THE _ EGG _ AND _ SPERM.... - FINAL.pptx

The egg and sperm

1. THE EGG AND THE SPERM: HOW SCIENCE HAS CONSTRUCTED A ROMANCE BASED ON STEREOTYPICAL MALE-FEMALE ROLES - EMILY MARTIN

2. Anthropologist Emily Martin’s compelling piece reveals a ‘scientific fairy tale’ that demystifies the knowledge production process. She traces how women’s biological processes are described in negative terms in public representations of scientific knowledge, specifically the processes of menstruation, ovulation, and fertilization.

3. One wouldn’t be unfamiliar with such text if they dig into some related contents in middle school biology textbooks. Germ cells and sperm associated with males are often described as active agents in the process of fertilization.

4. A popular image of fertilization depicts the powerfulness of sperm cells .

5. Martin traces how biological descriptions of fertilization have changed along with scientific discoveries. Before Baltz discovered the egg’s role as an active participant in the fertilization process, eggs had long been regarded as passive cells.

6. For example, the zona, the inner layer of the egg, was considered impenetrable; sperm was thought to penetrate this barrier by “mechanically burrowing through, thrashing their tails.” The secretion of enzymes was viewed as chemically digesting the zona.

7. An imagery depicts a generalized fertilization process.

8. This interactive process is often obscured by the oversimplified use of metaphors such as “lock” and “key.” With sperm described as “keys” and the egg as the “lock,” Martin questions this imagery, emphasizing the sperm’s aggressive role.

9. One key takeaway is that the biological world becomes a microcosm of a specific cultural stereotype, even when people use a microscope to examine cellular phenomena. An image of a heterosexual human couple is projected onto cellular functions, where the roles of both sperm and eggs are idealized in a way that defies egalitarian meanings.

10. In this context, biological knowledge neither remains “uncontaminated” by negative connotations of culture nor statically conveys the absolute truth. It is lodged in and actively constructed and deconstructed by cultural praxis with implicit bias. Biased and gendered stereotypical descriptions of fertilization do not only generate and reinforce biological stereotypes about gender binaries and roles but also impede advanced scientific studies regarding this topic.

11. In Martin’s arguments, she neither intends to devalue any scientific knowledge nor claims that truth does not exist at all. Rather, the radical critiques of gender-stereotypical representations of knowledge are powerful. What is more important is the process of teasing out those stereotypical imaginaries people have bestowed in their everyday use of language.

12. The challenge lies in addressing the entrenched power dynamics that privilege knowledge from the Global North while marginalizing local knowledge systems in the Global South. The myth of scientific knowledge still possesses legitimacy in suppressing alternative knowledge in post-colonial contexts. Martin’s article may provide a starting point for these discussions, offering a critical lens through which to examine these issues.

13. If Men Could Menstruate Gloria Steinem F eminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem “flipped the script” to show how a natural reproductive process, which is considered negative and stigmatized because it is associated with women’s bodies, would become positive and worthy of attention and pride if it were associated with men’s bodies.

14. What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not? The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.

15. Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that women are equal, just different, and that any woman could enter their ranks if she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month ( “ you MUST give blood for the revolution ” ), recognize the preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in their Cycle of Enlightenment.

16. Street guys would brag ( “ I ’ m a three pad man ” ) or answer praise from a buddy ( “ Man, you lookin ’ good! ” ) by giving fives and saying, “ Yeah, man, I ’ m on the rag! ” TV shows would treat the subject at length. ( “ Happy Days ” : Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still “ The Fonz , ” though he has missed two periods in a row.)

17. Liberal males in every field would try to be kind: the fact that “ these people ” have no gift for measuring life or connecting to the universe, the liberals would explain, should be punishment enough.

18. Radical feminists would add that the oppression of the non menstrual was the pattern for all other oppressions ( “ Vampires were our first freedom fighters! ” ) Cultural feminists would develop a bloodless imagery in art and literature. Socialist feminists would insist that only under capitalism would men be able to monopolize menstrual blood.

19. In fact, if men could menstruate, the power justifications could probably go on forever. If we let them.

20. > END <

21. References: Martin, E. (1991). “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16(3), pp. 485–501. Haraway, D. (2016) “Situated Knowledges: the Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective, ” in McDowell, L. and Sharp, J. (eds) Space, gender, knowledge: Feminist readings. London: Routledge, pp. 53–72. Schlesinger, L. (2000). “Has Feminism Changed Science?” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 25(4), pp. 1171–1175. Keller, E. F. (2004). https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uwrh20 https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2019.1619050