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Producing sperm.

Article Excerpt
Sperm Counts." Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid. By Lisa Jean Moore. New York: New York University Press, 2007, 203 pages. Hardcover, $26.95.

Moore's Sperm Counts offers the reader a new understanding of the power of sperm in producing gendered identity. Providing an in-depth look at the role of sperm in the construction of notions of hegemonic masculinity, Moore shows that these images inform both the masculine and the feminine subject at the same time. Her 15 years of research delves into the biological, historical, and cultural formation of masculinity.

Sperm, itself, does not have a fixed meaning according to Moore. Instead, sperm comes to be socially and discursively constructed through various means of socialization and naturalization often as a response to contemporary masculinity crises, which to some extent today are dealing with reproductive issues such as disease transmitted through sperm, commodification and manipulation of sperm, and infertility stigma, the stigma men may experience when unable to reproduce (Gannon, Glover, & Abel, 2004). In essence, the meanings of semen and sperm are naturalized by the individuals who are given the authority to speak about it. Scientists, forensics experts, sperm bank managers and owners, sex workers, and even authors of children's "facts of life" books have authoritative positions on matters of sexuality and gender. Moore reveals that each of these agents provides an authoritative yet gendered view of sperm that both usurps and reifies traditional meanings of sexuality and gender. She points out that these figures...

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