Now that so many women are balancing school, family, and work, it's hard to find time to stand up for women's causes.   But it is important and it does work.   Recently a prominent surgeon wrote a Valentine's Day editorial about the mood enhancing effects of semen on women during unprotected sex.   He cited a research study done in 2002 that reported that female college students who had had unprotected sex were less depressed that those who used condoms. It implied that compounds in semen have antidepressant effects.  He goes further to imply sex without condoms may be a nice Valentine's present. WHAT?#?#

The reaction from female doctors and especially female surgeons was almost immediate and full of outrage.   Guess what?  The surgeon (who was president-elect of the American College of Surgeons) submitted his resignation with little fuss, despite his many accomplishments and past support for women.     Even he must have felt that he went way over the line.   If you want to read the New York Times report on this incident, click here.

Even better, think about what is important to you as a woman related to health and if you find some shortcomings, find the time to speak out!

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After reading a bit of the public’s reaction (http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/), there seems to be some debate on the ethical characteristics of the piece. Fine; I encourage debate. However, it seems there is some concern with Surgery News itself as being a less than reliable “news” source. It seems from the NYTimes article and other links that is broader concerns not only with those editing Surgery News but also the process (or lack thereof) required to publish a piece. Is anyone personally familiar with the magazine or the ACS? Are these concerns about Surgery News valid or is this one bad piece that does not represent the larger majority of research reviewed by the publication?

I agree! The developing countries of this world will need 18.6 billion condoms by 2015. But just throwing condoms at the problem is not the answer, education about condoms and sex is probably the most important part of preventing the spread of disease and preventing unwanted pregnancies.

"Even better, think about what is important to you as a woman related to health and if you find some shortcomings, find the time to speak out!" it's true

If the author of the article wanted to express a view on human sexuality in academic or humorous ways, there were many other alternative venues he could have chosen to do so. Instead, he chose to use his professional stature in the field of surgery to express his thoughts on this topic. That is,i feel,why so many people were angered by this

That is the truth i agree with you 100% Scott women have rights and I also believe in standing up for them to.

I am not really an activist of anything but I do agree on the importance of standing up for women's rights. Though I think the research is just crap. He deserved that, even if he did not intend it, he still insulted women with his irresponsible words

I wonder did the women who kicked up the fuss read his research before doing so? It would be a shame if real, well researched material was ignored because some women took umbrage at the findings..