"Semengate" :: Where were you when it happened?

 illustration by Zohar Lazar

Huffington Post-   Lazar Greenfield, M.D. is no ordinary surgeon. Until last week, he was the president-elect of the American College of Surgeons. The man is the inventor of the Greenfield Filter, a device that has saved countless lives as a means of preventing blood clots during surgery. He's a professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Michigan. He has written more than 360 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, 128 book chapters and two textbooks. He has served on the Editorial Board of 15 scientific journals and was also the lead editor of the Surgery News, the trade publication in which his writing initiated Semengate.

In the February issue, he penned some thoughts on Valentine's Day under the heading of "Gut Feelings." ("But Valentine's Day is about love, and if you remember a romantic gut feeling when you met your significant other, it might have a physiological basis.") Greenfield proceeded to then discuss the mating habits of creatures from fruit flies to rotifer . In each case, Dr. Greenfield made sure to reference to the scientific literature. Then he turned his attention to humans.

Dr. Greenfield noted the therapeutic effects of semen, citing research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior which found that female college students practicing unprotected sex were less likely to suffer from depression than those whose partners used condoms (as well as those who remained abstinent).

Presumably it was the closing line that caused the controversy: "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 attempt at Jackie Mason-humor apparently didn't sit well in certain quarters. Dr. Greenfield resigned as editor of the Surgery News and gave up his stewardship of ACS after learning that his article had spurred threats of protests from outside women's groups.

Well, there you have it. From the good doctor's mouth and, maybe, into yours. People don't read or listen to Lazer Greenfield for his jokes though, they do it for his extensive knowledge.  And if Lazer says women will be happier having unprotected sex and semen is a better gift than chocolates for women, than who are we as simple working civilians to argue with a doctor? 


P.s. I envision Lazer giving his speech and someone in the crowd asks, "Dr. Greenfield, where does this rank in your studies as a doctor?"
"Doctor?" He questions, "I'm not a doctor, but I did stay a Holiday Inn last night. Ugh! Lazer Show!"