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By just changing the music dynamics in this very basic video, a different assumption can be made about the role the sperm and egg take on. Without words, just sound can have a huge impact on the way the egg and sperm are viewed.
In Emily Martin’s article, The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, she states that “by becoming aware of when we are projecting cultural imagery onto what we study,” is important as we try to progress towards more equal roles in describing the egg and sperm activities (501). She was very powerful in her own “voice” and language throughout the article, even though I thought that some of her substitutes for “words” were not any different than the “personalities” that have already been given to these cells in our bodies.
Whether it is throwing out a line, making a bridge, harpooning an egg, wasting, shedding or penetrating, the meaning and emotional connection tied to these actions are different, and can vary from culture and country. The models that biologist and many professionals uses to demonstrate, teach or articulate different bodily processes can have huge social effects. Is one image more neutral and less attached to a specific gender? Is throwing out a line to the egg show a more equal partnership in this complex relationship of events happening? Some of the images that are created around reproduction are definitely considered biased and lean more towards one direction. For some this imagery of tossing out a rope, could represent the egg is weak, and needs help. For others it might represent a mutual relationship happening to achieve success. I agree with Emily, that the focus should possibly be on the “stickiness of the egg,” and the filament, staying away from words that attach a false image of what is really happening (494). Or centering on what is fact instead of attaching a “role or personality” to the processes in general.
I chose to use the first and second image on this page to help explain why I personally do not feel these “female biological processes” represent a failure and are wasteful. I had no other attachment to both images besides the clarity and focus on detail. Although quite different than using language to describe these complex organ systems, imagery is powerful, just like our own voices and assumptions are. These specific images do not lead me to a feeling of chaos, nor do I get a sense of feeling less worthy. I am sure there are many that do. In these photos I see a system that is beautiful instead of “wasted and unsalable” (Martin, 486). I chose to stick with more neutral imagery to see if new vocabulary and communication about the egg or sperm was attached. I still found the term shed to be used along with breakdown. In my eyes neither one of those terms implied nor attached a gender stereotype to the science behind this process.
The short clip that I picked, served as a quick peek into how sound can be powerful in the message, regardless of what the content is. In this case it is very obvious what the message was. Many people receive their information about the body through the media and in some cases have a relationship with the “body” that only goes so far, believing in most of what they hear. Because of the control and restriction that “shifting power of sexual mores,” along with the “medicalization in American culture” push upon people, it is hard to envision a more “neutral” language for the future (Rapp, p.59).
Gender roles and inequality intersect with power and resources. These metaphors used in the science textbooks today still come from “embodied” experiences. The beliefs about our bodies and health inform us to make decisions and choices, but are shaped by many things such as our social network, environment and policy or politics. In Emily Martin’s article she shows how language and vocabulary are used to represent how science has stereotyped the egg and the sperm into a certain role. She shows how science has used words to represent power, and how it can be connected to gender. What I learned from her article was how medical systems, language and stereotypes can reflect the actual social reality, and can lead to believing a female or male should act a certain way, with a specific role to follow. She started a conversation about representations and began breaking down gender stereotypes. Being able to "shine a light" on many of the underlying factors that appear to be unnoticed by many, are important when looking at all the different images we have surrounding culture, medicine and the body.
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