The Egg And The Sperm Analysis

‘‘Sex’ is a biological term; ‘gender’ a psychological and cultural one’ (Oakley 1972, p.158). To further expound on Oakley, ‘sex’ refers to the biological framework a person is born with while ‘gender’, an identity that we acquire as a result of social and cultural influence. Sex is naturally constant throughout an individual’s life whereas gender is a variable. Via gender socialisation, men and women constantly learn to adapt to society’s expectations associated with their biological form as society changes. This very concept clearly elucidates the dichotomy between sex and gender. Therefore, coming from such a perspective, it is true to say that we are born as human beings (males, females or intersex) who formulate socially accepted gender identities as a product of social and cultural implications (Abbott, Wallace & Tyler 2005). Conventionally, societies associate the male and female sexes with their definitions of masculinity and femininity respectively.

From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.

Gender has been described as masculine or feminine characteristics that encompass gender identity sex as well as social roles (Nobelius 2004). According to sexologist John Money, there is a difference between gender as a role and the biologically of differences in sex (Udry 1994). Within scholarly disciplines, cultures and contexts, gender frequently has its own mean, contextual frame of reference and the manner in which it is used to describe a variety of issues and characteristics. The sociocultural codes, conventions and the suggested and literal rules that accompany the notion of gender are vast and diverse. There has been and continues to be much scholarly debate regarding the idea of gender and how it has been viewed historically; as well as changes in the grammatical use of the

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

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

The body once established as “natural” and binary sex an unquestioned “fact,” is the alibi for constructions of gender and sexuality, which can purport to be the just-as-natural expressions or consequences of a more fundamental sex. It is on the foundation of the construction of this natural binary sex that the binaries of gender and heterosexuality are likewise constructed as innate. This narrative “gives a false sense of legitimacy and universality to a culturally specific and, in some cases, culturally oppressive version of gender identity” (Butler 329). Without a critique of sex as produced by discourse, Butler claims, the distinction of sex and gender used to contest the constructions of binary gender and enforced heterosexuality would be wholly ineffective.

The women in the body: A cultural analysis of reproduction, Emily Martin, Beacon Press, 1987.

When sperm fertilizes an egg, conception occurs. For conception to occur the sperm and egg must meet. This is a story about how Bob, the sperm and Mary, the egg meet for the first time. The moment Bob and Mary come together a new individual is formed. Mary's was produced at the time she was in a fetus's ovaries. It has been over 23 years since she and five million others like her were produced. It is an exciting day for Mary because unlike all the others she was chosen to meet Bob. Bob also feels awesome today because unlike all the other millions of sperm discharged, he was the only one that made it to the finish and met Mary. The beginning of Bob and Mary's story starts when they

When I read “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles” by Emily Martin, I initially thought of the many instances in science fiction where males have a dominant role and females have a less successful role. For example, this is wonderfully shown in the Matrix where Neo has a prophecy of being the one and Trinity having a prophecy of falling in love with the one. Neo has a fate that is all about him while Trinity has a fate that revolves around Neo rather than herself. However, after getting past the typical role of gender, the role of sexuality and reproduction came to my mind and I thought of the Futurama episode called “Amazon Women in the Mood,” which flips the stereotypical gender

The sexing of the body (surgery) is also an act of interpretation, and we rely on a socially constructed meaning of our bodies. This is particular features of our body is taken as its associated with sex or being considered sexy. In the case of having a sexy body, this act of interpretation is often accompanied by the physical change in which surgery normalizes our bodies within societies norm. Why is female sexuality repressed in certain directions and encouraged in others? We as women have worked to stifle each other’s sexuality because sex is a resource that we use to negotiate with men and use to our advantage.

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

Every characteristic of an individual’s life is determined by their genitals. “Why is gender attribution so meaningful to social order and why does the inability to classify someone sex’s cause such a major disruption?” (Preves, 2004:13). Gender classification starts from birth, when a baby is identified as a boy or girl. The reveal of the child’s gender designates their future. Their social interactions, gender roles,

Emily Martin 's article The Egg and the Sperm highlights androcentric biases hidden within biology texts. Martin acknowledges the language that is being used around the egg and the sperm cells, attributing the sperm with masculine characteristics while the egg is given more feminine characteristics. The language that Martin speaks about is not only found in texts, but also in educational films such as: Fertilization: a Love Story, and The Miracle of Human Creation parts one and two. The language of giving these body cells a gender or gender characteristics has become so habitual that it has gone unnoticed until pointed out. Being that the egg and sperm cells are bodily cells just like any other cell (brain cell, lung cell, etc), it is outrageous to assign them characteristics attributed to a gender.

Human sexual development begins in the womb and traverses the entire life span. From fetal hormonal influences that determine expressed sex to nascent sexual discovery in toddlers, dramatic physical changes during puberty, and sexual partners in adulthood, sexuality follows us throughout every major developmental stage in life (some developmental stages even being defined by sexual changes, e.g. menarche, spermarche, and menopause). With sexuality being such an integral part of the human experience, it is no surprise, then, that various prominent thinkers have created theories based upon stages of human sexual development. Arguably one of the most influential theories of human sexual development are Sigmund Freud’s stages of psychosexual development (Freud, 1905/1962). While this entry seeks to give the reader an overview of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, it is also a worthwhile venture to include the environmental, societal and philosophical backgrounds which influenced Freud.

People from all cultures have acted in relationships in different ways that are influenced by their cultural traditions and laws about sex. Human sexuality and how males and females act within the relationship can be considered as physically influenced by biology, for example hormones, brain centres, networks of nerves, and sex organs all shape the character of the male and female. However there are various arguments to this. hjwatson24, please do not redistribute this paper.