PHIL 242 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Elisabeth Lloyd, Menstruation, Ovulation
2 Oct 2016
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Emily martin + elisabeth lloyd: m (bio) Anthropologist of sci. , empirical observation of sci. Interested in how culture shapes objective findings in bio. sciences (supposedly) Hypothesis: expl. of reproduction (how it is expel) relies on a lot of male and female stereotypes (egg and sperm) Menstruation + ovulation v. production of sperm: m + o: passive action. Wasteful action: sperm: more active, could be described another way. Fertilization : egg & sperm: passivity: egg: it drifts, active: sperm: undertaking mission, quest, desc. female anatomy as passive + aced upon, ref. Beauvoir + woman as object, man as subect. Sci. effect of making it so we don"t really see how egg is being active. Metaphors blind us to what is going on. Metaphors are so persistent that even if there is re-description, story remains the same: science is insensitive to new evidence = problem for science. Also showing how cult. assumptions play into the way we interp. sci. data.
