Human Before Sex? Ectogenesis as a Way to Equality

Within Gender studies in particular and in many other academic disciplines in general, the simplistic dichotomy between men and women has been long refuted. In the real world, however, boys are still brought up to be men and girls to be women with the corresponding role expectations. Even in the more enlightened circles, women’s role and place is, if not determined, definitely informed by the fact that they could be, or could become, mothers. A news item in the biggest broad sheet newspaper in Finland celebrating the International Women’s day on 8 March 2008 included interviews with teenage girls. One of the interviewees told the journalist that she liked being a girl because that allowed her to dress up and that she waited to be a mother because only that will transform her from a girl to a woman [1]. I found that very alarming. If teenagers of our time living in European capital cities think that they need to become mothers to become women, not much has changed in the last hundred years. Women do not need to blame only men for the hardships they face, as they (I refuse to write “we”) are confining themselves to specified roles.