Averages are problematic when you're in a "melting pot".
Example: the "average" pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. But for white women, it's 41.5 weeks.
So for my family, the average pregnancy is 41.5 weeks. THAT is the average, with 50% more, and 50% less.
Because my wife and I are both white. Why would we care what the average gestation is for a negro, or an asian, or an eskimo? It has zero bearing on us.
Might as well concern myself with the gestation period of an elephant.
Why is it problematic? Because the doctor will become "concerned" when your white wife is 41 weeks pregnant -- even though she's right on track for a white woman.
He might schedule an induction, which often leads to a C-section, and could ultimately affect how many children you can have! All because of PC nonsense about "ignoring race" and "we're all the same".
At what point do these differences matter, however? You use race as an example. What if the average for green-eyed women was 42 weeks. If your wife had green eyes, would you consider this average significant, or would you say eye color has no bearing on child bearing, and so the statistic is useless? What if it was something like height? The state you live in? The language you speak? etc?
Topic: Average U.S. men and women heights and weight (Read 15149 times)