*groan*

Okay, I'm not going to be able to continue studying without a brief rant. This textbook is ridiculous and obviously written by a sexually stymied greybeard. There's a separate subsection here about sperm structure and everything is all ENERGY POWERFUL CELLULAR MEGAZORD RAHHHH. There is of course no analogous section on the female gamete (?!). Oh, and the ladeez chapter is all about some nurturing, sheltering, shielding, supporting, and preparing (all before we even get to the part about gestation!). Lack of female fertilization = WOMUN FAIL. However, it is made clear that male ejaculation can occur outside of reproductive activity. Well, um, I ovulate outside of reproductive activity. A woman is not necessarily looking to get pregnant 12 months out of the year from puberty 'til menopause, and if she's young, her period is probably a positive-but-sometimes-annoying confirmation that she hasn't accidentally become pregnant. Like ejaculation, ovulation occurs whether or not one is looking to generate new life.

"Only 200,000 ova" is seriously one of the stupidest terms I've come across. Yeah. Only. I could have a baby every year, loosen up my junk to the point where I don't even feel the young'uns plopping out, and have a shit-ton more kids than I could feed or clothe before feeling like I was running out of eggs. Of course, it would involve hitting that weird territory where my children would start to have birth defects and the pregnancies would endanger my life, but the book doesn't mention that. Instead, I should just be sad that I won't be able to bear men babies in my 80's. I'm crying inside.

And another thing. Menopause is only "characterized by an estrogen deficiency" if you believe women should/want to be bearing kids until they die. The word deficiency implies pathology. Am I off here? I don't like this language. Menopause is not a sickness, it's a stage of life. Besides, you generally run out of eggs and enter menopause at least ten years or so AFTER bearing a child becomes dangerous for you and your future little ones.

What's funny is I really like the actual endocrinology parts, but I can't concentrate on the content because of the dumb-ass gender-norm-tinged interjections this crotchety old douche insists on. Hopefully I'll be done with this book soon and can move onto the actual medical biochemistry texts in the near future. Physiology books either rock or they suuuuuck, and this one is making me want to punch its author in the kidneys. Besides being badly written and giving away the writer's prejudices, it's not organized very well.

Okay, I'm done. :) Back to the books.