Class Notes
10.18.02
by: TJ Pritchett
Class outline
Roll
Quiz 6
Marin, egg, and sperm
Myth of conception
Term Paper
Monday
Quiz 6 was a disaster.
Only one person got a perfect score.
We reviewed the answers to Quiz 6, here are some of the points brought up in
discussion.
The culture of fatherhood is spending time with kids. The conduct of fatherhood
is to excuse their actions and absence. Rather than spending quality time, they
disengage the child. Culture usually follows conduct, and while culture has
moved ahead, conduct lags behind. Specific example: one father believed he was
doing a good job, while his wife found that he was often absent from the home.
Motherhood is not a natural occurrence. It has specific cultural features. A
specific illustration- when infant mortality rates are high in a country, mothers
act differently than in America, where we expect children to live. Mother‚s
can not be attached to child after child, if they continue to die repeatedly.
Culture directly affects mothering, and all mothers are not the same.
Women are a symbol of creativity.
Mother hood is not privatized; there is no public/private divide. Mothers have
to be providing and nurturing at the same time.
There is no system of informal adoption.
The Full Monty illustrates the prism of difference, (which is the overlay of
gender/class differences), with the use of different social classes and expectations.
There is also a difference among the sexualities, (homosexuals).
2 specific requirements for the term paper: (almost everyone got this one right)
4-6 pages in length.
Must be typed, double spaced.
two characteristics of a functional topic sentence are:
states the main idea of the paragraph.
connects that idea back to the thesis statement.
Bonus question
Gender is the group of stereotypes, characteristics and physical attributes
by which we divide humans. The Full Monty takes men out of their usual context
tand puts them in typically female situations of physical uncomfort and distaste
with their appearance.
Discussion
We then discussed the Martin article about the egg and the sperm. The main idea
of the article relates to culture‚s effect on science. Cultural assumptions
are reenacted in science. Science is unable to exist outside of cultural norms
and stereotypes. The scientific community uses fairy tale descriptions of conception,
such as the passiveness of the egg, and the harpooning of the egg by the sperm.
The sperm is typically described as aggressive. In all actuality, many of these
assumptions are untrue. Sperm is actually quite weak.
Class Project
We then worked as groups in order to re-write the myth of conception. We were
allowed 10 minutes to write a fairy tale, which was to be read aloud. Here they
are as the groups wrote them.
Group 1
Once upon a time in the Kingdom of conception the slaves known as sperms wondered
the dark fallopian alleys of their preserved territory known as uternsia. They
lived under the rule of the all mighty queen Fertila T. Egg. The sperm served
as slaves and the lowest class because of their lack of intelligence and mobility.
Fertila was forced to take out to her day to instruct the spermies on how to
live their lives. Due to her compelling beauty and power of her ovum radiance
attracted millions of sperm slaves in her direction, into her submission in
her time with the spermie slaves she frequently found herself swimming through
the fallopian alleys with one particular sperm known as Dominito Spermus they
soon fall into a passionate love with each other and Domitito Spermus breaks
the walls of Uterusia‚s status roles and together Fertila T. Egg and Dominito
Spermus create a new life for the kingdom of conception.
Group 2
Once upon a time, there was said to be a hidden treasure in the dark, mysterious
cave called, „Uterus.‰ There was a large ship carrying a brigade of
pirates in search of this much-desired treasure. On their way through the rugged
terrain they fought past many dangerous perils, swimming to fighting with their
swords. There were many fatalities along the was as only one lucky pirate would
he rewarded with the treasure of the few pirates who reached the glowing treasure,
only one pirate could unlock the tightly bound enclosure with his, „super
man‚ strength.
Group 3
One day little white riding sperm went to visit his grandmother in the forest.
The enormous evil egg crept up from behind and said "Hello." White
riding sperm tried to squirm away as fast as his little tail would push him,
but to no avail all he could do was move back and forth. The enormous evil egg
engulfed white ridding sperm and 9 months later, Sherman was born.
Group 4
Once upon a time there was an all-powerful egg who sat high on a throne away
from civilization. Their one-day an army of sperm was sent to greet the egg
in hopes that that one in a million of them would be worthy to be engulfed by
the egg‚s supreme force. The army of the sperm had prepared endlessly,
but was no less nervous when the actual day arrived. The road to the egg was
a long, dark, and treacherous maze. The sperm were weak and dumb and it wasn‚t
long before they found themselves lost and disoriented in the caves. Soon their
mission was lost to them and they wandered aimlessly. Suddenly a glow approached
them. „Hooray, were saved!‰ Shouted the sperm. The almighty heiness
came to their rescue and began to gather them around her. The sperm who thought
themselves saved now found themselves trapped in her puissant grasp. One sperm
shrieked as found himself engulfed while the rest where doomed to die in her
radiant glow. Her regalness lived happily ever after and the kingdom twived.
Group 5
Once upon a time there was a princess egg and a princes sperm who were very
lonely. They went looking for love and companionship. The princess egg left
the Ovarian castle and went on her long journey down the fallopian hill to meet
her equally as important prince. They came from a castle far away called the
castle of the twin cities. When they reached the princess she would only pick
one of them. She picked the one that was compatible to her so they joined together
to be come one. The rest of the princes died because they weren‚t worthy
of the princess.
Group 6
It was love at first sight; Lois the egg and Gary the sperm met each other‚s
gaze from opposite ends of the dark tunnel. Lois was frozen with excitement,
and couldn‚t move, but Gary was sporting his moves as he wiggled towards
her. When he finally neared her, he said, „Baby, I‚m glad I brought
my library card, because I‚m chicken you out.‰ Lois laughed and said,
„That‚s the lamest thing I‚ve ever heard, but you‚re cute,
so come in. He tried mightily to make a way in, but he was not strong enough,
and he died in her arms. She did not want anyone else and wept fro days until
her untimely demise.
Group 7
Once upon a time there was a prince who stumbled across a cattle with a beautiful
girl named Rapunzel inside. He wanted to go inside to be with her but he was
weak and couldn‚t get the door open. He tried and tried for hours but was
too weak. He was embarrassed to call for Rapunzel‚s help. She recognized
his weakness and let down her braid of hair. He tried to climb up but got stuck
and started falling down toward the ground. Rapunzel used her mighty strength
to pull him up through her hair and saved him. He was grateful for her help
and recognized that women are just as strong as men. They lived happily ever
af ter and reproduced many offspring.
Group 8
Once upon a time there was a sperm who was lost in the dark caves of smoldering
hell. As it was making its way through the intertwined pathways. Its vitality
was slowly diminished. Although is was loosing life at every moment, it was
determined to complete it‚s last and most important mission to brake through
the conquering egg. The egg was an all-powerful sorcerer who would attach its
villa to the sperm, but the moment had to be just right. The sperm was scared
to be caught in the villa, the fusion of the two created the most beautiful
thing on earth.
Please continue working on the term papers.
For Monday, read, how hard can it be?
The Hubbard article that we discussed will be on the quiz.