The Pill: invented in 1961 and we’re not looking back. It offers the perfect solution to female fears of being left (literally) holding the baby, renders relationships more equal and provides scope for carefree fun. Apart from some fertility scares and a few potentially nasty side-effects, the pill can do no wrong. Or can it?
Tests are constantly being done about the downsides of this female contraceptive. Are you working out but fail to build up that impressive six pack? The blame may be found within your daily dose of birth control. A 10-week study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, and the University of Pittsburgh found that women who did not take oral contraceptives gained 60 percent more muscle mass than those on the pill. Women on the Pill also had reduced levels of the hormone DHEA, which helps with muscle growth. But there has been a much more worrying study, which doesn’t just mean holding on to those extra couple of pounds…
Research from the University of Liverpool has suggested that by interfering with women’s hormones, the Pill also interferes with, wait for it: their sense of smell. And it appears that smell plays a crucial part in determining who we’re attracted to. I can see boys reaching for their aftershave now, but this is not a simple case of preferring Diesel to Ralph Lauren; it’s far more primitive. Odour attraction is one of the primary ways that women find compatible mates, naturally seeking out men who have genes that are unlike, yet complementary, to their own. This is a well-known fact in the animal kingdom, with studies showing that female mammals sniff out males who have MHC genes (those responsible for immune responses) that are different from their own, to increase the chances of their offspring’s survival. However its importance for humans has not been so well recognised, until now. The new study suggests that the Pill turns this evolutionary safety mechanism on its head, causing women to become attracted to men who have the most similar genes to them.
If this attraction is strong enough for the long haul, then problems could start to arise. Should a woman come off the Pill at some point during her marriage, she could suddenly be physically repelled by her erstwhile Prince Charming. Rachel Herz, PhD, author of The Scent of Desire and a faculty member at Brown University, says that marriage counsellors have told her that the number one reason women cite for a lack of sexual interest in their husbands, is that they cannot bear how he smells. Superficial as it may sound, one can see how this would have serious effects on the intimacy of a relationship. The problem goes further: if the woman manages to hold her breath long enough to have children, these are likely to be born with a weaker immune system than their parents – effectively taking a step back in the evolutionary process.
The study itself took the form of a T-shirt sniff test. One hundred men were asked to wear the same T-shirt two nights in a row. These were then shredded, and obviously left unwashed, before being produced for the delectation of one hundred female nostrils. The majority of them was attracted to those tops which smelt of men who had the most dissimilar genes. They then began taking hormonal contraceptives, before smelling the same shirts again. Their responses changed. This time they chose genetically similar genes.
One of the researchers for the study, S. Craig Roberts, PhD, noted that the findings were compatible with an earlier US study, which had discovered that women in genetically similar couples were more likely to be dissatisfied with their sex life, and consequently were looking for new sexual partners. It appears that this really is the kind of thing that could break up a marriage.
In terms of a possible cause for this phenomenon, Roberts points out that when female animals are pregnant, they start to prefer the scent of genetically similar males. This may happen because they are seeking a mate to help them protect the baby, and are more likely to trust one which has a familiar smell. The Pill could trigger the same effect in human females, because it works as a contraceptive by duping the body into thinking it is pregnant.
Interesting as this research is, and it may certainly cause a few fiancées out there to try a “Pill-free test period” before the big day, I still cannot quite agree with the rather melodramatic views of Marie Hahnenberg, Director of American Life League’s The Pill Kills project, who seemed glad to have her opinions confirmed by the study. “This is significant data. We’ve known for a long time birth control ruins marriages and leaves families emotionally devastated; now we know there’s apparently a biological reason for it. Birth control is duping women into falling for the wrong men.” Personally, I think that the emotional devastation caused by unwanted pregnancy is still powerful enough to affirm the Pill’s validity in the chemist’s.
Of course, one way to avoid all this palaver would be to meet your man on the internet: if you become attracted to someone without smelling them, you can’t be disappointed when you meet them in the flesh. Unless it turns out that he doesn’t believe in showering. Then you wouldn’t even have to rely on your evolutionary instincts to tell that he just might not be your ideal life partner.
