Menstruation And Sperm

In ‘The Egg and the Sperm’, Martin explains how societies predisposed views can get in the way of real scientific research. However, she starts with posing no opinion, saying she is “intrigued by the possibility that culture shapes how biological scientists describe what they discover about the natural world” (845). It’s not until the next page she acknowledges the harmful effects by pointing out that “the stereotypes imply not only that female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts, but that women are less worthy than men” (846). Martin goes on to explain why it is so ingrained in our minds that the male's reproductive system is superior to females. She talks about how menstruation is seen as a failure, and how because women stop creating eggs after birth, it is seen as inferior. She points out that

As an academic journal, the intended audience is clearly the intellectual. With the scientific phraseology seen here; “one could argue that menstruation and spermatogenesis are not analogous processes” (847), and when she mentions the words “homologous”, “spermatogonia”, “oogenesis”, and “oocytes” (848), all in just half a page. This highly sophisticated talk shows beyond a doubt just who the intended audience is. More specifically, with the inserted challenge for feminists, one could make the argument that the intended audience is for the feminist academic. However, one might also say that because of the uphill battle nature of the topic, Martin wouldn’t want to convey her messages to such a limited audience. Thankfully, over the years Martin's article has gained some traction and became very popular. It is one of just two referenced on her Wikipedia page. With a little help from the dictionary, the average reader who is interested and wants to think outside the box can read this article and hopefully contribute to the