3 ms·

Women taking men's names has another side to it. When you think of it, women live forever, men die. 4B or whatever years ago, life arose. The cells which div

by b112 2y ago

Women taking men's names has another side to it. When you think of it, women live forever, men die. 4B or whatever years ago, life arose. The cells which divided then, are the same cells as now. Women come from an egg, which divided over and over, cells specializing, including dividing and specializing as her eggs/ova which she is born with. The end result is that those cells are a continuous line, billions of years old. Men contribute sperm, genetic material, but no living cell. In a sense, women are immortal. Men die. So, maybe the name change is to honour those soon dead? (Yes, I know, weird take on it. It's Monday, I'm allowed.)

jraph 2y ago
I don't think there's such a difference between the two kinds of gametes. Things are quite symmetrical. - Sperm is as alive as ova: not alive. What is alive is the combination of the two, after some development. - Both gametes contribute genetic material the same way. - Their respective lines are as continuous. > So, maybe the name change is to honour those soon dead? Of course, the name change has sociological / political reasons. It cannot have such biological roots since the policies around names were there way before we discovered this stuff. I'm afraid the reasons why we keep the male name in many places are simpler and way less poetic.
- b112 2y ago
  I don't think there's such a difference between the two kinds of gametes One's a full cell with mitochondria, cell wall, and so on. The other just delivers genetic information. There's no symmetry. For example, all your mitochondria and its dna come from the female line. None from the male.
  - jraph 2y ago
    Yes, of course, there is a asymmetry. The shape and the material, of course. Another example is that while sperm is constantly produced, ova are all there since birth. But this part: > The cells which divided then, are the same cells as now Seems quite wrong. Ova of one woman obviously contains part her DNA, not her mother's unchanged. Now, I didn't know about the mitochondria part, interesting, thanks for teaching me!
    - b112 2y ago
      Of course, the DNA is modified. It's a specialized cell, but cells are created by division or budding. The sperm is absorbed, the dna integrated, but the cell itself, all of the cell aspect is from the woman. Our DNA is certainly there, but that's not the same as a continuous line of cells. Anyhow, it's one way to view things.

by b112 2y ago

jraph 2y ago

I don't think there's such a difference between the two kinds of gametes. Things are quite symmetrical. - Sperm is as alive as ova: not alive. What is alive is the combination of the two, after some development. - Both gametes contribute genetic material the same way. - Their respective lines are as continuous. > So, maybe the name change is to honour those soon dead? Of course, the name change has sociological / political reasons. It cannot have such biological roots since the policies around names were there way before we discovered this stuff. I'm afraid the reasons why we keep the male name in many places are simpler and way less poetic.

b112 2y ago
I don't think there's such a difference between the two kinds of gametes One's a full cell with mitochondria, cell wall, and so on. The other just delivers genetic information. There's no symmetry. For example, all your mitochondria and its dna come from the female line. None from the male.
- jraph 2y ago
  Yes, of course, there is a asymmetry. The shape and the material, of course. Another example is that while sperm is constantly produced, ova are all there since birth. But this part: > The cells which divided then, are the same cells as now Seems quite wrong. Ova of one woman obviously contains part her DNA, not her mother's unchanged. Now, I didn't know about the mitochondria part, interesting, thanks for teaching me!
  - b112 2y ago
    Of course, the DNA is modified. It's a specialized cell, but cells are created by division or budding. The sperm is absorbed, the dna integrated, but the cell itself, all of the cell aspect is from the woman. Our DNA is certainly there, but that's not the same as a continuous line of cells. Anyhow, it's one way to view things.