Its been quite a while since I posted something. I had started my second year at University and I’m finding less and less spare time. This is going to be a quick post of what I posted to my University blog.
Recently while I was in a lecture in Human Genetics, I heard this thing uttered by a lady who lectures on Human Genetics. I was rather surprised by such a thing coming from such a position. So I posted this to my other blog:
For the comprehension-impaired, this is a little rant on a statement made during a Human Genetics lecture by [name with held]. My female colleagues are understandably finding my impatience quite amusing. But I, being a man, could not take that statement lightly. Here is the context:
The lecturer stated how all of one’s mitochondrial DNA is inherted from his/her mother and in so doing, threw out a little dig. Since the sperm does not contribute to the mt-DNA, it was suggested that, this kinda lends some support to the idea that men are merely parasitic on women.
I don’t know about you, but apart from being gobsmacked by the irrationality of such a supposition, it was strangely amusing to consider the implications. I guess this is one of those ideas where the vagueness of it keeps you in the dark about how exactly the proposition “men are parasites on women” follows or is related (however tangential it may be) to the fact that the mt-DNA of every single human has maternal origins.
The sperm is anthropomorphized. Poor little thing. The word “parasite” suggests that, the sperm is in someway harmful [to women]. I have no idea how this could be supported. But everything I know suggests otherwise. After all, the sperm is required to fertilise the egg cell to produce an embryo. Furthermore, “parasite” suggests that sperm has nothing of value to contribute to the whole shebang. It strikes me as a rather naive thing to say.
That’s all. End of Rant.
I was trying to understand where she was coming from. I’m still puzzled by her very short comment. It was neither explained nor justified. Just an offhand remark.
The converse of this happened today on a lecture in Human Genetics, only this time it was from a guy. He was discussing Human Pedigree Analysis and in explaining women as “carriers” for certain X-linked traits, he indicated that women have something “hidden” and guys are more “open and honest”. One could hear the murmurs of women all over the lecture theatre the moment he uttered it! I must hasten to add that his tone was very light-hearted and he was smiling as he said it. Everyone could see he was joking around. And atleast everyone had a vague idea how this comment is related to the Human Carriers, unlike the previous “parasite” comment from the other lecturer.
