Summary of Metaphors We Live By:

In the reading Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, the authors demonstrate how metaphors are not only used in write, but also through our words and every action. According to the reading, “most of our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature,” so in a sense, conceptual metaphor had been something we’ve had in our subconscious long before we intentional try to apply metaphors to our writing. Two metaphorical examples were used to help us better understand the idea of metaphor in nature: Argument is War and Time is Money. Within these examples, the author gives us a bunch of phrases commonly used in reference to the ideas of argument or time. Metaphorically, we think of arguments as a verbal battle like in war, using terms such as attack, defend, winning, losing, advantage, or disadvantage. Likewise, we’ve considered time a limited resource and valuable commodity and thus have commonly used words describing physical items to describe our experience with time. For example, words like spent, wasted, budgeted, cost, running out, or barrow have been used to describe a person’s condition with time in each instance. Because our conceptual system is metaphorically structured, we often speak or act metaphorically without knowing it. While metaphors can be used to keep us focused on the situation at hand, it “can keep us on focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor.” For example, while Argument is War, we wouldn’t consider that our opposing size is giving us valuable time while arguing in an effort to reach an understanding because it isn’t consistent with the metaphor at hand.

Response:

I find it this idea that we live a life of metaphors every day very interesting. As said in the reading, because it is rooted in our conceptual system, we do it subconsciously, it amazes me that we speak, act, and communicate with metaphors constantly throughout the day. One question that is raised for me is if the use of metaphors and the frequency that it is used affects a person’s creativity and if creativity has a greater influence on the use of metaphors or the other way around.

Summary of The Egg and The Sperm:

In the reading “The Egg and The Sperm: How science has constructed a romance based on stereotypical male-female roles” by Emily Martin, a strong biased is formed with the male sperm as superior and stronger in many ways, while the female egg is weak and inferior. Throughout the text, positive words and metaphors are used to describe the sperm as a hero saving the egg which is described in connotative words. The female reproductive cycle is negatively described as wasteful and destructive while the male reproductive cycle is praised. It is believed that based on this biased stereotype, it affected science in human biology. I find the bases of the arguments in this reading very hypocritical considering males “waste” far more sperm than females do with eggs. In either case, I believe that the article and its ideas were unrealistic.

Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (Summary and Response)

The reading, Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, talks about how metaphor is not just a way to make the ordinary language sound extraordinary but has surpassed such characteristics and have become a part of the conceptual system through which we think and behave. One way to understand this is through the language we use. Lakoff and Johnson propose that since metaphorical expressions are tied up with the metaphorical concepts, we can simply use these expressions to understand the metaphorical nature of our activities. To further expand on this idea, the authors employ a simple metaphorical concept of “Time is Money.” Money can be spent, wasted or even saved. Since in our culture, the time has the same attributes, money can be a metaphorical concept for the time. What is also an important aspect of metaphorical concepts is that it helps one in comprehending something in terms of something else but at the same time, it will hide all other aspects of the concept. In extreme cases, like the conduit metaphor where the speaker encloses the ideas (objects) into words (container) and sends it to a potential listener (a conduit), it is sometimes imperative to know the context to fully understand what the message is. In my opinion, after reading this text, I realize that the understanding of the word metaphor that I knew up until now was very basic. What really amazed me is how culture plays a remarkably important role in developing such metaphorical concepts. Moreover, since I am from another country, what is astounding to see is how certain concepts can be the same throughout the globe.

The Egg and The Sperm by Emily Martin  (Summary and Response)

The article, The Egg and The Sperm by Emily Martin, discusses the male-female stereotypes that have now been incorporated into the world of human biology. The author starts off the article by expressing some of her personal feelings about the whole issue; she is intrigued to see how impactful our culture has become that it now affects the people (scientists) who are considered to be “reasonable and unbiased.” It just seems as if biologist wants to portray sperm in an active and a heroic role whereas, the egg is just shown to be weak and timid. Throughout the article, Martin points out to the sexist biologist who praises the sperm for managing through such an “arduous journey”, penetrating through the egg and creating new life, as if the sperm was meant to achieve great things. While on the other hand, eggs are just conceived using words that connotes something unwanted and unpleasant. The whole female reproductive physiology is frowned upon by the scientists. They think that menstruation is a system “making products of no use.” They call the ovary of a healthy American female a “scarred, battered organ.” Not only this, the scientist also regard the oogenesis “wasteful” since they produce so many eggs and only a handful of them mature and are useful to women. In the midst of these allegations, the author puts light on the real irony behind this whole issue where an average male produces almost one trillion sperms in his lifetime and only a few of them are useful while all others are nothing but waste. In the end, Martin condemns these scientists and asks for the feminists to use metaphors that will naturalize the social conventions about gender. In my opinion, I felt that our culture has impacted every possible aspect of our society even the parts where there is completely no need for it. Especially fields, such as human biology where impartiality is fundamental, applying stereotypes would not only cause more controversies but also hinder our ability to advance and understand the human body better.

