system that can't see you, your behavioural patterns become the things that are used to discriminate against you. That's all a digital system can really know about you. Physical attributes don't mean anything in a digital world, things like your ethnicity, gender, age, etc., aren't relevant to digital
I agree with you in the broadest sense and I think society needs to constantly and actively work to oppose racist and sexist biases in our society.
This is not a great context to ask but since you seem knowledgeable – I always thought that some food sensitivities were generically linked, and related to ancestry. Stuff like being good or bad at digesting dairy or starch is related to where in the world your ancestors are from and what foods they cultivated.
So in this case wouldn’t someone’s skin color (and other features socially constructed as race) on average influence their behavior (what foods they prefer or avoid)?
That said, I know that racial stereotypes are NOT a substitute for actual medical diagnoses, or a reason to assume an individual’s food preferences.
Feel free to point me to one of your sources if the answer is there and I just need to read more.
This one is a little challenging, and there’s not a ton of research out there, but food sensitivities/allergies aren’t caused by people’s ethnicity or background, but their allergies can be adaptations to environmental and sociocultural stimuli, which can be passed down through families, which could subsequently impact what food they decide to eat.
This article might help explain it better, but there’s a bit of a gap in the research into allergies and genetics, though I’m by no means an expert. Here’s a relevant quote:
Research in general, however, suggests that a complex interplay of socioeconomic, environmental, cultural, and systemic health inequities may influence higher prevalence rates of food allergies in certain marginalized populations.
I agree with you in the broadest sense and I think society needs to constantly and actively work to oppose racist and sexist biases in our society.
This is not a great context to ask but since you seem knowledgeable – I always thought that some food sensitivities were generically linked, and related to ancestry. Stuff like being good or bad at digesting dairy or starch is related to where in the world your ancestors are from and what foods they cultivated.
So in this case wouldn’t someone’s skin color (and other features socially constructed as race) on average influence their behavior (what foods they prefer or avoid)?
That said, I know that racial stereotypes are NOT a substitute for actual medical diagnoses, or a reason to assume an individual’s food preferences.
Feel free to point me to one of your sources if the answer is there and I just need to read more.
This one is a little challenging, and there’s not a ton of research out there, but food sensitivities/allergies aren’t caused by people’s ethnicity or background, but their allergies can be adaptations to environmental and sociocultural stimuli, which can be passed down through families, which could subsequently impact what food they decide to eat.
This article might help explain it better, but there’s a bit of a gap in the research into allergies and genetics, though I’m by no means an expert. Here’s a relevant quote: