The art of lovemaking and all things involved in it is a beautiful thing. Adult Content explores sexuality and all it’s endeavors.
Jacob Hight
– Graphics Editor –
Time passes so quickly. Hills and forests rust over with auburn autumn and straw is spun into golden grain. Soon the sleepy world will be tucked in, covered in a downy white blanket of snow, dreaming of crocuses and tender grass. Already, many families are preparing to gather, to pass the fleeting holiday season amidst the bounty of friends, family and good food.
The world rejects the idea of a universal family. At times, being a stranger can be a little better than being an enemy.
Creating a family, a warm, loving safe haven, is perhaps only surpassed in value by altruistic aspirations. Holidays are a time to honor and remember these familial aspirations.
For those that celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving, perhaps no image is more iconic than the cornucopia, a horn-shaped basket overflowing from a bountiful harvest.
While traditionally the cornucopia is a symbol of plenty, harvest is also the coming of age for seeds that will fulfill future aspirations of bounty. It is not just a symbol of fruitful mother earth, but it is also an image of male fertility (not to mention the bounty of an open heart).
So much energy is spent on inventive ways to have sex while inhibiting fertility.
In some cases, even though one of sex’s most sacred purposes is to create a family, safeguarding and nurturing fertility seems almost an afterthought.
To nurture fertility the Mayo Clinic website advises a healthy lifestyle for both men and women, such as reducing stress, eating healthily, taking multivitamins, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. It also advises to avoid controlled substances such as alcohol, marijuana (which increases abnormal sperm), tobacco and toxins in the environment.
The new smoking ban may have just increased student and faculty fertility by eliminating secondhand smoke on campus. Go STLCC!
Overall, many of the tips concerning both male and female fertility are lifestyle changes that are in harmony with the hormones that govern fertility. However, mechanical concerns may also play a significant role.
For men, the temperature of their testicles affects producing healthy sperm. Tight pants, underwear, hot baths/showers, saunas and bicycle riding are all things to be wary of listed on the Mayo Clinic website. Apparently sperm counts are higher in winter, though experts don’t assert the time of year makes a significant difference to fertility.
Sperm can take more than 70 days to mature. Meaning, it may take time for male fertility to reflect positive lifestyle changes. Some doctors advise not to ejaculate more than twice a day while trying, to prevent using up developed sperm.
Ninety percent of couples are said to conceive in the first year, and it is the one-year mark that delineates fertility from infertility.
Whether one believes in creationism or the theory of evolution, each being is the fruit of an unbroken chain from the very beginning of life on this planet. Each person is the victory of his or her ancestors over all manner of obstacles and dangers. We are the bounty.