Connection

The connection between the two texts is quite apparent. The metaphorical concepts that Lakoff and Johnson are trying to explain to their audience are, in other words, the stereotype Martin talks about in her work. The metaphorical concept that the male will always dominate the female can be seen in the hierarchical imagery employed by Martin. Words such as “penetrate”, “invariably active” and “heroic” all depict the masculinity and superiority of the sperm. It goes without saying that these characteristics develop the metaphorical concept of the stereotypical society we live in.

Metaphors We Live By

Metaphors are phrases we use to compare things and express ideas. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s “Metaphors We Live By” explain the importance and frequency of metaphors in our daily lives. We use metaphors all the time in everyday speech that a lot of us aren’t even aware of. A great example of a metaphor would be the phrase “Argument is War.” We know that a war is when people fight over something, using strategy to defeat others and win. We then take this idea of war and apply its principles to our definition of arguments. Another example would be the common phrase “time is money.” Everyone knows money has value, its a resource. This phrase tells us that time also holds a lot of value and is a useful resource. This proves why metaphors are so useful and common throughout everyday speech; they are great ways of quickly getting an idea across to others. The text then goes on to discuss what Michael Reddy calls the “conduit metaphor.” Reddy explains that linguistic expressions are the containers for ideas and “communication” is sending these containers to others. However, the conduit metaphor is not a perfect exlpanation as some metaphors do need prior context in order to make any sense or have actual meaning.

The Egg and the Sperm

“Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

“Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson expands on the common understanding of metaphors by detailing its involvement in linguistics, communication, and the simple generality – everyday realities. Lakoff and Johnson describe the importance of metaphorical concepts, the understanding of one idea or conceptual domain in terms of another, by drawing connections to the way people interpret, internalize, and connect information. They materialize this concept by expounding the example, “ARGUMENT IS WAR”, and explaining how this metaphor intrinsically structures an individual’s actions or thoughts on the subject. Lakoff and Johnson suggests with the title that metaphors are a bigger part to communication and understanding in literature and everyday life whom we “live by”. While I understand the ideas being put forth, I believe metaphors are more functional in literature than in everyday life. While we may compare things to other things in normal conversation, it is not the sole focus of said conversation. In literature on the other hand, most often than not metaphors are used as the focal point of the argument.

“The Egg and the Sperm” by Emily Martin

Emily Martin’s, “The Egg and the Sperm”, is a critical account of the negative associations made between the terms  “sperm and “egg” and its ties to harmful stereotypes. Martin’s arguments highlight the injustices used in medical text where a woman’s reproductive functions are described dismissively while a male’s is in way “appreciated”. The idea that inferiority is often a false characteristic of all things feminine is used by Martin to connect to consequential societal factors such as gender roles, stereotypes, etc. The ideas presented by Martin displayed things vividly for all parties, particularly males who normally wouldn’t be aware of inequities.

Connections

Both “Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson and “The Egg and the Sperm” by Emily Martin highlight the significance of words in the realm of metaphors. Lakoff and Johnson’s example of “ARGUMENT IS WAR” is similar to Martin’s issue with gender inequality, where the words used around metaphor construct an understanding or argument for the metaphor.

Summary & Response for “Metaphors We Live By”

Similarly to rhetoric, metaphors are not just words; they are a part of our daily lives. In order to understand something that may not be familiar to us, we use metaphors to make connections between one thing and another. With the given example, “Argument is War,” it contains ideas that allow us to understand what an argument is. While knowing what war is, we are able to get a better grasp of what arguments are and eventually see that they are verbal battles. Metaphors are also systematic; they involve a series of words that relate to one idea to help explain what the other idea is. The example, “Time is Money,” includes words, such as “spend,” “cost,” and “budget,” to allow us to figure out that our time is a valuable resource. Metaphors can also keep other aspects of an idea hidden to allow us to focus on the main idea. As shown in the conduit metaphor, Michael Reddy focuses on the concept of sending and receiving to help us understand how the exchange of ideas work. Sometimes, context matters when you use or see a metaphor. Depending on what the situation is, the meaning of a metaphor can change and it is important to be wary of that. Other than in text, metaphors help us get a better understanding of the world around us.

