Samantha Frew and Stacie McElroy Discussion Leading

Emily Martin

     

THE EGG AND THE SPERM: HOW SCIENCE HAS CONSTRUCTED A ROMANCE BASED ON STEREOTYPICAL MALE-FEMALE ROLES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65BV5dXXxzM

  

1. Throughout the first few pages of the text it summarizes how science textbooks talk about female and male reproductive systems. The text states that "The stereotypes imply not only that female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts but also that women are less worthy than men" (pg. 486). Gender stereotypes are hidden within the scientific language of biology. Have you as a woman ever noticed this in any of the biology textbooks we have read throughout our education?

2. Women are looked at as being wasteful because they process less eggs compared to men who create millions of sperm a day. The text states "Degeneration continues throughout a woman's life: by puberty 300,000 eggs remain, and only a few are present by menopause. "During the 40 or so years of a woman's reproductive life, only 400 to 500 eggs will have been released." However, when talking about a male, the text states "during an average reproductive life of sixty years, he would produce well over two trillion sperm in his lifetime"(pg 488). Who do you think is being more wasteful from these statements? Remember waste implies an excess of something, so why do you think women are portrayed as being more wasteful then men?

3. Why do you think there is such a huge gap between the amount of eggs a woman produces compared to how much sperm a male produces? Also, do you think this is why men are "superior" to women and could this be why women have "penis envy", which was talked about in our previous class discussions? 

4. Do you think this is why women in earlier times got pregnant so early? Now it is seen as "immoral" to have a child out of wedlock or before one is suitable to provide and care for a child. Why do you think this has changed over the years to be unacceptable for women to get pregnant at an early age? Remember it was acceptable for women to have a child as young as 15, 16, or 17 years of age. Even for our grandmothers it was acceptable to get married and have children at the age of 18 and only being a housewife for the rest of their lives.  Could you have pictured yourself having a child as a teenager? Also, do you think this had an impact on why women think they should only be a housewife and not be able to work or do things that men were allowed to do? 

5. After hearing all this about how women are portrayed in biology textbooks, who do you think has a bigger role in reproduction, the male or the female? Has reading this text changed your opinion about the female and male roles of reproduction?