For Whom Does the Clock Tick?: Male Repro-Temporality in Fertility Campaigns, Scientific Literature, and Commercial Accounts

Charlotte Kroløkke

doi:10.5195/aa.2021.257

Abstract

Sperm swimming in circles or a lone sperm cell with two heads: male reproductive aging is increasingly equated with poor sperm quality, the prevalence of offspring learning disabilities even schizophrenia. To discuss the construction of a male biological clock, this article asks: how does the biological clock intervene in men’s reproductive bodies. And secondly: how is male repro-temporality visually and rhetorically invoked in fertility campaigns, in medical scientific accounts and in the marketing material of one elective sperm-freezing company? Situated within an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the article draws upon biomedicalization theory (e.g. Clarke et al. 2003), reproductive masculinity studies (e.g. Daniels 2006; Almeling and Waggoner 2013), and social scientific theorizing of time and temporality (e.g. Amir 2006; van de Wiel 2014a; 2014b) to discuss the emergence of male repro-temporality. This article contributes to the interdisciplinary scholarly agenda on time and temporality by theorizing the emergence of a male biological clock as a type of repro-temporality that, in its discursive and aesthetic framing, portrays male reproductive aging as involving loss and disability. The article concludes that while the biological clock derives its temporal force from the logic of decay, it simultaneously cements heteronormative ideals of the nuclear family, re-naturalizes the genetic unit, and situates men as proactive and modern in their anticipation of future infertility.

Highlights

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program, and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press
Based on a review of scientific literature, the marketing of voluntary sperm freezing, and a recent fertility campaign in Copenhagen (Denmark), I investigate: How does the notion of a biological clock regulate male reproductive bodies, and how is male reprotemporality visually as well as discursively invoked in these accounts? I return to a presentation of my methodology later; I briefly discuss the theoretical framework for my analysis
Akin to science and technology studies (STS) scholar Donna Haraway’s notion of staying with the trouble (2016), in this article, I view the construction of male repro-temporality as “trouble,” and I pursue the ways in which a contemporary fertility campaign, medical literature on men’s reproductive aging, and commercial endeavors both visually and discursively attempt to regulate and mandate men’s reproduction

Summary

Introduction

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program, and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Advanced paternal age is a risk to the health of the fetus, the New York Post article forewarned its readers, and plays an active role during gestation and may lead to gestational diabetes, preterm birth, and preeclampsia (Bailey-Millado 2019). Echoing this concern, Gloria Bachmann, physician and Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Rutgers University, noted that—like the body—sperm ages and loses its “fitness” (The Economic Times 2019). Based on a review of scientific literature, the marketing of voluntary sperm freezing, and a recent fertility campaign in Copenhagen (Denmark), I investigate: How does the notion of a biological clock regulate male reproductive bodies, and how is male reprotemporality visually as well as discursively invoked in these accounts? I return to a presentation of my methodology later; I briefly discuss the theoretical framework for my analysis

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Conclusion