Before, when I heard the word, “metaphor,” my mind would immediately think of it as something in a passage where one thing is being compared to another. I never realized how much it is used in our everyday lives until now. We use them to help explain ordinary things in our world, such as how arguing works. I also found it interesting how there is systematic way to put a metaphor together. I’ve never noticed how word choice can influence how well a metaphor can work.

Summary & Response for “The Sperm and The Egg”

In “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles,” Emily Martin discusses how gender stereotypes affect our view on biology, particularly with the reproductive system. To help create a simpler explanation of how these systems work, scientists use metaphors. Although the male and female processes are quite similar, one has more of a negative connotation than the other. For example, while both processes can result in the loss of gametes, a woman’s menstrual cycle is thought of to be a “productive enterprise” that “failed.” Since the first discovery of how fertilization naturally occurs, scientists have also used metaphors to help explain how the male and female gametes interact with each other in this process. They tend to use the metaphor of a “heroic hero to the rescue,” to describe the male gamete and the female gamete is likened to a “damsel in distress.” Although later research has proved that the male gametes aren’t the only “active party” in this process, they still continue to use masculine words to make it appear as if it is stronger than what it really is. While these metaphors help us to understand these processes, future scientists should refrain from using gender stereotypes and find other metaphors that equalizes our view of the topic.

I am quite impressed with how the use of metaphors can drastically alter our views on a simple topic. As seen in Emily Martin’s writing, both systems play a significant role in reproduction, yet the male’s is seen with a more positive light. Yes, the metaphors that are used for both systems give us an idea of how they work, but it’s frustrating to see that they continue to describe these processes in this unfair way, despite already having evidence that one is not better than the other. For example, both gametes are equally important in the process of fertilization, so why give the imagery of a “weak damsel in distress” or a “spider lying in wait in her web” to the female gamete? When using metaphors, they’re useful when describing an unknown topic to an audience, but we must keep in mind of how our culture can influence our views on it.

Metaphors We Live By:

Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, talks about the prevalence of metaphor in everyday life. They aren’t just  present in language and literature but in thought and action as well. Metaphorical concepts shape the way we think, experience, and act. Take, for instance, the conceptual metaphor “argument is war.” We see arguments as a battle, the combatants using various strategies and attacking each other’s positions in an attempt to emerge victorious. This metaphor structures the way our culture views arguments, which doesn’t necessarily hold true for other cultures and societies. An example the text gives is a society which views an argument as a dance. Such a metaphor would cause that culture to experience and carry out arguments in an entirely different way. This view is so drastically different that our culture wouldn’t even perceive them as arguments. This got me thinking about cultures I’ve learned about that, at first glance, were incredibly strange. The conceptual metaphors that dictate their everyday life must be very different from the ones that dictate ours and I’d love to learn what they are.

The Egg and the Sperm:

The Egg and the Sperm, by Emily Martin aims to “shine a bright light” on the gender stereotypes that are, surprisingly, plentiful in the scientific language of biology. The processes of the female reproduction system are often portrayed in a negative light. Menstruation and ovulation are described as wasteful and destructive, while the male spermatogenesis is praised. The wasteful depiction of women is especially interesting as men end up wasting trillions more germ cells than women in a lifetime. Despite ovulation and spermatogenesis being similar processes of production, the female (less wasteful) process is written off as bad while the male process is showered with admiration. Perhaps I haven’t been doing close reads of my biology books, but I don’t recall noticing such varied language in descriptions of the reproductive systems. This just goes to show the effect that gender roles have on our society. You can find stereotypes in just about anything related to the genders.

Connections:

Upon reading both of these texts, the connection between them becomes apparent: Metaphors We Live By taught me the importance of the metaphor and The Egg and the Sperm attested to that. The metaphor of woman and man as their respective reproductive systems can be linked to the way our society perceives genders. Women are seen as passive, wasteful, and even destructive as shown by the way scientific texts describe ovulation and menstruation. Masculinity, on the other hand, is celebrated: the “sheer magnitude” of sperm produced by spermatogenesis is showered with praise. This metaphorical concept is unique to our society and culture, however. Another culture, driven by different metaphors, will see gender roles differently. That is the beauty of the metaphor.

