Here's one for you biology people

[StanMusial]

Birth control pills causes women to choose more feminine features in romantic partners.

 

Birth control pill users less attracted to masculine men - Daily Dose

[Els]

Wow, then guys had better not encourage their gfs to get on the pill later on if they weren't when they met, huh?

[dannebrave]

may be by using those pills female feel uncomfortable so they they avoid relation with males i think can you provide more info on this

[Alma Mobley]

Are you dating women 18-24? Do you base most of your outlooks on one study?

[Barnacle-Bob]

When women are menstruating (and let's face it...when aren't they?), the estrogen surge finds them favoring more feminine characteristics, and there is typically only a brief time each cycle when they strongly favor strong masculine characteristics. I think I have that right, or maybe I have it backwards? I can't remember.

 

I know a lot about biology, but human physiology is not my strong suit. But it all has to do with respective estrogen and testosterone levels.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Barnacle-Bob

[iKING]

What? Score..

[El Brujo]

It begs the question of why nobody has developed a male pill yet (it would put the paternity lawyers out of business)... would a man on the male pill prefer feminine women, or butch women?

[StanMusial]

Are you dating women 18-24? Do you base most of your outlooks on one study?

 

What is my outlook?

 

I just thought some people on here would find it interesting. Seems like the type of thing people on here would like to discuss.

[Star Gazer]

B.S. I've been on th pill going on 18 years now, and the guys I've always been interested in and dated have had anything but feminine features.

 

They only polled women 18-24. Said women are going to look for younger features, like Bieber.

[serial muse]

They only polled women 18-24. Said women are going to look for younger features, like Bieber.

 

This was also my thought.

[Cutiepie1976]

B.S. I've been on th pill going on 18 years now, and the guys I've always been interested in and dated have had anything but feminine features.

 

They only polled women 18-24. Said women are going to look for younger features, like Bieber.

 

The control group was similarly aged women. In other words, 18- to 24-year old women not on the pill preferred "Justin Bieber" with more masculine features.

 

Conclusion: if parents don't want to be bombarded by his prepubescent face and relatively high-pitched voice, hide their daughters birth control. Of course, then they'll probably be grandparents. Life is always a compromise.

 

ETA:

On a more serious note, there have been a few other controlled studies documenting a shift in preferences. This is not the first.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Cutiepie1976

[mesmerized]

You men really want to know the REAL truth?

 

Men with feminine features are "safe" choices for love and long term. Men with masculine features are the ones who get our panties wet and make us want to eff them like there is no tomorrow. So if you happen to be feminine looking, at least show some masculine behavior or get your ass to the gym and put on some muscle.

 

Do we really need studies for this??

Edited March 29, 2013 by mesmerized

[Cutiepie1976]

Wow, then guys had better not encourage their gfs to get on the pill later on if they weren't when they met, huh?

 

A preference doesn't necessarily mean a definitive choice. If a guy is abusive, I'll have no interest in him even if he is a perfect Adonis.

 

A lot more goes into mate selection for most women than just the squareness of a guy's jaw. To pick on common LS gripes, most women prefer tall guys, but somehow most short guys still date and marry. Same is true for overweight women. Both men and women look at the total package. A woman can be a ten, but if she mistreats a guy sufficiently, he will eventually walk.

[KatZee]

Wasn't true for me at all. Been on BC for 7-8 years. Never go for anything but manly and scruff. The Beiber look is NOT hot. But not surprising coming from a study of 18-24 year olds. No one knows what a real man is anymore. I wouldn't attribute that to birth control pills but the downfall of MTV.

[Els]

A preference doesn't necessarily mean a definitive choice. If a guy is abusive, I'll have no interest in him even if he is a perfect Adonis.

 

A lot more goes into mate selection for most women than just the squareness of a guy's jaw. To pick on common LS gripes, most women prefer tall guys, but somehow most short guys still date and marry. Same is true for overweight women. Both men and women look at the total package. A woman can be a ten, but if she mistreats a guy sufficiently, he will eventually walk.

 

I completely agree with this, hon. It was sarcasm, especially based on some of the OP's other posts.

[HoneyBadgerDontCare]

You men really want to know the REAL truth?

 

Men with feminine features are "safe" choices for love and long term. Men with masculine features are the ones who get our panties wet and make us want to eff them like there is no tomorrow. So if you happen to be feminine looking, at least show some masculine behavior or get your ass to the gym and put on some muscle.

 

Do we really need studies for this??

 

Or just be really aggressive in a non-creepy way. Regardless of how one looks, that'll get the panties wet.

[AD1980]

You men really want to know the REAL truth?

 

Men with feminine features are "safe" choices for love and long term. Men with masculine features are the ones who get our panties wet and make us want to eff them like there is no tomorrow. So if you happen to be feminine looking, at least show some masculine behavior or get your ass to the gym and put on some muscle.

 

Do we really need studies for this??

 

I know plenty of thin feminine looking pretty boys that do great with women even moreso probably then muscle bound guys

[HoneyBadgerDontCare]

When women are menstruating (and let's face it...when aren't they?), the estrogen surge finds them favoring more feminine characteristics, and there is typically only a brief time each cycle when they strongly favor strong masculine characteristics. I think I have that right, or maybe I have it backwards? I can't remember.

 

I know a lot about biology, but human physiology is not my strong suit. But it all has to do with respective estrogen and testosterone levels.

 

Studies suggest that women like masculine features when they're ovulating.

 

My personal experiences suggest that women like my features all the time.

[HoneyBadgerDontCare]

I know plenty of thin feminine looking pretty boys that do great with women even moreso probably then muscle bound guys

 

I've known many meatheads in my time. In my observations, they don't approach that much (in general...obviously not always). The "pretty boys" tend to be the ones that are more socially aware and, thus, get more girls.

 

IRL, I'm considered to be a "pretty boy." I go to the gym, but I'm not hardcore about it....because I know that it doesn't really matter all that much to women (as long as you're not grossly out of shape, you're good). Most meatheads revolve their lives around the gym and seem to believe that that's ALL that matters to women.

 

Attraction/game trumps all.

[Ninjainpajamas]

I'm typically referred to as a masculine guy by women in real life. I definitely think I carry myself different than most other men.

 

I grew up in my teens with my grandfather, who was kind of an old school tough guy so he was pretty hard on me in general. But even before that I had tough life at home, and got into fights with a lot kids that were bullies and never let anyone push me around. I wasn't very big either, would get teased for being too skinny by the men in my family...skin and bones. But I always stood up for myself regardless of my size, and I always spoke my mind whether it meant win or lose or being cast in unfavorable light and not jumping on the band-wagon. I wasn't ever concerned with pleasing the crowd or even being apart of them.

 

I had to earn a lot of confidence in myself by choosing to do things that made me feel scared throughout my life. It led me down my own path, I felt like I paved my own road through life, making decisions and taking steps that there were no other footsteps to follow or emulate to check if what I was doing and how i was acting was "the right way to do things" in terms of forming my identity.

 

I feel a lot of those types of qualities is what exhibits "masculinity" to me. To me it's about confidence, believing in yourself and being able to lead without someone showing you how, it's an aura that can't be faked or a facade that will eventually be seen through...because if it was I'm sure many other men would buy it, to combine with their boyishly good looks.

 

When I look around I see men having an identity crisis, they don't even know who they are or what they want to be as a man. They've got to copy some other douchebag who's copying some other douchebag because that's what the douchebag celebrity/rockstar at the top is doing instead of creating their own thing. And the funny thing is the only reason that guy at the top can get away with wearing a slipper for a hat and being called "trendy" for it, is because he's got money or fame. Imagine if you went outside wearing a meat suit like lady gaga, the police would pepper spray you and throw you in jail...If you're Lady Gaga you're heralded as miss independent/super freak/the next madonna (oh so bold and risky and crazy!), yet highly entertaining and people soak that shet up...even if they don't want to admit it....people criticize celebrities all the time...but mostly out of a hidden resentment or jealousy because nobody gives a damn about who you are.

 

To me, men this age/present day, are struggling to try and be "masculine" all the while still having to feel they need to look good, sexy, be successful, dress, talk, have some BS game that every other half-a-brain idiot has figured out if he's got any real experience...because even though you think it's your skill, it's mostly women just dealing with your BS, rolling their eyes because in their brain they knows it's a bunch of crap, they figure it out eventually they just ignore the truth and want to believe it...and keep giving guys a shot anyway in spite of their douchebaggery and there is a good chance she's highly insecure anyway and might not even feel they can do any better! It's big challenge once a woman is emotional for you and you can manipulate her around...you're a big player now! can't be that human instinct...you're especial!

 

The standards and expectations that many men have for themselves and what they base it on is often pathetic and saddening. I always tell people, take that guy's high salary, the car, the degree, those clothes, the body, that "style", a woman that can see through his "game" because she's actually listening to her head instead of her heart, whatever it is that makes him feel like a "man"...and you know what you got? you got nothing...you got a sad, depressed, insecure man that no longer has his "mojo" and is completely lost in who he is, even if he was the most confident guy in town, the higher the climb the harder the fall...if you need this "armor" to make yourself feel "secure", then you're actually very weak and vulnerable, because without it...it's a domino affect and everything comes crumbling down.

 

Men with masculinity is a dying breed if you ask me, mainly just a bunch of posers and chickens...hardly anybody identifies themselves with who they are as a man, but instead of what they can show or impress the rest of the world with for however long the smoke and mirrors will hide who they truly are. And people in general wonder why they are so insecure.

[Woggle]

I'm typically referred to as a masculine guy by women in real life. I definitely think I carry myself different than most other men.

 

I grew up in my teens with my grandfather, who was kind of an old school tough guy so he was pretty hard on me in general. But even before that I had tough life at home, and got into fights with a lot kids that were bullies and never let anyone push me around. I wasn't very big either, would get teased for being too skinny by the men in my family...skin and bones. But I always stood up for myself regardless of my size, and I always spoke my mind whether it meant win or lose or being cast in unfavorable light and not jumping on the band-wagon. I wasn't ever concerned with pleasing the crowd or even being apart of them.

 

I had to earn a lot of confidence in myself by choosing to do things that made me feel scared throughout my life. It led me down my own path, I felt like I paved my own road through life, making decisions and taking steps that there were no other footsteps to follow or emulate to check if what I was doing and how i was acting was "the right way to do things" in terms of forming my identity.

 

I feel a lot of those types of qualities is what exhibits "masculinity" to me. To me it's about confidence, believing in yourself and being able to lead without someone showing you how, it's an aura that can't be faked or a facade that will eventually be seen through...because if it was I'm sure many other men would buy it, to combine with their boyishly good looks.

 

When I look around I see men having an identity crisis, they don't even know who they are or what they want to be as a man. They've got to copy some other douchebag who's copying some other douchebag because that's what the douchebag celebrity/rockstar at the top is doing instead of creating their own thing. And the funny thing is the only reason that guy at the top can get away with wearing a slipper for a hat and being called "trendy" for it, is because he's got money or fame. Imagine if you went outside wearing a meat suit like lady gaga, the police would pepper spray you and throw you in jail...If you're Lady Gaga you're heralded as miss independent/super freak/the next madonna (oh so bold and risky and crazy!), yet highly entertaining and people soak that shet up...even if they don't want to admit it....people criticize celebrities all the time...but mostly out of a hidden resentment or jealousy because nobody gives a damn about who you are.

 

To me, men this age/present day, are struggling to try and be "masculine" all the while still having to feel they need to look good, sexy, be successful, dress, talk, have some BS game that every other half-a-brain idiot has figured out if he's got any real experience...because even though you think it's your skill, it's mostly women just dealing with your BS, rolling their eyes because in their brain they knows it's a bunch of crap, they figure it out eventually they just ignore the truth and want to believe it...and keep giving guys a shot anyway in spite of their douchebaggery and there is a good chance she's highly insecure anyway and might not even feel they can do any better! It's big challenge once a woman is emotional for you and you can manipulate her around...you're a big player now! can't be that human instinct...you're especial!

 

The standards and expectations that many men have for themselves and what they base it on is often pathetic and saddening. I always tell people, take that guy's high salary, the car, the degree, those clothes, the body, that "style", a woman that can see through his "game" because she's actually listening to her head instead of her heart, whatever it is that makes him feel like a "man"...and you know what you got? you got nothing...you got a sad, depressed, insecure man that no longer has his "mojo" and is completely lost in who he is, even if he was the most confident guy in town, the higher the climb the harder the fall...if you need this "armor" to make yourself feel "secure", then you're actually very weak and vulnerable, because without it...it's a domino affect and everything comes crumbling down.

 

Men with masculinity is a dying breed if you ask me, mainly just a bunch of posers and chickens...hardly anybody identifies themselves with who they are as a man, but instead of what they can show or impress the rest of the world with for however long the smoke and mirrors will hide who they truly are. And people in general wonder why they are so insecure.

 

Yup. Being able to deal with life's challenges and coming out on top while still remaining your own person is what being a man is really about. Many of these super tough guys are really soft as a pillow inside. I know guys who come across the nicest, most mild mannered people you could meet but deep down they are as tough as steel. That is what I strive to be. Not there yet but it is what I aspire to.

[Pompeii]

Studies suggest that women like masculine features when they're ovulating.

 

 

I had a thread about this, but everyone thought it was haberdash.

[Feelin Frisky]

I always discouraged my SO from using the pill. It wasn't necessary for my kind of sex and it struck me wrong as trying to trick your natural biological cycles, It took some convincing that I could be relied upon to hold up my side of the bargain but here were only about three close calls is many years.

[Archgirl]

I hesitate to comment before reading the actual study but...one study and a sample of 85 is not conclusive on its own. Although this does not mean that future research won't duplicate te findings.

 

However I wouldn't immediately discredit it, it is now fairly well established that long term use of birth control alters mate selection to some degree, for example leading women to choose males with similar rather than complimentary immune system related genes ( the later being preferable for max survival).

 

But overly using genetics/biology/evolution to explain human behaviors just leads to overly simplistic conclusions that can be highly misleading.

 

Fair?

[Michelle83]

I'm reading a book right now all about sex and attraction and one thing I read last night that was really interesting is that they say people are attracted to one another based on this thing called Major histocompatibility complex. You apparently are most attracted to people who have very different levels than you do and this is a natural process in mate selection.

 

But in females using birth control it basically interrupts the entire thing, so they're less likely to choose men they would be most naturally suited to.

 

Not sure how truthful it is, but it was interesting to read.