The Egg and the Sperm: Stereotypical Male-Female Roles Essay (Critical Writing)

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Introduction

The study of the egg and the sperm has in many years been surrounded by stereotype. It is important to be clear on some issues because unless a clear clarification is made, many will still view this as just a tale. Although scientists have tried their best to give explanations, many issues still remain unanswered and thus the need for address.

Critical Analysis

According to Ann F. (2000), the female monthly cycle is only described according to its major functions which are to prepare fertilization place and produce eggs. Everything ends there; the other things that follow are only described as failure of one system or ‘’debris’’ breakdown which results to menstruation. This does not give a comprehensive understanding of the female sexuality as that of the male. It shows that people, who made this research, lacked some critical evidence to prove their theories to facts. It shows a weakness when it comes to discussing this issue.

The idea behind the male being able to produce sperms throughout their lifetime (Joe, 2006) as opposed to the female who only does so for a period of time portrays the women as wasteful. I do not agree with this fact in the sense that, both male and female have an equally important role to play in production. It is therefore wrong to portray one in a very negative way. If it were not for the women, reproduction would not have been effective, from my viewpoint; women contribute more than the male. Take for example, going through all the menstrual cycle and finally ending up carrying the pregnancy for nine months.

The notion that the egg is more independent than the sperm is not true. Just like the egg, the sperm has to undergo various protective mechanisms like bladder shutting, prostatic secretions and muscular contractions during ejaculation for the sperms to be safe. This shows that, indeed the sperm is not independent than the egg. Many scientists however, just make it appear that the male productive system simply involves the organs alone.

Constructing Sex Difference

For literature to be understood, people must understand themselves and be able to give a clear cut between various sexes. There has never been a neutral position when it comes to viewing things. We must also be able to make a clear difference for our study to make sense thus for this study to make sense we must construct sex difference.

Critical Analysis

Most scientists have given their general differentiation of sex based on various factors like; activities, masculinity or femininity. It is believed that due to the differences in body make up and hormones, there are certain things that the male can do while the female can not do. Differentiating sex based on this however has continually lost meaning, take for example; games that were originally meant for men are nowadays being played by women. They at times do it better than the men; this shows that not all traits that are shown by a man will actually be attributed to his maleness this applies to the women as well.

Different societies have their own belief when it comes to sex of people. Different societies believe that, there are certain roles which are natural to men or female and that they are inevitable. Through this, it has been easy to classify sex based on the roles played by these groups in that society. This classification is also not perfect though it can give us a break through in constructing sex difference.

The only surest way of constructing sex difference is through the inborn differences like the ovaries, vagina or the penis. It is impossible to have a female with a penis thus when we observe the inborn traits, we can make a clear distinction between a male and a female. I therefore do not agree on the fact that we can observe behavior or other external traits to construct the sex difference. Individual appearance and masculinity can be determined by our environment, what we eat and even the activities we do. A female who has hit the gym for a while may look very similar to a man, this does not imply that she is a male; it is the activity that has transformed her.

Works Cited

Ann, Fausto-Sterling.Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. Basic books Publishers. ISBN-13: 978-0465077144, 2000. Print.

Joe, Quirk. Sperm are from Men, Eggs are from Women. Running press Publishers. ISBN-10: 0762426802, 2006. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, May 27). The Egg and the Sperm: Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-egg-and-the-sperm-stereotypical-male-female-roles/

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