As far as humans are concerned, you may think you know all about sexual signals, but you’d be surprised by new findings. It’s been known since the 1990s that heterosexual women living together synchronize their menstrual cycles because of pheromones, but when a study of lesbians showed that they do not synchronize, the researchers suspected that semen played a role. In fact, they found ingredients in semen that include mood enhancers like estrone, cortisol, prolactin, oxytocin, and serotonin; a sleep enhancer, melatonin; and of course, sperm, which makes up only 1%-5%. Delivering these compounds into the richly vascularized vagina also turns out to have major salutary effects for the recipient. Female college students having unprotected sex were significantly less depressed than were those whose partners used condoms (Arch. Sex. Behav. 2002;31:289-93). Their better moods were not just a feature of promiscuity, because women using condoms were just as depressed as those practicing total abstinence. The benefits of semen contact also were seen in fewer suicide attempts and better performance on cognition tests.
So there’s a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there’s a better gift for that day than chocolates.
The article didn't excite the publishers as they received numerous complaints. Now referred to as 'Semengate,' Surgery News then played the old In-And-Out with it - removing it from their online archives. (Retraction Watch has it.)
Dr. Greenfield told the Detroit Free Press, "My intention was to amuse rather than to offend." And then he resigned due to the threat of protests.
Sexis writer Rayne Millaray sums it up:
His hypothesis has backing! In his paper, Dr. Greenfield cited a peer-reviewed study that shows women who have unprotected sex are less likely to be plagued with depression than women who use condoms. (Note: We're not suggesting you go out and have unprotected sex for your mental health's sake. Use condoms. See a doctor for the depression.)
So, doctors present and future, remember: Suggesting a man have sex with his female partner on Valentine's Day is a terrible, terrible thing. Semen is no laughing matter.
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