What is meiosis called in females?

Meiosis in females is specifically called oogenesis. This process involves several stages in the development of female gametes, or eggs, from primordial germ cells.

During oogenesis, a diploid germ cell undergoes meiosis to produce a haploid oocyte, which eventually develops into a mature ovum. The process of oogenesis is characterized by unequal cytokinesis, resulting in one large functional egg and smaller polar bodies that typically do not participate in fertilization.

This term is distinct because it directly refers to the formation of female gametes, contrasting with spermatogenesis, which is the analogous process in males that leads to the formation of sperm. Gamete formation is a more general term that can refer to both oogenesis and spermatogenesis but lacks the specific association with females that oogenesis provides. Cytokinesis, on the other hand, is a process in cell division but does not exclusively refer to gamete formation.