Plan B Forum

THE president-elect of the American College of Surgeons has resigned after weeks of controversy surrounding a Valentine's Day editorial he wrote touting the mood-enhancing effects of semen on women during unprotected sex.

In a statement to The New York Times, Dr Lazar Greenfield said his many apologies had been ignored. ''Rather than have this remain a disruptive issue, I resigned as president-elect,'' he said. ''I only hope that those who choose to judge me will read the article in the spirit in which it was intended.''

Dr Greenfield, 78, was the editor-in-chief of Surgery News when the editorial was published but resigned that position in the wake of the controversy; the entire issue of the newspaper was withdrawn. He is an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Michigan.
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The editorial cited research that found female college students who had unprotected sex were less depressed than those who used condoms. It speculated that compounds in semen have antidepressant effects.

''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,'' it concluded.

The editorial outraged many women in the field, some of whom said that it reflected a macho culture in surgery.

Dr Barbara Bass, chairwoman of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Houston, said she was glad Dr Greenfield had resigned, despite his long history of supporting women in the profession. ''Some things you can't recover from if you're in a leadership role,'' Dr Bass said.

She said the resignation demonstrated that the surgery association's leadership ''does understand the continued challenges women face as they join and mature in the surgical profession''.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/world/sex-cla ... z1K6OtdaO8

The editorial cited research that found female college students who had unprotected sex were less depressed than those who used condoms. It speculated that compounds in semen have antidepressant effects.

The researchers think this is because mood-altering hormones in semen are absorbed through the vagina. They say they have ruled out other explanations.


"I want to make it clear that we are not advocating that people abstain from using condoms," says Gordon Gallup, the psychologist at the State University of New York who led the team. "Clearly an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease would more than offset any advantageous psychological effects of semen."

Scooter wrote:There is a difference between a long-term monogamous couple and college students who are hooking up with whomever...not sure what the rules are in your marriage for sex outside the relationship but I am assuming that if it is permitted, there is an insistence that condoms will be used.

loCAtek wrote:I'm not that over-melodramatic.

The Hen wrote:Sperm makes you happy Lo. Try some. Soon.