Study Finds That Women Aren’t Run By Their Periods. Scientists Everywhere Confused.

[ismnotwasm]

I wish someone would pay me a bunch of money for these studies. The article is kind of interesting, although heteronormative and focused on male partner preference of course. (Sigh)

What do women want? Over the past two decades, scientists have endeavored to answer this question by bringing women into their labs, asking about their sexual preferences, and then monitoring their menstrual cycles to try to extract clues from the ebb and flow of hormones in their mysterious female bodies. In recent years, these researchers have told us that the status of our monthly cycle on Election Day can influence our decision to favor Mitt Romney’s chiseled individualism or Barack Obama’s maternal healthcare policies; that our periods determine whether we feel like nesting with our partners tonight or heading out to proposition a stranger; and that our cycle urges us to swing with Tarzan at our most fertile and cuddle up with Clay Aiken when that month’s egg is out of the picture. Last month, psychologists at the University of Southern California published a meta-analysis of 58 research experiments that tested whether a woman’s preferences for masculinity, dominance, symmetry, health, kindness, and testosterone levels in her male romantic partners actually fluctuate across her menstrual cycle. The answer: They do not.

The analysis, published in the appropriately-titled journal Emotion Review, looked at studies that used a variety of sociological tools to examine women’s preferences for a host of masculine cues, such as a man’s gait, body hair, chin length, facial symmetry, or social interactivity, all through the prism of their menstrual cycles. They looked at studies that were focused on testing women’s preferences in short term relationships (like one-night stands) and long-term commitments (like marriages), and at studies that didn’t specify a relationship type at all. They included experiments that charted a woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility using hormonal tests and self-reports, ones that included women on hormonal contraception, and those that did not. All in all, they found that both fertile and non-fertile women preferred men who were more masculine, dominant, symmetric, and healthy; that those preferences remained relatively constant across their menstrual cycles; and that they applied to women’s feelings about both short-term and long-term relationships. Meanwhile, women who were at the non-fertile stage of their cycles—where they experience similar hormones to pregnant women—didn’t suddenly prefer kinder, gentler men.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/05/02/menstrual_studies_debunked_women_do_not_make_mating_decisions_based_on_their.html

What do women want is the wrong question. What do people want is the correct one.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. I thought this was going to be satire.

my bad.

[ellenrr]

2. I did too.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. thank god ...

I was beginning to question my sanity/reading comprehension this morning

[ismnotwasm]

3. Right?

It's a huge study too.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. and earlier this morning I read satire about Sarah Palin and thought it was the truth.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. I wish I could get funding to study the effects of water on sand -

I most definitely would need a trip to the beach to see it occurring in a natural locale

[Tansy_Gold]

7. I read it and STILL thought it was satire. n/t

[ismnotwasm]

8. LOL

I know it has that studied seriousness satire often has.

I still say give me the money, I could do a study like this and include ALL women

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. IKR

isn't life strange.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. I'd like to get funding

To study how many Kir Royales I can drink in St. Tropez on the beach before I get lit in the hot summer sun.

But - no (male scientist) one is ever interested in what women REALL want!

[Kber]

11. Maybe you just aren't targeting the right (male) scientist

To fund your research?

There's got to be someone who'd like to do a direct observational experiment.

[Squinch]

12. I think there needs to be a study that examines

how much women like it when someone else cleans their home during different phases of their cycles. It should be a very long term study. Like 10 or 20 years.

I will selflessly volunteer to be a guinea pig for that one.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Bwahahahaha !!!

[ellenrr]

14. haha, me too.