Race and Recreation in Consumer Genomics: The Limits of Play

This presentation will explore the process of racialization in the context of genetic ancestry tests offered direct-to-consumers by online companies. In examining the discourse between the company and its consumers, I will identify and examine the trope of self-discovery and “recreation” that suggests not only the possibility of pleasure and fulfillment through genetic testing, but also the potential for “re-creation” of one’s self through the recovery of unknown ancestors that presumptively have informed one’s identity.  This double entendre of recreation and re-creation paradoxically suggest both passivity of self-revelation and the power to re-act, and re-create one’s self in light of a different, more enlightened future. The presentation will probe how the direct-to-consumer genomic company plays guardian to this consumer play, both providing “tailored” genetic scripts and highlighting how consumers might use their information in the context of health. I will discuss how population differences are conceptualized and explained in the marketing of genetic ancestry testing services. A goal of this presentation is to catalyze a critical discussion of commercial play with concepts of ancestry, ethnicity, and genetic variation and their implications for public understanding of the relationship between race and genetics.