There was a study done over a decade ago by Claud Wedekind in which 44 men wore the same T-shirt for three days, refraining refrained from deodorants and scented soaps so they wouldn’t interfere with their smell. Thereafter women sniffed the shirts and indicated which ones they felt smelled the best. In this test, the researchers found that women preferred the smell of a man whose MHC (major histocompatibility complex), which is a series of genes involved in our immune system, was most different from their own.
But there was an exception… The MHC attraction for women taking the pill was almost the exact opposite, with women on the pill finding the scent of men with MHC’s similar to their own to be attractive.. The assumption is that because the pill tricks your body into thinking it is pregnant, it chemically alters the sense of attraction. This article is about potential implications of this exception.
First, one has to consider why it is believed that the natural attraction is for dissimilar MHC. It is thought that this is a byproduct of evolution, in that those attracted to dissimilar MHC would have offspring with better immune systems, and thus would have a better chance of surviving, a genetic advantage. This leads to the first potential implication, birth control pills may be leading to weaker immune systems for the human species. I’m not saying they should not exist, or be used, as they certainly make life more convenient. I’m simply making an observation that this could be an implication.
Let’s consider another possible implication. Many single women in the industrialized world take birth control pills. They flirt, date, get engaged, get married, and plan families while on birth control pills. Considering the results of this study, however, it would seem that women might be sexually attracted to a person while on birth control pills, only to find this attraction muted when not on birth control. This leads to the second potential implication, birth control pills could increase divorce rates.
I’m not saying birth control pills will increase divorce rates, but it would certainly seem to make sense that they could. As idealistic as someone might strive to be when it comes to their commitment to marriage, sexual attraction still matters. Going even further, many do not strive for any particular ideal, but instead, finding themselves less attracted to their mates, simply head for the exit (or more accurately to another bedroom door). Thinking about it, without looking at actual data, it seems that an increase in divorce rates has some correlation with the inception of use of and growth of use of birth control pills.
This article may cause some controversy. Keep in mind, I’m only making observations about possible implications, I’m not stating these things for a fact, and I’m certainly NOT making any type of moral statement or other statement about society. More than anything, I do not wish to limit anyone’s freedom, of any kind.
Originally published 2/25/09 in Science 2.0