# If ignorance were cornflakes... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567 "2009-02-26T21:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/1 "2009-02-26T21:41:23Z")
Hey, waitaminute… cornflakes are made by Kellogg, not General Mills. Does this mean that a woman [does retain traces of her male partner?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/52/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/2 "2009-02-26T23:34:16Z")
I’m surprised they didn’t include the follow-up, as seen in the book, where Cecil gets called on the General Mills quip. His excuse is that it wouldn’t have been funny if he’d said Kellogg’s. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/3 "2009-02-26T23:56:51Z")
Another thread about the same column: [Does a woman retain traces of her male partner after giving birth? - Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508308) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/4 "2009-02-27T02:18:18Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’m surprised they didn’t include the follow-up, as seen in the book, where Cecil gets called on the General Mills quip. His excuse is that it wouldn’t have been funny if he’d said Kellogg’s. He never got called on that. He brought that up himself when he got called on the McDonald’s hamburger joke “But the real shocker is that every McDonald’s hamburger contains chopped-up pieces of–brace yourself–dead cow.” in the question on seaweed in shakes. [Do McDonald’s milkshakes contain seaweed?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/681/do-mcdonalds-milkshakes-contain-seaweed) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/5 "2009-02-27T03:59:28Z")
I was curious about the “whether human, female, or wombat” bit. Although I admit in the past I have dated some decidedly inhuman girls. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/6 "2009-02-27T16:35:34Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Hey, waitaminute… cornflakes are made by Kellogg, not General Mills. Guess what? [General Mills makes Corn Flakes.](http://www.foodservicedirect.com/index.cfm/S/4/CLID/486/N/98192/General_Mills_Corn_Flakes.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/7 "2009-02-27T16:48:51Z")
Why, drench me in milk and call me Cap’n Crunch. Cecil is wrong. When a Rhesus-negative mother has a child from a Rhesus-positive father, she may develop antibodies against her baby’s blood type. So, she _does_ retain traces in her blood, caused by the first father’s genetic information about his immune system inherited by the baby. This acquired incompatibility against the previous father’s antigen type can be potentially dangerous in subsequent pregnancies. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/8 "2009-02-28T00:32:56Z")
> [@Wiltshire](#): > > Why, drench me in milk and call me Cap’n Crunch. Cecil is wrong. When a Rhesus-negative mother has a child from a Rhesus-positive father, she may develop antibodies against her baby’s blood type. So, she _does_ retain traces in her blood, caused by the first father’s genetic information about his immune system inherited by the baby. This acquired incompatibility against the previous father’s antigen type can be potentially dangerous in subsequent pregnancies. Nope – still doesn’t count. The question wasn’t, “Does pregnancy have any permanent effect on a woman’s body?” Of course it does. But those Rh antibodies[ul] [li]come from the woman, herself, and[/li][li]have no _genetic_ effect on subsequent children.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ignorance-were-cornflakes/487567/9 "2009-02-28T12:37:13Z")
Continuing the rhesus topic at the [thread=508308]other thread[/thread]