Remember Men Come First: Bedside Reading 1720 Style.

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indianafrank

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 15, 2014
950
5
A quote from that book.
Men wanting to "make their seed abound" should focus their diet on a combination of root vegetables and songbirds.
I weighed 14 lbs when born. My proud father used to walk around saying the reason why I was so husky upon delivery was because of all the spinach he ate. :roll: Of course this was back in the day. For those of you who remember Popeye. :puffy:

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
For all the supplements and nutritional advice given for various health problems and deficiencies, fertility doesn't seem to get addressed much, outside snake oil formulations advertised in the backs of magazines. Either you're producing those billions of gametes or you're not. One of those biological subtleties that eludes science. Oddly, food shortages seem to increase fertility, or maybe it is just that child bearing is so difficult in famines that it becomes conspicuous and an emergency.

 

darwin

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 9, 2014
820
5
It's only valued at 120 pounds. Seems awfully low for such an historical curiosity.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,744
27,344
Carmel Valley, CA
Men wanting to "make their seed abound" should focus their diet on a combination of root vegetables and songbirds.

A long list of recommended foods to aid men's sexual function includes eggs, sparrows, blackbirds, gnat snappers, thrushes, partridges, parsnips, young pigeons, ginger and turnips.
I'm not a birder, but the species I've bolded above don't sing very nice songs if at all....

 
Dec 28, 2015
2,337
1,003
I skipped over this thread several times today before finally opening it. If I had know it was Jay I would have looked immediately. Another gem from the BBC. I have got to start implementing some of the expert advice given in that excerpt. Thanks Jay!!!

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,744
27,344
Carmel Valley, CA
The first bits:

Don't lie with beasts

The manual - with the added power of illustrative woodcuts - warns women that if they "generate with animals" they run the risk of giving birth to monsters.

One picture shows a man sporting an impressive tail; another shows a child being born with feathers and a single, clawed leg.

The bird-child was apparently born in Italy in 1512 and it was all the fault of the mother, who was "filthy and corrupt".
Not that I am suggesting anyone here engages in bestiality- well, one guy probably, but hasn't shown in this thread— interesting it admonishes women but no mention of guys and sheep!

 

madox07

Lifer
Dec 12, 2016
1,823
1,690
Meanwhile, "the fittest time for the procreation of male children is when the sun is in Leo and moon in Virgo, Scorpio or Sagittarius".
So I am guessing that every respectable man during that time had an astronomical clock at their house !? :lol:

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
LOL madox07. I think most people just look at the night sky.
mso489 fertility does not elude science. I will admit that it isn't advertised much to the public, especially when compared to abstinence, contraception and abortion. Rockefeller funding have been going to fertility research for decades. While their goals were to reduce fertility, they came to completely understand the biology of it.

 

mikethompson

Lifer
Jun 26, 2016
11,340
23,496
Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Very cool find, lots of helpful advice in there.
As my wife and I went through a fertility juggernaut for several years, I can safely say that science can help with fertility, but not necessarily with getting pregnant. Some things are up to God, or how many pigeons you eat.

 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,101
In her historical feminist book "Beyond Power: On Women, Men, and Morals," 1985, Marilyn French said that way, way, way back when, society was matriarchal but that men seized power and that patriarchy has prevailed since. You might say, respectfully, that money and education separate the more odious conventions of patriarchy of the less monied and high school educated from the supposedly egalitarian sex relationships of those above; that is, when pressed, a male of either division will revert to a "men first" attitude."
After all women are without logic and such silly creatures.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
In my grandparents' generation, men were definitely the "main characters," with women subordinated, at least in the public mythology. I think we've come around to where women are the current main players in the social saga of struggle and triumph, though they see they have a ways to go in political and economic power. It will be interesting to see if men come around to at least sharing some appeal in the social scheme, up from being the default villains. I think that may be some decades off.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,426
7,369
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
I recall watching a documentary about 25 years ago where men and women in their 70's to 90's + were interviewed about sex education in their time or rather the lack thereof. It was astonishing how many newly weds just assumed that simply sleeping with their newly married partner would bring on a pregnancy!
Oh how times have changed.
Regards,
Jay.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I just read the article. I didn't see an author accredited to the it, but they are interpreting the words with no understanding of the common philosophy of the day. The lack of depth in understanding is sad. Whoever wrote that book was speaking a different language, even though both are called English.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
"For all the supplements and nutritional advice given for various health problems and deficiencies, fertility doesn't seem to get addressed much"
Traditional Chinese medicine seems to have kicked infertility's ass years ago.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
That's because a good Chinese medicine doctor probably uses similar ingredients. There is a lot more wisdom in the old traditions than people realize. I have had better results from Chinese medicine than western medicine for a different complaint. But like all things, not all practitioners are equal.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
I've lost track of the books, but William Cobbit was a fascinating character in the seventeen hundreds (I think) who pontificated on domestic harmony and both was an overt male supremacist and placer of women on pedestals. His work is silly on the one hand and an interesting insight on how these views were perpetuated on the other. Nothing quite like him, if you can dredge up the books or excerpts. He's worshipful of women, but not in a way they'd like today. I think the American West killed off a lot of this thinking. Women voted and owned property there earlier than in the East. Their help and strength were needed, and they demanded in return. Scotland was another early source of education for women and respect for their role in society.

 
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