More on how "Natural" gets used

In light of some of our conversations today, here's an excellent and really transformative article by Emily Martin about the way American medical textbooks represent eggs and sperm in highly gendered ways. It is well worth a read and will help explain the power of the word "natural.
Her point is further supported by cinematic representations of sperm and eggs -- here are a few.

First, from the very beginning of “Look Who’s Talking.” There is quiet a difference in the way the egg and the sperm are represented, through music, movement, voice, intelligence, etc. You can watch the whole movie for free on the miracle that is Hulu.com, but the important part is literally the first three minutes.

Then we have the Star Wars version, with sperm as Rebel Forces / fighter pilots and the egg as the Death Star.




Is it funny? Why is it funny?

Finally, I wanted to show this clip from Woody Allen’s “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sex but were Afraid to Ask,” in which he plays a very reluctant sperm.



In addition to the wonderful one-liners (“I’m a graduate of NYU.” “We’re gonna make it.”) watch for Burt Reynolds cameo. But, really, the relevant questions for this course include:


I figure you all have seen a lot more movies or TV clips that involve representations of sperm and eggs. Anything spring to mind? I’d be happy to get other suggestions about what to add to this list."