I shall be summarising and providing my thoughts on The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male- Female Roles by Emily Martin and "Night to his Day": The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber. It would seem that science and the humanities can be distinguished, simply due to the subject matter involved in both disciplines. One involves the study of what is empirical reality and explaining complex natural phenomena, while the other involves the study of human beings in a society and explaining their complex behaviour through different theories. However, if there is one concept that links the two seemingly disjoint subjects, it is gender. Gender is a social construct, being constructed and reconstructed everyday by virtue of human beings living in a society. The larger conception behind the idea of gender is to box humans into categories (as gender norms) so that we may be able to understand their actions better. These gender norms aid and guide our understanding of how men and women should be, and anything out of such defined paradigms are immediately scrutinised.
Medical science is also extremely gendered in the way many medical journals and textbooks describe the reproductive process of men and women. While the practical science is not gendered, the way the processes have been described are extremely gendered, with the ova and sperm stepping into the shoes of women and men playing gendered roles. This also may shape our conception of how men and women are to behave in reality, thus forming a sort of dialectic relationship. In most descriptions, the ova is characterised as a damsel in distress of sorts, waiting to be fertilised by the sperm, that is characterised as the knight in shining armour, taking pains to fertilise the egg. Even in this sphere, narratives focus on the dependence of the egg for the sperm, as if the latter does not need the aid of the former for fertilisation. Modern medical research shows that this is not the case, and instead, the sperm and egg interact in much more complex ways, with the egg actually taking a more active role instead and the sperm not being such 'active' member after all. However, despite such evidence existing, medical research still continues to be written in gendered terms, emphasising the usefulness of the sperm and the wastefulness of the egg. The egg, even if characterised as active, suffers from the characterisation of the predatory woman who is out to ensnare the poor unassuming sperm. There is an inherent gender characterisation in most medical accounts, and the reality is often more nuanced and complex than it is made out to seem.
Gendered language can creep into everyday conversations, reinforcing dangerous gender stereotypes. We must be cautious and consciously correct ourselves when we get caught in the gender stereotype spiral.
Medical science is also extremely gendered in the way many medical journals and textbooks describe the reproductive process of men and women. While the practical science is not gendered, the way the processes have been described are extremely gendered, with the ova and sperm stepping into the shoes of women and men playing gendered roles. This also may shape our conception of how men and women are to behave in reality, thus forming a sort of dialectic relationship. In most descriptions, the ova is characterised as a damsel in distress of sorts, waiting to be fertilised by the sperm, that is characterised as the knight in shining armour, taking pains to fertilise the egg. Even in this sphere, narratives focus on the dependence of the egg for the sperm, as if the latter does not need the aid of the former for fertilisation. Modern medical research shows that this is not the case, and instead, the sperm and egg interact in much more complex ways, with the egg actually taking a more active role instead and the sperm not being such 'active' member after all. However, despite such evidence existing, medical research still continues to be written in gendered terms, emphasising the usefulness of the sperm and the wastefulness of the egg. The egg, even if characterised as active, suffers from the characterisation of the predatory woman who is out to ensnare the poor unassuming sperm. There is an inherent gender characterisation in most medical accounts, and the reality is often more nuanced and complex than it is made out to seem.
Gendered language can creep into everyday conversations, reinforcing dangerous gender stereotypes. We must be cautious and consciously correct ourselves when we get caught in the gender stereotype spiral.
No comments:
Post a Comment