Lakoff & Johnson summarization.
The use of metaphor is incredibly prevalent in language. From making simple comparisons we draw in typical, everyday dialogue to hyperbolizing for comedic or argumentative effect, we couldn’t go a day in the life without metaphor. We must understand that it, rather than strictly being a literary or rhetorical device, is also a linguistic concept. As Lakoff and Johnson would agree, the metaphor is not only comfortably at home in poetry or prose; it naturally finds its way into our thoughts and actions.
Take for example the idea that argument is war. In an argument, two (or more) sides are pitted against each other. Either side must first own an argument, a stance. Either side must possess both an offensive and defensive strategy to show their stances and protect their own positions. Either side must have the time and necessary resources, be it empirical or anecdotal evidence, personal experience, etc… Easily forgotten as a cornerstone of argument is the willingness to cooperate — albeit the word ‘argument’ has negative connotations to bickering, fighting; ‘arguing,’ on the other hand, is generally much less productive than organized debate or proper discourse.
Of course the comparison is not to be taken seriously or literally, and most people DO understand this. Such a notion suggests that metaphorical conceptualization is built into our brains; or as Lakoff and Johnson put it, that “our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature”.
Emily Martin summarization
In fighting for political, economic, and social equality, the feminist movement now criticizes biased language found in medical research studies in sex and reproduction. Emily Martin, postdoctoral anthropologist and feminist writes against the usage of the metaphors associated with eggs and sperm in such publications, and expresses her disappointment with the perpetuation of the stereotypical portrayals of the sex cells.
Despite debunking a few things about the sperm’s role in the penetration and fertilization of an egg, Martin could not help but notice the constant exaggeration of the male gamete’s every action. Shooting through the abyss at speedy velocities, the sperm penetrates the egg waiting for rescuing… Never would I have assumed the male sex cell possessed such a sense of duty, such heroism; not til these great scientific studies chronicled the long and arduous journey of the brazen little sperm…
The conclusive portion of Martin’s entry dedicates itself to engendering feminists to push for equal representation of male and female gametes in scientific reports, textbooks, and other such texts. She claims that the male-biased metaphors of the egg and the sperm aren’t dead, but are in fact dormant in scientific text, and that it is a “feminist challenge” to “wake up” these “sleeping metaphors”.