Valentine’s Day? How about biological selection day?
Perhaps it should be called “Make sure you smell each other in time, before it’s too late” Day!
I was researching mother-child (which is woman-mate) immune-compatibility at the same research center at the same time as a Nobel Prize Laureate did her research on human pheromone preferences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (yes, we research more than just cancer.)
My research showed that women were getting auto-immune diseases at many times the rate of men, because we still have cells from any and all pregnancies in our bodies. This harboring of (50% foreign!) infant material is called microchimerism, and I’ll shut up about it right now or I’ll keep on going.
Noble noses
The Nobel Laureate’s research was on the subject of women’s preference of sweaty T-shirts. The shirts were stand-ins for the men who’d worn them, so the test could be truly double-blind. (Yes, they were a standard size, etc.)
That’s right. Sweaty T-shirts that’d been worn by men they’d otherwise recognize.
The research showed that
- before pregnancy, women consistently preferred the shirts of men from outside their family,
- during pregnancy, they preferred shirts worn by men in their own biological family, and
- after giving birth, they were into the sweaty shirts of strange men again.
Destiny never told you “smell in time!”
- What can this research show us about chemistry, that Tinder can’t touch?
- How can you BENEFIT from it, instead of just getting more and more discouraged?
- Where are all these women who are willing to smell sweaty T-shirts? (Wait, that last one was from a part of me that wants to start a scent-based dating site, but I’ll just let you run with that idea and hire me as a consultant, okay?)
Seriously, there are things I want to share, have never shared before, and wonder whether I should share. They’re my thoughts prompted by colleagues’ research, and every time I share them with someone, they tell me to tell more people.
Will you please incentivize me by RSVP’ing for this Hallmark-enforced, completely artificial deadline?
Feb 14, 2023(!!), noon Pacific time
If you have something Valentine’s-y to do on Feb 14, you’ll just have to listen to the recording. (Everyone who signs up will get the audio-only recording.)
The live event is for those of us who want to say “I have a date that night” knowing full well it’s a date with Destiny, to punch her in the nose and tell her exactly how we feel about her Destining you for a world without vital information about how women really work… and then go and get that information.
Join me for 1hour of Q&A, or just open discussion, on the surprising research articles I’ll send you via email in the weeks leading up to this free event. Info and the zoom link will slow-drip into your inbox over time after you sign up.
I wrote this in 2022 with the goal of outlining and halfway preparing for seasonally themed events I will offer in 2023 and thereafter. Please understand this page is a placeholder and I encourage you to write to any name you wanna call me at this website dot com, and I’ll respond, but this form… is glitching at the moment, and I will not troubleshoot it in time. Book me all to yourself on Feb 14th instead! I’d love to meet you, and this topic is near and dear to my ♥!!!