Re: Cloning

From: Ross A. Finlayson (raf@tiki-lounge.com)
Date: Mon Mar 12 2001 - 11:36:07 MST


Brian Phillips wrote:

> Re: the recent wash of cloning news.
> Boy if I still smoked I'd make a big cup of coffee and light a cuban
> in satisfaction.
> This sort of news only reinforces my determination to
> have the sort of family I really want, rather than settling
> for the standard model.
> Twins I think. Yeah.
> Twins.
> Boy I have a lot to do yet. lololol
>
> which raises an interesting issue (and I invite comment
> from the ladies as well)
> What does it do to the psychology of the privileged
> male to be able to fundamentally and completely
> divorce the reproductive functions of the female
> from the emotional/sexual portions of the usual
> male/female dynamic...
> without in any way sacrificing the father's own
> genetic continuity?
> For instance...
> A certain sort of female I find sexually attractive...
> this type seldom overlaps with the type I
> would prefer to mingle genes with.
> Neither of these types is usually congruent with
> the ideal for child-bearing (in a gestational sense)
> and often (for a variety of reasons) for
> the "nurture/caregiver" role as well.
> The "bon vivant waif" of lust is not (usually) the neurosurgeon
> or physicist whose genes are ideal. The girl genius
> usually has a career, not ideal for a full time mom
> (understandably so). The fashion plate often has
> baggage.
> But when the professional male can pick a womb
> and a nanny (possibly in the same body) without
> choosing a bedmate or a genetic mother in the same
> package.....
> How does THIS change the game?
> Doesn't it seem consistent with the paring down
> of family size, paring down from tribe, to extended
> family, to nuclear family....?
> What comes after the nuclear family?
>
>
> sometimes life is so damn cool!
> brian
>
>
>
>

Given an average healthy pair of a human male and female, the male has
thousands upon thousands of sperm, per day, while the female has a
lifetime supply of maybe hundreds of eggs.

Basically, the women have the only functional human reproductive system
in the planet, the women basically have total control of reproduction.
That is a qualified statement.

By the same token, more men are in positions of relative "power", or so
the media would have us believe. So, some people in power are corrupt.

So, the point is to be a male brain surgeon, that way the women want
your genes for their children, or to have a nice car.

The ways of human attraction are many and varied.

Some women are very sexist, much like racial attitudes are often
prevalent in those subject to them. That is not to say that the other
side is without fault, far from it.

So, fighting racism and sexism means conflict.

Because our society is patronymic, it is.

I don't think I want a clone, it would be somewhat like inbreeding. I'd
be happy to donate a cloned "good sperm" to a wide variety of screened
candidates. If I have the option to select a sperm cell to impregnate,
then it would have to have a better method than the "survival of the
fittest" natural selection of natural insemination.

Ross



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:59:40 MDT