Sexuality and reproduction

These theories, classical in origin, determined how people understood sexuality and reproduction. The Aristotelian theory held that men and women both produced “sperma”; in men, it was seed whereas in women it was menstrual blood. “At conception, the male seed animated menstrual blood to produce life.” More influential was the Hippocratic/Galenic theory in which both sexes contributed equally to conception by producing seed. The theory also held that the two sexes were anatomically parallel as well, with male organs (testes, penis) external versions of female reproductive organs (ovaries, vagina). “This two-seed or senence theory lingered throughout the eighteenth century” (Lindermann, loc 111-114).