# Is semen used for anything else?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 8, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185 "2013-04-08T21:32:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/21 "2013-04-09T11:06:18Z")
I dated a goth lady who liked to use man-juice specimens in her artwork. She was happy to assist in obtaining a fresh supply. She also sometimes included menstrual blood in her artistic endeavors.
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### Author:  [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/22 "2013-04-09T13:02:26Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Ancient Romans believed semen was good for the skin and suposedly gladiator semen was sold to wealth matrons as face cream. I always wondered if the gladiators showed up in person for the treatments, or if there was some other method of keeping the product fresh.
Do you have a cite for this? I ask only because searching for ‘gladiator semen face cream’ brings up this thread as the only hit of note (the other hit is some bogus ‘gladiator face cream’ sales pitch site.)
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### Author:  [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/23 "2013-04-09T22:24:35Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> Is sperm really akin to a skin cream? That’s what I hear every now and then. Mostly then.
There’s a Liz Phair song on that very topic.
Also, I don’t know about Van Gogh, but Andres Serrano used it as a medium.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/24 "2013-04-09T22:45:12Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Idea for a porn flick story line.
it was called _Caligula._
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/25 "2013-04-10T16:41:20Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> **mangeorge** goddamnit, not **Mangetout**!
>
> That was one of the first GQ threads I ever read. I was hooked. Then for a while whenever a thread on fellatio or semen would turn up, I’d mention **Mangetout**. I did it often enough that I PM’ed him apologizing. He graciously accepted the apology, and said he had no idea what I was talking about.
>
> I mean, it’s in his username!
I’d be ever so grateful if this is the last time my name comes up in this context. 🙂
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/26 "2013-04-10T17:06:55Z")
Everything I’ve had to say on the subject has already been said. I’ll be in my bunk.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/27 "2013-04-10T17:35:48Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> fish food?
I remember that thread! At least as good, if somewhat less bizarre than **mangeorge** ’s immortal classic.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/28 "2013-04-10T17:41:29Z")
Women have been known to drink it in order to get married. 😃
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/29 "2013-04-10T17:44:00Z")
Hair mousse.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/30 "2013-04-10T17:59:41Z")
they might be good window washers being good with ropes and all.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/31 "2013-04-10T18:13:50Z")
Gah. Mind like a steel sieve. Back in the mid eighties, I had a job that sometimes exposed me to industrial safety information. I remember reading from a book that listed the tests that should be done on workers exposed to various chemicals and how often the tests should be performed.
As a for instance, I sometimes picked up old pesticides for disposal and had to have my blood tested twice a year. Someone in a chemical production plant might have to have monthly or weekly urine tests.
Being the sort of person who reads dictionaries, I browsed a bit after looking up the reference I needed. I came across one chemical that, honest to og, required that ejaculate samples be tested (I think it was quarterly, but wouldn’t bet money on it after this much time) to see if the employee had become contaminated. Apparently no blood test was possible or available.
I remember thinking, damn, that’s a bona fide reason to only hire men for those jobs. I sometimes wish I had written the name of the chemical (or the book) down.
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### Author:  [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/32 "2013-04-10T18:43:02Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#):
>
> In Polish weddings it is often customary to spend a week or two collecting the groom’s and best man’s semen and filling little thimbles full to give to the guests.
>
> In aboriginal culture, semen is often used as lip balm.
>
> Penn and Teller are well known for their use of semen (and disappearing semen) in various magic acts.
>
> Sega of America and Hudson briefly embarked on a joint venture to develop a video game/home computing system that would react and function differently depending on the type, volume and temperature of semen inserted into the SRD (semen receptacle drive).
>
> None of the above is true.
I was this close to asking for a cite, then I saw the last line. I’ve been to some strange Polish weddings, but cum on!
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/33 "2013-04-10T19:24:24Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#):
>
> Probably not an authoritative source, but I remember reading in a magazine somewhere (probably _Penthouse_, years ago) about a very exclusive restaurant which served up tiny goblets of chilled semen as a novelty drink. May have been a fantasy story…as I recall, one of the female narrators was experiencing the place for the first time, got seriously squicked out and sent her goblet back untasted. The waiter approached looking upset and said “Madame, that was _my_ semen…is anything wrong?”
There is a porn movie from the 70s called “Behind the Green Door” with a scene very similar to that. The man at the table says “Come again on the the lady’s drink please, waiter” with obvious results.
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### Author:  [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/34 "2013-04-10T19:41:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Ancient Romans believed semen was good for the skin and suposedly gladiator semen was sold to wealth matrons as face cream. I always wondered if the gladiators showed up in person for the treatments, or if there was some other method of keeping the product fresh.
Heard of gladiator sweat used that way but not sperm..
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### Author:  [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/35 "2013-04-10T19:43:14Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#):
>
> I’ve heard it can be used as invisible ink, although I cannot verify this from firsthand experience.
used as a plot device in Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
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### Author:  [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/36 "2013-04-10T19:44:47Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#):
>
> I think it is believed Van Gogh used it in his paintings.
Well we had a guy who did at our art collage.. he did get carted away to mental hospital quite often though.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/37 "2013-04-10T21:10:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> _Urban Dictionary,_ first definition:
>
> To ejaculate on a girl in an attempt to paint a picture on her stomach
>
> One usually stares at the painted picture to admire its beauty
>
> verb: “I hope I can van gogh her tonight”
> I just van goghed her last night man, it was awesome
>
> You’re welcome. I stand tall, hold my hips, and cry “hah!” at kinky porn sites.
>
> Any other search requests?
It’s posts (and information) like this that keep me coming back to this cuckoo’s nest.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/38 "2013-04-10T21:57:41Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#):
>
> …For example, are there any cultures that use it in rituals?..
Several New Guinea tribes have noteworthy customs of semen ingestion: [Semen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen_ingestion#Cultural_practices)
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/39 "2013-04-10T22:58:10Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#):
>
> I’ve heard it can be used as invisible ink, although I cannot verify this from firsthand experience.
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Several New Guinea tribes have noteworthy customs of semen ingestion: [Semen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen_ingestion#Cultural_practices)
Great cite. From the same entry, for **Fretful** :
Semen in espionage
Semen stain on carpet observed with and without ultraviolet light
When the British Secret Intelligence Service discovered that semen made a good invisible ink, Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming noted of his agents that “Every man (is) his own stylo”.[44]
That is his real name, apparently. He founded MI6.
“Every man his own stylo” is very very good. I’ll return to that in a bit.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-semen-used-for-anything-else/655185/40 "2013-04-11T01:05:47Z")
Right on schedule, SD SerendipityTM:
[Woman’s marriage turned upside down by sperm allergy](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/allergy-sperm-game-changer-marriage/t/story?id=18916973#.UWVmCG-G3K9&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drudgereport.com%2F). She has [seminal plasma allergy.](http://www.seminalplasmaallergy.org/)
Fuck. Just when everyone’s having a ball something bad turns up.
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