Once sperm are nearer the egg, the egg releases chemicals to attract developed and viable sperm. In reaction to the egg, the sperm releases chemicals to signal compatibility. The egg then chooses a sperm by inserting her ligands, small nobs that protrude from the surface, into receptors, or pockets, on the sperm’s “head.” There is a key and lock design to the process, the egg as the key and the sperm as the lock. Once the egg’s ligands enter the receptors in the sperm, the egg absorbs the sperm and the two become a zygote. The zygote then protects itself against other sperm and the cells within quickly multiply. At this point all the cells are the same and not gendered. The embryo propels itself down the fallopian tube to the uterus, implants itself, and develops into a gendered fetus. This process happens because women have the parts for it. So, if the only reason the attachment of gender is due to us having the system for gestation and delivery, why then the historical patriarchal narratives that promote the subjugation of women as it relates to procreation?
Could it be that to change the myth, to reduce sperm to being an ingredient in the female creation process shifts the patriarchal narrative that validates a position of power? Could that explain the continued usage of the sperm-warrior and damsel-egg myth still part of our culture? If we discuss the fertilization process in scientific terms, then the egg, sperm, zygote, and embryo should not be gendered. Clinically speaking, only the delivery systems are gendered. The actual process is biophysiological. If the delivery systems were reversed (men provided the egg and women the sperm) the fertilization would still take place, which means the fertilization is less about gender, and the focus needs to be on gestation and delivery.
So, why then do these narratives continue? Why does the male of our species want to validate a false sense of superiority? Because man’s inability to create life like woman, like God, makes them feel inadequate. This inadequacy manifests in many forms: sexual objectification, physical and psychological oppression, hyper-aggressive masculinity, patriarchal doctrines, religious dogma, and cultural narratives. And we know, as a 21st century global community, this inadequacy manifests itself in much more insidious ways. One doesn’t have to look far. In South Africa, common practice in some tribes is for a woman to have her vagina sewn up to nearly closed after she’s given birth so that her husband can have the “pleasure” of ripping her open again.