Book Analysis Essay on "The Egg and the Sperm"

Introduction

Emily Martin is a feminist and a sinologist. The book was published over two decades ago. The author primarily discusses how people project gender roles in procreative biology. The author uses procreative biology to portray the sperms as active while the eggs are as passive. The sperm is active because it penetrates and fertilizes the embryo. Meaning, the sperm is the aggressor. The egg performs a passive role, though depending on the sperm to be rescued. The main argument in the article is that science uses a biased language. For instance, in the last paragraphs of the article, the author says that "More crucial, then, that what kinds of personalities we bestow on cells is the very fact that we are doing it all." The idea is that the modern scientists are making attempts to impose gender stereotypes through their scientific descriptions on the scientific processes.

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The author also places emphasis on the idea that scientists use gender-biased language. The author also throws some assumptions which seem to be pushing a political agenda concerning the controversial issue of abortion. The viability of the fetus and the issue of abortion is a controversial issue which needs more explanation and discussion rather than the biased and the very brief description which the Martin (1991) provides. Martin (1991, p. 499) argues about the role of cybernetic models in the "imposition of social control." Through this, she refers to the vital issue of social control concerning social workers and patients. The argument that "science can have a biased language," it is possible to say that language can never be void of bias.

Analysis

The fact that one is bicultural or bilingual makes it clear that it is possible to translate one word from one language to another to mean different things (Denzin, 2016). It is for this reason that language is biased since it is a human construct. Emily Martin, the author, is an anthropologist. The fact that the author is an anthropologist means she is aware of the fact that language is a human construct, and it is because of this reason that it is biased. The author is also attempting to apply the fact to science, a situation which most people perceive to be "level headed" and void of human emotion.

The author is, therefore, attempting to do a difficult thing. For instance, it is difficult to write something about bias, without bias. It is also impossible to read something concerning bias, without prejudice. The fact that the author is attempting to deconstruct bias means that the writer's task is to deconstruct their own bias to meet halfway. The application of sexist language in scientific books is a troubling matter because it affects the female and male students negatively. The use of sexist language in textbooks also undermines the ability of teachers to conduct their role in a gender-neutral and accurate way.

Concerning gender neutrality, the egg does not depend on the sperm, while the sperm does not depend on the egg. Their dependency is complementary based on the fact that they use molecules to fuse together. People should therefore wake up from sleeping metaphors in science and start thinking in mutual terms.

References

Denzin, N. K. (2016). Symbolic interactionism. The international encyclopedia of communication theory and philosophy, 1-12

Martin, E. (1991). The egg and the sperm: How science has constructed a romance based on stereotypical male-female roles. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16(3), 485-501.