Science vs. Media

Our discussion Monday regarding how the egg has been portrayed as passive while the sperm is seen as aggressive reminded me of a movie I used to watch growing up - Look Whose Talking. These roles that have been given to the sperm and egg are largely due to science and how its male representatives worded their findings, however, media has also been responsible for displaying these typical characteristics of the egg and sperm. In the filmLook Whose Talking, the opening scene shows sperm swimming up through the fallopian tubes, into the uterus, and eventually the into the egg. The sperm are swimming as though its a race, competitive - typical trait for males, while having a good time almost as if its a party. When they finally reach the egg after their strenuous struggle - showing men are capable of long endurance, the egg is waiting patiently glowing - being attractive to her male counterpart. The sperm then compete again with who can be the first to pry into the egg's walls. A voice of a sperm calls for the others to "dig in" showing that the egg is the victim and not helping with the process. Not that I don't remember learning about reproductive processes in school, but when I visualize the process I recall this scene and think of the passive egg and the aggressive sperm. Therefore I think media or pop culture is just as responsible as science for putting this false picture into our imaginations. Who deserves the blame for depicting the reproductive process as the egg being passive and the sperm being aggressive?