The Egg And The Sperm : How Science Has Constructed A Romance

Miller, Alice H. Eagly, and Marcia C. Linn, it measured gender-science stereotype, “” (2). which is defined as associations that connects science with men more than women. This is believed to come from a lack of representation of women in the relative field. The study notes that putting women in science related fields in media, or having more women in the field, lessons that stereotype. They conducted the experiment by measuring 66 nations, which consisted of 350,000 participants’ explicit and implicit gender-science stereotypes. They found a relationship “between women's representation in science and national gender-science stereotype” (Eagly, Linn, Miller 8). The results of the study concluded that “implicit and explicit measures indicated strong association of science with man” (Eagly, Linn, Miller

Women were blocked from nearly any form of scientific experiment or inquiry. Margaret Cavendish, an English natural philosopher and the first woman to visit a meeting of the Royal Society, illustrates the “disregard of the female sex” in sciences (Doc. 9). Unsurprisingly, men continued to oppress women and block any and all paths to gaining social standing. Science, like almost all other domains, continued to be controlled by

Reading descriptions in medical texts, Martin wondered how male-oriented views from textbooks matched so cohesively with those of the interviewees. After some research, Martin realized the thought process of woman during labor matched the text book definitions due the definitions men witnessed during childbirth and illustrated in text books and woman culturally internalized and learned through ideology as a description of contractions vs. giving birth.

An ever changing, yet common issue, in today's generation revolves around how society views gender. The general consensus dictates that gender, as a whole, is a spectrum, rather than a standard set for each individual male and female to follow throughout everyday life. However, there are those individuals who wish to remain reluctant in changing their view of society. Some believe it is better to allow the education system to be segregated by gender, in order to provide more resources to both girls and boys. One person in favor of this public education reform is David Brooks, a neuroscientist who published the article titled “The Gender Gap at School.” A thorough analysis of the effects of literature on men and women, biological factors

The part of woman in today's general public is some way or another questionable. Why there are so few women in science written by K.C. Cole, the author discusses the role of woman in our society in different domains. The author used personal experience to discuss and give more credibility concerning this topic. Also, K.C. Cole insisted that we are still living in a society where women are not taking all their right. In addition, women have the ability to achieve their goals if they do not give up and get influenced by others (Cole, n.d). If we give women the chance to show what she’s thinking and planning of, it can end up with a very high achievement. In my opinion, women are still less than men in some critical positions although the primary subject these days is gender equality and rights.

Susan Jacoby has held many professions from working as a freelance journalist to working as a reporter for the Washington Post. For the New York Times she wrote a piece tilted When Bright Girls Decide That Math Is “a Waste of Time”, in this piece she examines one applicable reason for as to why young women are producing lackluster work when it comes to math and science. Jacoby claims that young women are often deficient in such courses because they perceive these courses to be strongly correlated with masculinity and wisdom instead of femininity and appeal. As a result of such views, young women turn to courses and interests where women are held as a majority and where men are sparsely populated and recognized, dropping and rejecting courses that they have typed as instrumental. Jacoby states

Ultimately, science pushes society to view gender differences as essentialist. Despite the fact that science is filled with subjectivity, science is seen as an objective source of information. The results of science, published through scientific literature, are often taken at face value with little awareness of the socially constructed nature of the delivery of those results. Accordingly, the claims of science are typically unquestioned. As a result, science has a unique status of power that can build an epistemological construction or deconstruction of humans and their bodily processes.

Martin investigates how cultural stereotypes of the two sexes are subtly incorporated into descriptions of the egg and sperm in scientific papers. She expresses that giving stereotypical roles to the egg and sperm has the “power to naturalize our social conventions about gender” (501). By associating the egg with feminine traits and the sperm with masculine traits, scientists make these

In today’s society, men and women are confronted with gender stereotypes daily. In the texts Ten Things I Hate about You, The Big Bang Theory, I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl! By Whitney Darrow and ‘Stupid Girls’ by Pink, the roles of men and women are perceived in different ways. Some characters in each text challenge the typical stereotype whilst others accept it.

Emily Martin’s reading about the egg and the sperm was interesting due to the fact that many people never notice how gender norms are portrayed in science. Science books are using metaphors within their text that reflect the socially constructed definitions of male and female. Martin points out that science is supporting the gender norm of women being less worthy than men in the way they describe the reproduction process. It is noted that after viewing different scientific texts about the reproductive system, none of them expressed enthusiasm for any female processes. In opposition, the male’s role is very much acknowledged and held to a high regard. Evidence of this difference is shown in the words that are used to describe each

Emily Martin, an anthropology professor at New York University, explores gender related indifferences males and females face through scientific research in her article, “The Egg and Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male – Female Roles”. Throughout her findings, she attempts to explain the scientific language of our biology. Martin argues that traditionally texts and findings define eggs and sperm as feminine and masculine characteristics. By ways of contrast, Martin approaches the sperm and the egg argument in context related to societal beliefs, which suggests that stereotypes in terms of cultural aspects define masculine and feminine roles. She disputes the argument of the sperm being seen as the “aggressor and powerful one,” as opposed to the egg, which is seen as “weak and in distress” (Martin, 2013, p. 119). Despite all the women’s movements and fights for equal rights women have been continuously oppressed based on physical characteristics. Martin provides numerous

The hierarchical aspect of America’s contemporary gender system is reinforced through the use of language. We frequently associate biology and the sciences with objectivity, but in “The egg and the Sperm,” Emily Martin argues that it is not outside the socially constructed idea of gender (485). The association of gender norms at the cellular level suggests that the process of gendering is natural beyond alteration; yet, this is merely a result of the implantations of social imagery on representations of nature. Literary works can subtly emphasize the stereotypical differences between males and females in a way that goes unnoticed, consequently ingraining these concepts into our brain and thought processes. In many biological texts, the egg is described as “drift(ing)” and being “swept” throughout the process (Martin 489). This denotes passiveness—a clearly feminine characteristic that society would deem to be appropriate for women. On the other hand, the sperm “streamlines” and

Gender roles bring up questions around biology versus our cultural surroundings and how gender roles become developed

The feminist movement has been trying to change the idea of traditional sex roles and stereotypes in society for decades, but maybe the issue relies on society instead of biological differences. While these biological differences and research show that there are small differences in cognitive brain activity between the sexes, they also propose a theory that this “is the way it’s supposed to be” (Pollitt 2549). Although these differences exist it does not mean that sexes should have permanently assigned roles in society. Katha Pollitt, a feminist author and high profile activist wrote the essay “Why Don’t Boys Play With Dolls,” published in 1995 in The New York Times Magazine. In the essay, she argues that “biological determinism may reassure some adults about their present, but it is feminism, the ideology of flexible and converging sex roles, that fits our children’s future” (2549). Pollitt raises important ethical problems in her essay, gender roles and stereotyping. Throughout her essay she provides several claims to her argument and builds credibility with her audience by using rhetorical strategies. However, the argument also exhibits some minor flaws, which could in return limit its persuasiveness. This analysis will identify Pollitt’s three main claims and the evidence she uses to support them. I argue that overall Pollitt provides an effective argument by building her credibility and expanding her audience with the use of rhetorical strategies, such as ethos, pathos,

Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades,