Has the Pill Changed the Rules of Sexual Attraction?
Linda Geddes writes in New Scientist:
The contraceptive pill alters monthly fluctuations in hormones associated with the menstrual cycle, mimicking the more stable hormonal conditions associated with pregnancy. This might not only disrupt the natural processes which influence women’s choice of partner, but it could also make them less able to compete with women who have a natural menstrual cycle, a paper published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution suggests.
How worried should we be, and what other strategies can men and women use to tip the odds in their favour? New Scientist investigates.
What do we know about how women choose a mate?
Recent studies have confirmed that women tend to prefer taut bodies, broad shoulders, clear skin and defined, masculine facial features – all of which may indicate sexual potency and good genes. Women also tend to be attracted to men who look as if they have wealth, or the ability to acquire it.
Smell may also be a factor: women seem to prefer the scent of men who have immune systems dissimilar to their own, as measured by genes for the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). A number of companies have sprung up recently that even claim to be able to match couples on the basis of their genes.
Read More in New Scientist
