Gender Roles In Society

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From the age of the enlightenment the opinions on which we view the world by have been based on science. A Knowledge that involved investigation and classification in the search for answers with the fundamental starting point being an Egg and a sperm. The egg and sperm is seen as the starting point for life. However their individual roles do not only play part in reproduction, but the construction of gender roles in society.

Gender roles became more pronounce during the age of enlightenment, a period where society was being questioned as whole and the simultaneous rise of science was an influencing factor. Women were portrayed as passive, the inverse of men and condemned as the weaker sex. Their anatomy was seen as insignificant and therefore …show more content…
Comparisons between the two sexes became common, and due to the submissive role women played in society, their submission was further displayed through science. The development of the two sex model in the 18th century was seen as a rival of gender practices and although it was considered to be based on science, it has recently become evident that the model was a creation more so of social construction than science.

Menstruation being the starting point was perceived as a failure. The wasteful creation of a product with no use which lead to the conclusion that women are degenerate in comparison to their male counterparts. Oogenesis was regarded as inefficient, in comparison to Spermatogenesis, which ensured in the daily creation and storage of sperm. Once again a reflection of the male dominancy in …show more content…
Most of which reflected society’s view on gender roles significantly. The egg is perceived as a passive structure that relies on the sperm for life, “ a dormant bride awaiting her mates magic kiss, which instills the sprit that brings her to life” as Gerald and Helen Schatten stated in the Energetic egg(1984).A description that reflects societies perception of women at the time. Glorifying the sperm as society perceived men. Strong, Robust, Agile and fertile. Leaving the role of the egg to be less noteworthy, a role described with a social parallel. A role that entailed courtship, gestation and the caring for offspring. As Wassermann (1987) said, “after union the chosen one becomes servant and mother”. Although referring to the ova, a direct equivalent can be matched to the “ideal” role of women in society, the mother and wife.

The fundamental process of conception is described through a grim metaphor which entails the Ova being portrayed as a spider capturing and tethering her prey in a web of Microvili.The “femme fatal” who “victimizes men” Mary Ellman (1968). An entity that relies on sperm heroism for its survival, for it will die without it. An Exaltation present in all masculine ideals that disregards the ova’s sheer power and role in the creation and sustainability of future
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