The Egg And The Sperm Analysis

Emily Martin: The Egg and the Sperm
It is human nature to place confidence into science because it is heavily researched and perceived as the truth. However, Emily Martin shows that the female role in the reproductive process is not thoroughly depicted. Martin said, “part of my goal in writing this article is to shine a bright light on the gender stereotypes hidden within the scientific language of biology.” This article demonstrates how the female role in the reproductive cycle is just as insistent, if not more, as the male’s role.
Emily Martin proposes that science defines women as having a non-active and less significant role in the reproductive process. The role in which women play in the cycle of life is depicted through science as far more passive function than that of the male. The egg is seen as passive. It does not move and is transported
Before this research it was thought that sperm were powerful penetrators capable of thrusting itself through the inner vestments of the egg. After much research, scientists in biophysics labs at Johns Hopkins University determined that the propelling force of the sperm is very weak, and that only through the adhesive molecules on the egg and sperm do the two stick. The zona acts as a “sperm catcher” and has to “capture and tether” the sperm before it can penetrate. But the most active and interesting roll the egg plays is that it “serves as a sophisticated biological security system that screens incoming sperm, selects only those compatible with fertilization and development, prepares sperm for fusion with the egg and later protects the resulting embryo from polyspermy.” Here the egg plays three vital roles in the developmental process of the embryo. It chooses which sperm is well-suited, sets up the fertilization process, and protects the sperm through the whole