The articles we read for this week's diablog were about science, and its influence on sex and gender. In the article by Emily Martin, she argues that women and their bodies are rarely depicted as being something which positive images are tied to. An example she gives is that in scientifically reproductive terms, the men's sperm is noted as going through a 'treacherous journey' to reach the egg, while the woman's egg simply sits stationery in the uterus. Thus, men are depicted as being heroic and having heroic reproductive fluids, whereas the woman's sexual reproductive system lets the man's sperm do all of the work. Using words like "strong" and "heroic" to describe the sperm, this places an emphasis on the tough reproductive process men's sperm goes through to reach a female egg, which has not moved whatsoever to make contact. Martin believes that using these terms to describe the sexual process is further confirming gender roles in which the man is the stronger, more able one, compared to a female.
In her article, Riki Wilchin agrees, stating that she believes the terms used to describe the sperm's journey to the egg as something that seem like they could be taken out of an action movie. She also discusses science's position against the female orgasm. Although the female orgasm had been present as long as humans were around, the orgasm was disregarded as urine or other bodily functions. Men having the power to ejaculate emasculated them further, women, being the fairer sex, were thought to not have the ability. Wilchin also discusses the original Greek thought that there was one sex, and one body, which was male. This places a greater emphasis on male bodies than female bodies, which makes it easy to see why a woman's eggs involved in the sexual reproduction process might be less mentioned than a male's sperm's "journey," and his ability to ejaculate.
One thing that the article got me thinking about was the connotations of scientific terms used in sexual reproduction. For example, the sperm and egg scenario, where the sperm sets off on a treacherous journey, yet the egg remains in the same place. No attention is paid to the fact that the woman must have her egg in the same place, so as to carry a fetus if the egg is, in fact, fertilized. I also thought it was interesting that the female orgasm was often disregarded by scientists. To me, this seems like science implying that only men are able to gain pleasure from sex and 'deserve' it more than women.
Do you think that scientific terms (specifically and especially about reproduction) are created for men? Or do you believe that women are just as represented in these scientific terms and illustrations (such as the sperm journeying to the egg, etc)?
The concept of the sperm and egg as masculine and feminine has never occurred to me before. While I was reading the article by Emily Martin I also was wondering whether the reproductive system was created for men and if males became masculine before they were born. In my opinion, I think that society has more to do with making a man masculine and a woman the “damsel in distress”. I also believe that society and culture has made us view the sperm as heroic because of the fact that it is male. Do you believe that Emily Martin was right that the sperm is the "hero"?
I had a logn entry typed out to this but i accidently X'd Firefox! I'll try and say it again.
I think that the society we live in is mostly geared towards men, therefore scientists emphasize the sperm's role in the sexual reproduction process. They fail to mention how much work it is for a woman to carry a baby, and is more than just a momentary release, as the man's role is. I also believe that since society is mostly male-based, the language used to describe the sperm and egg emphasizes the male role. Males are often described as heroic and strong, therefore, it is only fitting that the sperm is described as being the hero in the sexual repdroduction. If the sexes were seen as equal, or if women were superior, perhaps no such language would be used and the sexual reproductive process would be regarded as holding equally important roles for men and women.
Yes, I agree I think it is the society that has made the sperm and males in general perceived as heroic and strong. However I do not think that this is necessarily true in todays society. I have found an article that states that over half of the men in he world believe to be dominated by women. The article titled “Survey Finds Men Have Lost their Role in Society” by Sarah Womack she states that most men actually feel as if they are “handcuffed” and only 33% feel as if they are able to speak freely and two thirds feel it is safer to keep their opinion to themselves. This is the website http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1574785/Survey-finds-men-have-lost-their-role-in-society.html This concept of women being inferior has also been seen in many movies and television shows, for example in the movie “My Big Fat Wedding” here is a clip of the scene where the mother is explaining to her daughter that the women can make the decisions because she controls the man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIm1dYTv-mQ
Do you agree that a shift is occurring in today’s society?