Blog Post #2!

While reading all of the pieces in this class, I found myself becoming more and more aware of the language used in these pieces. To be completely honest, before I took fem theory last semester, I never thought twice about it. I never took the time to actually analyze not just the content of what was being written, but the way in which it was being phrased and stated as well.

So, when I was reading Emily Martin's "The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance based on Stereotypical Male-Female Role," it was obvious that she clearly saw this. Not only did she recognize the sexualization within the writing, but she found it in a place that no one would think to question. It is strange to think that something which is assumed to be empirical and factual like science and biology could be, in essence, sexist. I mean, let's be honest here. No one sat through biology thinking "Oh yeah, those sperm, WAY more important than that egg." The nature of the language does imply that males are the forever producers while females are worn down and constantly degenerating. This is just plain ridiculous! Besides the fact that there have been recent studies which have found that sperm actually decreases in quality as life goes on, there can not be life without the woman's eggs. It is literally not possible. It seems ridiculous that anyone would place more importance on one over the other because both are equally important. This reading opened up my eyes to the potential that science can be somewhat biased too. I has never considered that my textbooks were anything but natural fact. Its scary to think that these sorts of stereotypes and sexism have literally infiltrated every aspect of humanity.

Anyways, I was searching online and came across this short article. It talks about a study that was done which found that the older a dad is, the more of a risk the child has for brain dysfunction. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2192136/Men-biological-clock-Landmark-study-warns-potential-dads-fatherhood-responsible-majority-faulty-genes.html