https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8 What do you think of Martin's critique of the scientific "fairy tale" of the sperm and the egg? Had you thought of it before? Are there other scientific imaginaries that you think could be similarly analyzed? en-us 2023-10-16 09:10:05 UTC 2023-10-16 13:51:23 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748828231 I think the gendered responsibility of birth control and fertility managed could be analysed in a similar way ]]> 2023-10-16 13:35:32 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748828231 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748828874 I think infertility, mainly of women and those that can birth children, could be critiqued for its connotation to “being barren”- as if that is the only use of a body and to reduce it to “land to be cultivated”. It suggests that the womb is not an organ but something to be commodified and “farmed”]]> 2023-10-16 13:35:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748828874 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748829499 i think it is good to challenge heteronormative ideas about reproduction]]> 2023-10-16 13:36:16 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748829499 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748829730 I hadn't really though about the scientific "fairy tale" before now, but after doing the reading, I realized how pervasive it is in writings on reproduction. Even children's books on reproduction I had access to when I was younger seem to follow the narrative of the passive egg and the active sperm.]]> 2023-10-16 13:36:25 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748829730 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748830467 i hadn’t thought about it before, and after reading it realised how prevalent it was in all textbooks about reproduction, as well as the sex education i received in school. think it is interesting as it reinforces/is a product of stereotypes about relationships between men as women. separation of the woman from her reproductive organs as she is passive and has no control of it compared to man]]> 2023-10-16 13:36:51 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748830467 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831174 I hadn’t thought about it before. After I read Emily Martins paper I thought despite it being written 25 years ago it still rang true today. It discussed and made me think about how we can project our own cultural ideas/imagery onto the things we study. ]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831174 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831219 I had never though  about this before and simply took it all as fact but now it has been pointed out it seems so obvious. There are so many things that are presented in a skewed way but we just accept. The idea of the expectation that women have kids and a biological clock is one thing that comes to mind]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:19 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831219 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831425 I hadn’t really thought about it much before. Now thinking about the language used in science I’m sure there are many other areas where culture has influenced language used. It’s important to challenge language/stereotypes used and who is in power - who is pushing these ideas and who gains from them?]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:26 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831425 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831646 Western medicine is regarded as scientific, possitive, and effective. While ethnomedicine is regarded as superstitious, supplimental, and illusive.

]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:33 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831646 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831860 The immune system as war—the body is nationalised in the same way the gametes (egg/sperm) are gendered]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:37 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748831860 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832085 It is good that its challenged and interesting how nothing has changed to the story despite more evidence of the reproductive process ]]> 2023-10-16 13:37:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832085 simcheung1 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832854 This fairy tale seems also to be extremely tied to understandings of penetrative sex, which so easily and controversially naturalizes the sperm as agent. I had never  considered agential possibilities of the egg, so Martin’s piece was really eye opening in that sense]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:12 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832854 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832857 I think it reveals how much gender norms shape our society, that they move beyond something that is seen as fluid like culture and into things that we would assume to be external to social influences like biology. Her theory shows how much of an interplay there is between culture and nature , that one cannot be isolate from the other]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:12 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832857 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832887 I think that Martin’s critique is very insightful because it highlights how cultural norms and values influence the way science is understood and communicated. This demonstrates that modern science is not completely objective. 
This portrayal of passive female behaviour being embedded in nature is then sometimes used to argue that it is ‘natural’ and is then used to dictate women’s behaviour and promote gender stereotypes even more.]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:13 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832887 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832906 While covering sex and reproduction in 2nd year of medicine, I had noticed the different vocab used for male and female gametes but particularly how the menstrual cycle is “wasteful”. It felt really validating to read Martins piece and see some of these thoughts so well argued. It’s interesting to hear that the scientific developments in reproductive biology, eg the sperm not propelling itself towards the egg, as that has definitely not translated into the medical curriculum! 

I think this gendered narrative then pervades into responsibilities for contraception and pregnancy too.  ]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748832906 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833325 A similar scientific imaginary could be the brain-as-computer metaphor. This has strongly influenced how we conceptualise cognition and behaviour. It creates the idea of a normative brain which should be fixed when behaviour is deviant, which perhaps contributes to medicalisation of behavioural issues]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833325 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833347 hadn’t thought about this before- definitely widened my perspective on how far our perception of gender extends to. it was a very interesting and unique critique

other things to analyze:
birth control- men have no birth control options, resulting in only women taking them with often unpleasant side effects
parenting- men are often treated as if they are unable to parent, which can be harmful for both child and parent ]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833347 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833376 In traditional culture, we tend to say that a sperm, after intense competition, finally stands out from millions of others and combines with an egg to form a fertilized egg. But the truth is, the egg is proactive and subjective; it chooses the most suitable one from millions of sperms. The egg is not passive; it is active in its selection.

In the minds of many people in China, menstrual blood is considered toxic, and the flow of menstrual blood in women is seen as a way to detoxify. This, to some extent, stigmatizes this entirely normal physiological phenomenon.]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:31 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833376 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833692 it’s interesting to think about de-personalisation of eggs and sperms and relationship between them, due to the personalisation of embryo may damage the identity of female to some extent.]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833692 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833979 2023-10-16 13:38:53 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748833979 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748834090 There are parallels with language and metaphors used to describe other areas of female bodies such as menopause which describe the body in terms of "failed production"; using terms such as “regression”, “decline (in oestrogen)” “withering (of reproductive organs)” and “running out of eggs” ]]> 2023-10-16 13:38:57 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748834090 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748836402 Perhaps geocentric model has something to do with the religious belief of human being created in gods image?]]> 2023-10-16 13:40:09 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748836402 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748837969 A lot of medical processes are told using strange "storied" language. Circumcisions are often described using concepts such as pure vs impure, or clean vs unclean. I imagine this has a lot to do with religious ideas of the sacred and profane ]]> 2023-10-16 13:40:59 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748837969 https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748838915 I think it is interesting how this translates into the first sperm to get there is the winner scenario as well. It highlights the gendered notion of numerous suitors and one bride. ]]> 2023-10-16 13:41:32 UTC https://padlet.com/mticheno/rh72dexn86izxhk8/wish/2748838915