In Chapter 5, Thomas Laqueur discusses the emergence of the two-sex model in the early 19thcentury. Although in the previous chapter he states that through science, society has always followed the one-sex model, the distinctions have very much changed in time and because of this the new term, gender, was created to gear thoughts and beliefs away from the old one-sex model. Laqueur explains in this chapter that with the newly distinguished model of two different genders, this still allowed stigma and power differences between the two. The foundation of gender showed to downgrade the status and roles of women and put men as the key players in the sexual organs they had compared to organs of the female and often placed upon stigma and beliefs that weren’t actually true. With this newly model emerged from the one-sex model, scientists have shown to the public eye that maybe they did care to find and enforce the two different types of gender, but still through their research and findings they continued to place upon gender roles between males and females, which often came out with a negative effect to women in society. Gender at this point linked biology to social behavior that produces a structural society.
This new development of the two genders allowed to power and position to take place between the two roles. In addition to that, from the new models, politics came into play with the issues that came into effect with social, economical, political, cultural, and erotic contexts. “The politics of gender very clearly affected not only the interpretation of clinical and laboratory data but also its producton” (Laqueur, 153). With new knowledge scientist and researchers were able to prove with evidence that they were correct. This, however, came into affect with the knowledge produced in the anatomy of the male and female body, with the nature of ovulation, production of sperm, conception, and menstruation. In reality these, “two incommensurable sexes were, and are, as much the products of culture as was , and is, the one-sex model” (Laqueur, 153). Although the understanding of reproduction biology progressed, this however, did not prove to be main causal factor that the so called one-sex model was still put into play. With evidence in pictures that were just merely altered when scientist stated that there was actually a difference between these two genders, the one-sex model was still being followed from the one during the ancient times. Women were also still being downgraded in society with actions and beliefs created.
A few points raised in this chapter concerned the female and male gender roles not only with the type of sexual organs they had but with the type of empowerment placed in men and women. One major point Laqueur raised in this chapter was the issue during the late 18th, early 19th century that women were not able to conceive without achieving orgasm. Although scientists were not able to prove that this was actually true, especially considering the fact that orgasm could not be determined as to when it would actually take place during intercourse, this belief of orgasm necessary in reproduction became subjective for men to use against women. This completely took the power away from women not only with labeling in anatomy, but also with the experiences women had during sexual intercourse. Along with that, conception was therefore not proven when women were conceived after they had the experience of rape. “This “disempowerment of women rape victims to contest against their perpetrator if they had conceived and "only the most egregious and repugnant rapes ever came to trial" (Laqueur, 162). It was not until 1823 a doctor proved that the arguments of pregnancy was necessary that there was consent needed was in fact, not true at all. “Sexual difference no more followed from anatomy after the scientific revolution that it did in the world of one sex” *163).
In class from the presentations and film showed on this reading, we discussed the issues raised with why these stigmas could have risen from. From my thoughts, cultural concerns came into play with these differences. The biological context produced from scientists and researchers from the start, developing into a two-sex model was greatly affected because of the cultural and religious concerns of the two different gender groups. The rise of the two-sex model was contradictory to the fact that woman were not seen as leading roles in society. With reasoning from whether they were able to conceive with orgasm or not in sexual intercourse, and clear distinctions in pictures that the sex model did not completely change after all, women were still continued to be downgraded in society. Although scientists and researchers were probably seen with higher power in society and were not even close to being questioned of their research, with the types of pictures, anatomy of organs in men and women, and reasoning of the differences between the two.
This issue raised in the article of The Discovery of the Sexes raised major points between gender roles between men and women from the 19th century till today. To no surprise, even among different cultures women are downgraded with the roles they have in family households an also among the society. Could culture really be another reason why these roles are placed in society today? Or could our society today still be following the one-sex model in a sense because men and women are still highly differentiated because of power and position among the general public? With newly portrayed sex models of both men and women, could this actually prove that the equilibrium is in place rather than having one gender higher than the other
The science of gender is an issue because we come to believe that scientists and medical doctors are always right and that we should never question their authority or power.
Works Cited:
Thomas Laqueur, Discovery of the Sexes, IN Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990. Pp. 149-192.
Images Used:
http://student.britannica.com/comptons/art-54226/Human-male-and-female-reproductive-systems-have-the-same-structural
http://discoverwriting.ning.com/
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