The article I found discusses a DNA analysis company, 23andMe, developing services where parents will be able to choose certain traits they would like their child to have. This is known as creating “designer babies” and parents could select traits such as eye color and likely to be athletic. The article is about a patent 23andMe acquired where parents would select traits they wanted and through DNA analysis technology, the company would find out which sperm and eggs are most likely to have these traits. The chosen sperm and egg could be used “through artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization or by hiring a surrogate mother.” This idea is already used in fertility clinics in scanning for certain diseases and gender, rejecting those who do not meet the parent’s requirements and is growing to include more traits.
I connected this article to “The Farming of Bones” because how important skin color is to the characters and how in real life parents may one day be able to select what skin color their child will be likely to have. In this novel, the difference between Rafi’s and Rosalinda’s skin color already begins defining who they are, especially when Senora Valencia asks Amabelle “what if she’s (Rosalinda) mistaken for one of your people?” (12) When Doctor Javier mentions Rosalinda is darker in complexion, Papi speaks up “ ‘It must be from her (Rosalinda's) father’s family,’ Papi interjected, his fingertips caressing the skin of his sun-scorched white face… ‘she can trace her family to the Conquistadores’...” showing how important family lineage is and skin color. (17-18)
Thinking about “designer babies” and “The Farming of Bones” it makes me wonder why skin color shapes how we see characters and how other characters see each other within this novel. Each time we meet a character, their skin color is stated (Sebastian “...his shiny black face…” page 1) It made sense to me that parents might want their child to be disease free, but I thought this article was interesting how some parents would want to control their child's eye or skin color because it is one of the first things people see and parents think their children may be better off if they look a certain way.
Why is skin color used to ultimately define who the characters are within “The Farming of Bones”?
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