The Importance Of Feminist Critique For Contemporary Cell Biology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 1988
Published In
Hypatia
Abstract
Biology is seen not merely as a privileged oppressor of women but as a co-victim of masculinist social assumptions. We see feminist critique as one of the normative controls that any scientist must perform whenever analyzing data, and we seek to demonstrate what has happened when this control has not been utilized. Narratives of fertilization and sex determination traditionally have been modeled on the cultural patterns of male/female interaction, leading to gender associations being placed on cells and their components. We also find that when gender biases are controlled, new perceptions of these intracellular and extracellular relationships emerge.
Recommended Citation
Athena Beldecos , '88; Sarah P. Baily , '86; Scott F. Gilbert; Karen A. Hicks , '86; Lori J. Kenschaft , '87; Nancy A. Niemczyk , '88; Stephanie A. Schaertel , '86; and Andrew B. Wedel , '86.
(1988).
"The Importance Of Feminist Critique For Contemporary Cell Biology".
Hypatia.
Volume 3,
Issue 1.
61-76.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1527-2001.1988.tb00056.x
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-biology/374
Comments
Reprinted in: (1989). Feminism and Science. Edited by N. Tuana. Indiana University Press. 172-187.
Reprinted in: (1999). Philosophies of Science: From Foundations to Contemporary Issues. Edited by J. McErlean. Wadsworth Publishing.
Reprinted in: (2002) The Gender of Science. Edited by J. A. Kourany. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 192-203.