In “The Egg and the Sperm,” Emily Martin argues that our ideas about biological reproductive processes are influenced and constructed by cultural ideas and stereotypes. In other words, the female egg cell is seen as the inefficient and passive receptor of the quick, dominant, and penetrative male sperm cell. Martin shows that these ideas have little basis in reality and are a reflection not of the objective biological processes but of our cultural ideas about gender.
Martin’s primary argument is that these ideas are so deeply embedded into our collective consciousness that they are very difficult to completely get rid of. For example, recent discoveries have shown that the egg-sperm relationship is more fluid than the terminology popularly used would suggest.
I share Martin’s concerns about the gendered language we use to talk about concepts that really should be quite detached from ideas about gender. I don’t, however, share her glim outlook regarding the ability of our culture to overcome these ideas. While these ideas are deeply embedded in our culture, they are not inborn in us. They are a result of the way we raise our children and the way we talk about these ideas in our common life. It’s not something we can’t change. Certainly it will be difficult to change these dynamics, but it’s certainly something we can accomplish over time.
I agree with you about our culture’s ability to overcome the outdated ideas about gender. I think that they have gone unnoticed because of the little time that it took for women’s role in society to completely change. While women may now be seen as equals, that was obviously not always the case. As society progresses, I believe that we will too.
It is true that even though there are female and male stereotypes for example teaching us about the egg and sperm, there are ways to overcome it. Certain characteristics are thought of to be masculine and feminine and are for sure embedded in us, I believe that is true, however there are ways to overcome it and I don’t think people should be ashamed of it. Even though basketball is considered to be a “male sport” and you have to be aggressive, I still have played my entire life, just like my brothers did and I love the sport and am not ashamed to play in front of people or talk and discuss sports because they are still considered a big part of my life, even though I am a female.