Root Gorelick’s title for his 2012 BioScience article exposes the nearly universal bias in how we describe and illustrate meiosis. “[T]extbooks beautifully describe meiosis in males and meiosis in isogamous taxa, in which there is only one size of gametes. But these textbooks fail to describe meiosis in females in anisogamic taxa, in which there… Read More “Meiosis is not gender neutral”
This is a 2009 cartoon of genital development from a human embryology textbook. At least 4 components are misleading. 1) As illustrated, the neutral genital tubercle becomes a phallus (usually a gendered term) by 9 weeks but other regions are not gendered. 2) Other reproductive regions obtain gendered names at 12 weeks but… Read More Misleading diagram of genital development
image source: https://www.histology.leeds.ac.uk/cell/meiosis.php
https://en.uncyclopedia.co/wiki/Human_anatomy
From fallopian tubes to the Pouch of Douglas, women’s body parts have been named by – and after – men. But the masculine language of medicine doesn’t end there. Does it matter? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180531-how-womens-body-parts-have-been-named-after-men or google ‘how womens body parts have been named after men’ and you’ll get a shorter list without much comment from iheartguts.com… Read More Men are all over women’s bodies, BBC
“In laboratory parlance, and even in print, the oocyte …, ovum, zygote, morula and blastocyst are frequently referred to indiscriminately as the ‘egg’” (Perry 1981:321). What’s wrong with eggs? As the quote indicates, the word egg is ambiguous. It can refer either to a female gamete by itself, the female gamete plus maternally derived tissues… Read More Eggs are for breakfast not for science?
Ninety-three million Americans search online for health related topics, and “googling” something has become a common phrase within Ammerican society (Weaver, 2003). However, the results of these searches are riddled with inaccuracies regarding mammalian reproduction. These inaccuracies manifest in the form of misleading photos, male bias, human bias, and incomplete information. With that in mind,… Read More The Internet: propagating reproductive misconceptions
Thanks to Mario Valdebenito Rodas and Zoe Baker for website design.
Reproduction: A Female Perspective © 2020 · All rights reserved