The Importance of Feminist Critique for Contemporary Cell Biology

One of the things main themes that really stuck out in this article was the correlation between the patriarchal concept of the female gamete and how it related to conceptions of women. A key fact that was not mentioned in the article is how the XY chromosome is actual considered to be a mutation from the XX chromosome. It actually makes a lot of sense. It is a known fact that at one point the XY chromosome highly resembled the XX chromosome. In order to maintain the reproduction of the human species, one could argue that the process of natural selection occured which caused for the XX chromosome to adopt to the environment that would be suitable for the continuation of homeo sapiens. Recently, in the area of genetics, a new piece of information has stated that in many years to come, the XY chromosome will almost become extinct. Such a statement would lead people to believe that the end of the XY chromosome would mean the end of the human speicies, but the concept of natural selection/evolution would beg to differ. Of course, as a result of adopting to an environment without the XY chromosome would cause many XX chromosomes to die out. However, the few that remain would eventually have evolved and have adopted a way to reproduce without the XY chromosome. (Hint: Survival of the fitess). It is no wonder why the patriarchal system is doing everything in it's power to maintain control and interpretation over women's bodies.

I was very content to read the excerpt in the piece that described the actual physiology and mechanics of the egg in relation to the sperm. It is very profound to understand that the reason that the sperm have such a high level of mobility when ejaculated into the vagina is because the egg is sending all of its defenses to kill the sperm. The sperm is seen as an invader, so quite frankly the sperm are "swimming" to avoid being killed. It does not make sense for someone to say that these "heroic" sperm are the soldiers who are rescuing the "damsel in distress" (egg)-well unless you mean heroic as in the FIRST TO DIE. I was even greatly satisfied to read the actual mechanics pertaining to the relation of the egg and sperm once the one sperm is inside the egg. The author could not have articulated the action more clearly. To understand that the microvilli of the egg has attached itself to the sperm to pull the sperm in is very powerful for it indicates that the egg is the one who is in control. I would also articulate this as that one sperm who has passed the test, and is now deemed worthy by the egg to be selected-ON HER OWN TERMS, OF COURSE. Often times in the society that we live in, a woman's body is deemed as the one that is supposed to be penetrated, while the male is the penetrator-and thus a high indication of his manhood. It symbolizes him having conquered something.

It is very interesting how there are always two sides to a story, and the side of the women as being powerful and as the aggressor is never told. It is also very interesting to see how just the mechanism of fertilization is utilized from a patriarchal point of view to validate the "inferiority of women."