Patriarchal sexual hierarchies persist even in biological theory.
Evidence
But Aristotle’s ideas have not lost all validity. Hegel thought the two sexes must be different: one is active and the other passive, and it goes without saying that passivity will be the female’s lot. “Because of this differentiation, man is thus the active principle while woman is the passive principle because she resides in her non-developed unity.” And even when the ovum was recognized as an active principle, men continued to pit its inertia against the agility of the sperm. Today, there is a tendency to see the contrary: the discoveries of parthenogenesis have led some scientists to reduce the role of the male to that of a simple physicochemical agent. In some species the action of an acid or a mechanical stimulation has been shown to trigger the division of the egg and the development of the embryo; and from that it was boldly assumed that the male gamete was not necessary for generation; it would be at most a ferment; perhaps man’s cooperation in procreation would one day become useless: that seems to be many women’s desire. But nothing warrants such a bold expectation because nothing warrants universalizing life’s specific processes. The phenomena of asexual multiplication and parthenogenesis are neither more nor less fundamental than those of sexual reproduction. And it has already been noted that this form is not a priori favored: but no fact proves it is reducible to a more elementary mechanism. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 82
Categorization
- XREF: Hegel’s active/passive sex distinction connects to the Continental framework the reader is building; Beauvoir here corrects both Aristotle’s and the biological reductionists’ a priori assumptions. — connects to: Pre-scientific theories of conception mirrored patriarchal social myths — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 81; Male sexuality integrates with individual transcendence while female sexuality does not — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97; Patriarchy triumphed through men’s biological privilege, not accident or revolution — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 166 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Male sexuality integrates with individual transcendence while female sexuality does not
#exemplifies(0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97 - Patriarchy triumphed through men’s biological privilege, not accident or revolution
#expands(0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 166 - Male bonding is how patriarchy confers and preserves male power.
#complicates(0.72) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 282