Metaphors We Live By:

Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, talks about the prevalence of metaphor in everyday life. They aren’t just  present in language and literature but in thought and action as well. Metaphorical concepts shape the way we think, experience, and act. Take, for instance, the conceptual metaphor “argument is war.” We see arguments as a battle, the combatants using various strategies and attacking each other’s positions in an attempt to emerge victorious. This metaphor structures the way our culture views arguments, which doesn’t necessarily hold true for other cultures and societies. An example the text gives is a society which views an argument as a dance. Such a metaphor would cause that culture to experience and carry out arguments in an entirely different way. This view is so drastically different that our culture wouldn’t even perceive them as arguments. This got me thinking about cultures I’ve learned about that, at first glance, were incredibly strange. The conceptual metaphors that dictate their everyday life must be very different from the ones that dictate ours and I’d love to learn what they are.

The Egg and the Sperm:

The Egg and the Sperm, by Emily Martin aims to “shine a bright light” on the gender stereotypes that are, surprisingly, plentiful in the scientific language of biology. The processes of the female reproduction system are often portrayed in a negative light. Menstruation and ovulation are described as wasteful and destructive, while the male spermatogenesis is praised. The wasteful depiction of women is especially interesting as men end up wasting trillions more germ cells than women in a lifetime. Despite ovulation and spermatogenesis being similar processes of production, the female (less wasteful) process is written off as bad while the male process is showered with admiration. Perhaps I haven’t been doing close reads of my biology books, but I don’t recall noticing such varied language in descriptions of the reproductive systems. This just goes to show the effect that gender roles have on our society. You can find stereotypes in just about anything related to the genders.

Connections:

Upon reading both of these texts, the connection between them becomes apparent: Metaphors We Live By taught me the importance of the metaphor and The Egg and the Sperm attested to that. The metaphor of woman and man as their respective reproductive systems can be linked to the way our society perceives genders. Women are seen as passive, wasteful, and even destructive as shown by the way scientific texts describe ovulation and menstruation. Masculinity, on the other hand, is celebrated: the “sheer magnitude” of sperm produced by spermatogenesis is showered with praise. This metaphorical concept is unique to our society and culture, however. Another culture, driven by different metaphors, will see gender roles differently. That is the beauty of the metaphor.

Metaphors We Live By

“The Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson highlight the fact that metaphors are used in our everyday lives more often than we think. There are already thousands of metaphors integrated within our everyday speech that we might not have even realized. Metaphors are figures of speech or phrases used to allude to some other idea or action as a comparison. For example, the phrase “time is money” is used as a comparison to make the correlation that time is a valuable resource. One can make the connection that wasting time is essentially the same as wasting money. In our capitalistic society, there is a lot of importance placed on the value of money so making the connection between time and money can serve to be helpful in understanding the importance of time as well. Another example is the metaphor that “argument is war”. When one thinks of war, the image of soldiers, death, and fighting usually comes to mind. However, an argument is not a literal war. Instead, it is a representation of one in the verbal sense. Comparing an argument to war in a metaphor will serve to give the same sense of meaning. Although there is no physical battle, there are still attacks, defenses, and counterattacks.

The Egg and The Sperm

“The Egg and The Sperm” by Emily Martin sheds light on gender stereotypes hidden within certain vocabulary used when discussing the sexual reproduction system. When discussing the sperm, stronger words are used to showcase the sperm as the superior reproductive organ. However, when discussing the egg, softer language is used to portray it as the inferior reproductive organ. This use of language indirectly serves to support the gender stereotype that men are naturally superior to women. Especially since these terms are used to describe a natural part of our anatomy. One would think that the simple act of the sperm meeting the egg was a neutral interaction, devoid of any masculine or feminine action. But phrases such as the sperm “rescuing” the egg seem to suggest otherwise. These subtle descriptions pointed out by Emily Martin were eye openers for me because one would expect the scientific community to remain professional but instead, they indirectly uplifted gender stereotypes within their writings.

Connections

One connection between “The Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson and “The Egg and The Sperm” by Emily Martin is their use of metaphors within their writing. In “The Metaphors We Live By”, metaphors were analyzed and used as examples to explain to the audience the importance of metaphors within our speech and how often we use them without realizing it. In “The Egg and The Sperm”, metaphors were analyzed in explaining to the audience the gender stereotyping that occurs when using certain metaphors to describe certain procedures within the sexual reproductive system.

