When “Good Genes” Came For India

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” actor Sydney Sweeney says in a since viral ad. She’s wearing an all-denim fit from American Eagle. A male voiceover then claims, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” What was allegedly a cheeky pun quickly came under fire as a racist dog whistle. Saying a blonde, blue-eyed woman has “great genes,” after all, has certain historical connotations that are hard to ignore.

But while online chatter has centered Sweeney’s politics, there’s been little discussion about the theory behind the ad’s poor turn of phrase. Eugenics — a term that broadly means to breed out “undesirable” characteristics in a population — has a long history in the West and the subcontinent.