“Night to his day”: The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber basically questions the assumptions and presuppositions most people have about gender. The author discusses in brief detail how we, as human beings, like to associate people around us with a specific gender and if we fail to do that, we feel uncomfortable and dislocated. For example, once a child’s gender becomes apparent or evident, we treat the child differently on the basis of whatever it’s gender is. It can be rightly said that gender as an institution is one of the most basic and fundamental ways in which human beings organize their lives. As Lorber has very truly stated, “Individuals are born sexed but not gendered and they have to be taught to be masculine or feminine.” There is no essential way to be a female or a male, but once the gender norms prevalent in the society are ascribed, the individuals are expected to behave according to these. In our society, women are usually held in lesser esteem than the men. Martin’s “The Egg and the Sperm” deals with gender stereotypes that are hidden within the scientific language of biology. The text basically talks about how the process of menstruation is regarded as a failure and as a waste of female eggs whereas spermatogenesis is considered as a “remarkable process” in which fresh germ cells are produced. In conclusion, both these texts describe how women are denied the respect they deserve and are always treated as a subordinate to the men.
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