Metaphors We Live By Summary and Response:

Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, describe how metaphors exist beyond just a characteristic of language and how they can be found in everyday life. That said, they also mention how we are not normally aware of the fact that they are encased in the concept behind our arguments. When reading this text, I started to realize the potential truth of metaphorical concepts in our language. Perhaps, it isn’t that we can find these metaphors in everyday life, but that these “metaphors” have always existed and we fit them into concepts of how we define a metaphor. Similar to the famous quote from Oscar Wilde, “Life imitates art”. In the text, Strategies For Active Reading, by Maria Plochocki The first step for successful active reading is to understand the length, genre, and visual of the text you are reading. How you spend your time reading the text by knowing how to divide your time wisely and efficiently comes next. Understanding your learning style and being able to focus your thoughts on the text at hand. Undeniably, these steps don’t necessarily have an order but all are equally important. This text mentions the modern day and how it has changed our way to actively read. E-books, computers, and other technologies all influence our way of analyzing and I think it’s a key reason to why these strategies work. With these new technologies in our life, it is easy for our attention span to have shortened with all the excess amount of information thrown at us. These strategies help bridge our ability to comprehend the information from a text and develop it into an analysis.

The Egg and The Sperm Summary and Response:

The Egg and the Sperm, by Emily Martin, brings attention to the hidden gender stereotypes in biology and the potential harm it could have. This text starts by focusing on the wording and description of gender reproductive systems and the difference between them. Pointing out that the male reproductive system is often described as a phenomenon and the women’s as more of a failure. Initially, I was surprised when reading this text. Throughout all of my health education, I never saw the gender stereotypes on my own. Maybe perhaps it is because I’m a guy and I never thought of it that way before. I do agree with what Emily Martin said about how even though guys make a million “failed” sperm, it is always seen as something to be impressed by because of the huge number. With that said, I can understand where she is coming from with this hidden gender stereotyping.

Connection:

One connection between Metaphors We Live By and The Egg and the Sperm that I find really interesting is how Emily Martin’s relies on certain metaphorical concepts to make her argument. For instance, our culture sees men and women be equal in society. This is what holds Martin’s claim about gender stereotypes in biology. In other countries with different cultures, this may not necessarily be the same case. Emily Martin’s claim and argument are strong and honest, but the metaphorical concept behind it is what helps it relate to us.   

Summary and Response to Metaphors We Live By:

The Layoff and Johnson piece introduces the idea of metaphors. Metaphors are known for being slightly dramatic to emphasize a point. However, what we do not realize is that metaphorical expressions are used in everyday language. For example, many people say that time is money. Time is not physically money, but conceptually, time is valuable, like money, that is usually wasted. If you spend your time doing something unsuccessfully, it is not possible to get the the time back. In today’s society, there is a monetary value placed on time (hours working), which shows the relationship between the two. Michael Reddy acknowledges that ideas are usually referred to as objects. For example, some people say “show him the idea”, conveying that the item is some type of physical object. I learned that the structure of language is particularly important when talking with other people because some may take your words seriously, like if someone says, “Hit me with your best shot” in an argument. This person may actually hit you if you do not convey yourself correctly. Reading this piece made me realize how often we actually use these conceptual phrases and how we do not always notice it.

Summary and Response to The Egg and the Sperm:

People often stereotype gender roles. Starting from menstruation in females, there is always a negative connotation associated with a woman receiving her period. Words such as “scarred and battered”, “degeneration”, and “old” used to describe a woman’s ovaries compared to the words “remarkable”, “produce”, “breathless” to describe a male’s process in health books to create sperm show that people are taught at a younger age that men are superior to women. The language used to egg and sperm, femininely and masculinely, convey the first idea of gender stereotyping. In many menstruation videos, the eggs are described as “drifting along the fallopian tube”, while the sperm is more active when they are described as “delivering their genes to the egg…with energy and fuel“. Commonly, the egg is portrayed as the damsel in distress and the sperm as  the heroic warrior. This is all just conceptional metaphor, going back to the Layoff and Johnson piece. The egg and sperm do not physically represent those traits, but that is how they are perceived by the public. The way that tRecently, the researchers at John Hopkins University found that the egg and the sperm stick together and equally need each other. This has not stopped the papers written by those same researchers stating that the sperm was still the main party that attacks and penetrates the egg. Another recent theory gave the egg more of an active role in the penetration process, but also created a new stereotype: “that the woman’s eggs were a dangerous and aggressive threat”. This puts yet another negative connotation on women even though the eggs are less passive. Overall, I was surprised by the depth of this article. It did not even cross my mind that females were seen as inferior right from the start of menstruation, even after watching all those health videos in middle and high school.