Semen: love drug or health food?

Semen is really surprising. Sperm comprises roughly 3% of semen by volume. The rest is a mixture of various sugars, amino acids, and hormones, including estrone, prolactin, oxytocin, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and serotonin.^[1]^[2]

Recent research has revealed some truly surprising effects that can occur in women following exposure to semen from a male lover.

There is now ample evidence that absorption of semen can be mood enhancing for women and may even reduce levels of depression in women. Researchers compared three different groups of women:

Those engaging in unprotected intercourse with men
Those engaging in intercourse with men using condoms
Those abstaining from intercourse

Only those engaging in unprotected sex experienced reduced levels of depression. In addition, chemicals originating in the semen were found in these women’s blood hours after sex.^[3]^[4]

The idea that unprotected sex with men could be beneficial to women has been described as controversial in recent years and is actively resisted by many feminists. The idea isn’t really controversial of course. It is supported by solid evidence. Feminism, in its efforts to denigrate male sexuality, cannot tolerate claims that sexual intercourse with a man could benefit a woman in any way. What many feminists fail to understand, apparently, is that almost all humans rely constantly on many other humans to survive. There are a large number of jobs that women have shown next to no interest in undertaking. Many of these jobs are dangerous and dirty, and they are necessary for the continued operation of society. Even without any reference to semen, women (and men) depend on men every day for their well being and survival. For most people independence is an illusion.

Dr Lazar Greenfield, a US surgeon, was forced to resign from the presidency of the American College of Surgeons for daring to mention the mood enhancing qualities of semen in an article published in 2011. His remarks were incidental to the article, which was intended to be light-hearted.^[5] Such is the degree to which feminism has infested the scientific establishment that even these gentle comments resulted in a massive backlash. Scientific results which challenge feminist dogma are not tolerated. The February 2011 issue of Surgery News in which the article was printed is still apparently not available in the publication archives despite the publication claiming it would be again.^[6]^[7]

Vaginal absorption of semen may reduce the chance of breast cancer by up to 50% in some women.^[8] More generally it may inhibit tumour formation.^[9]

Does unprotected sex with men make women fall in love too? There is a definite link between oxytocin and developing feelings of attraction and closeness.^[10] This effect seems to be much more pronounced in females than males.^[11]^[12] Could the oxytocin from semen have a direct result on how women feel about their male lover? Women who regularly engaged in unprotected sex with men seem to have a harder time with breakups.^[13] The extent to which exposure to semen really makes a woman fall in love is, as yet, unclear but it seems to be a contributing factor.

Oral sex (and the subsequent exposure and consumption of semen) appears to be beneficial too. Many of the effects noted for vaginal sex may also apply for oral sex. Amazingly, fellatio may be the cure for morning sickness during pregnancy.^[14]

In addition, women may be able to reduce their chances of suffering a common and potentially very serious pregnancy related medical condition by engaging in fellatio with the future father of their children. This appears to be true for oral sex before and during pregnancy. Scientists theorize that consumption of semen primes a woman’s body for exposure to the foreign proteins found in the man and his child. Being primed for these proteins means that the woman is able to cope with them during pregnancy resulting in lower incidence of preeclampsia.^[15] More recent research suggests that receiving semen vaginally may have the same effect and may be an evolutionary adaption that results in children being more likely to be brought up in stable family environments.^[16]

It is likely that there is significant individual variation in these effects. Some women may find the impact of semen to be significant, while others may not notice it at all.

From an evolutionary perspective it is entirely plausible that women who responded more positively to semen absorption would be more likely to engage in sexual intercourse. This may have resulted in a selective advantage resulting in human females generally responding positively to semen absorption today. This raises the question about whether vaginal fluids have equivalent benefits for men. At the present time the jury is still out, however it wouldn’t be terribly surprising if future research established benefits. Nature has a way of surprising us.

Does this mean that people should be having more unprotected sex? No. All of the usual arguments for and against unprotected sex still apply. This data does suggest however that unprotected sex with men can be beneficial to women as long as this occurs in an environment unlikely to result in exposure to sexually transmitted infections, such as a long-term monogamous relationship.

While the evidence supports reduced levels of depression in women having unprotected intercourse, those suffering from depression are recommended to seek appropriate medical care.

So is semen a love drug or a health food? Well perhaps it is a little of both. It is unfortunate that modern feminist ideology prevents the widespread acceptance of scientifically supported ideas. Research shows that semen has many positive qualities and women are the primary beneficiaries of this. As is so often the case feminism works here to the detriment of men and women alike.

Semen: love drug or health food?

References

Like this:

Tampon Oppression

Message to Anita Sarkeesian aka @femfreq

Robert Brockway

Recommended Content

Crikey

Argument to moderation

We Can Do It