Lisa Jean Moore a CUNY professor (she has really cute kids) has written a book about sperm and it's cultural meaning. Its a new book and I of course haven't read it yet but this lady seems to know a ton about the subject, far more than I do and I was a boy for twenty-(cough) years. This is the description from its publisher the NYU Press:
It has been called sperm, semen, seed, cum, jizz, spunk, gentlemen's relish, and splooge. But however the "tacky, opaque liquid that comes out of the penis" is described, the very act of defining "sperm" and "semen" depends on your point of view. For Lisa Jean Moore, how sperm comes to be known is based on who defines it (a scientist vs. a defense witness, for example), under what social circumstances it is found (a doctor's office vs. a crime scene), and for what purposes it will be used (in vitro fertilization vs. DNA analysis). Examining semen historically, medically, and culturally, Sperm Counts is a penetrating exploration of its meaning and power.
Using a "follow that sperm" approach, Moore shows how representations of sperm and semen are always in flux, tracing their twisting journeys from male reproductive glands to headline news stories and presidential impeachment trials. Much like the fluid of semen itself can leak onto fabrics and into bodies, its meanings seep into our consciousness over time. Moore's analytic lens yields intriguing observations of how sperm is "spent" and "reabsorbed" as it spurts, swims, and careens through penises, vaginas, test tubes, labs, families, cultures, and politics.
Drawn from fifteen years of research, Sperm Counts examines historical and scientific documents, children's "facts of life" books, pornography, the Internet, forensic transcripts and sex worker narratives to explain how semen got so complicated. Among other things, understanding how we produce, represent, deploy and institutionalize semen-biomedically, socially and culturally-provides valuable new perspectives on the changing social position of men and the evolving meanings of masculinity. Ultimately, as Moore reveals, sperm is intimately involved in not only the physical reproduction of males and females, but in how we come to understand ourselves as men and women.
It actually sounds pretty interesting, (all I really knew about the subject is all the basic biology and that its warm and salty) and like something I would read, or would be assigned in most likely Sex and Money ( maybe I should refer my prof. to it) I just wonder what kind of "research" she did. I don't think I would like to have my head constantly full of sperm...um that came out wrong but I guess this is the bukkake of academia. (oh and the salon.com archive of sperm is pretty damn funny and interesting, and who knew the FDA prevents gay guys from donating sperm, or that such a thing would be regulated by the Food and Drug administration)
Ugh and I thought I felt gross and ewwy after that last post... Sphere: Related Content
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