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Gauge your fertility, try bitching!
ANI (Times of India) ^ | 2/18/04 | ANI

Posted on 02/18/2004 11:14:55 AM PST by playball0

WASHINGTON: A new study hints that when women are at the most fertile point in their monthly cycle they tend to have a lower opinion of other women's looks.

Bitching: An effective tactic?

And that’s not just because of mood swings. The menstrual phase had no effect on how the same women rated the looks of men; Nature quoted Maryanne Fisher of York University in Toronto, Canada, as saying.

Fisher asked 57 women and 47 men to look at pictures of female and male faces, and rate their attractiveness on a seven-point scale from 'extremely unattractive' to 'extremely attractive'.

Whereas the men were fairly consistent in their voting, the women’s votes were slightly, but significantly, affected by the stage of their menstrual cycle.

Women about two or three weeks past the first day of their most recent period rated females about half a point lower than women at other points in their cycle.

Poor ratings in the study might translate to disparaging remarks in the real world, says Fisher. Looking down on others may be an effective tactic in the fight to snare an attractive man, she concludes.

In the same study, both men and women also judged the females as being generally more attractive than males. This could indicate that physical beauty is more of an asset to a woman than to a man, argues Fisher.

Competition among males tends to focus more on aggression or displays of wealth or physical fitness, she adds.

If beauty really is important, then it may come as no surprise that women would want to belittle their competition's looks while promoting their own.

"Lots of women in the study admitted that they deliberately try to dress better than their friends, but first they asked me: 'This is anonymous, right?'" says Fisher.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bitching; fertility; love
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Not a new discovery that women compete for men.
1 posted on 02/18/2004 11:14:56 AM PST by playball0
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To: playball0
Shhh - you'll be labeled some kind of pig.
2 posted on 02/18/2004 11:16:15 AM PST by trebb (Ain't God good . . .)
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To: playball0
Oh, oh. This is going to be a fun thread to read.
3 posted on 02/18/2004 11:16:55 AM PST by The South Texan (The Democrat Party and the leftist (ABCCBSNBCCNN NYLATIMES)media are a criminal enterprise!)
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To: trebb
Pigs need love, too.
4 posted on 02/18/2004 11:18:11 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: playball0
Bitching: An effective tactic?

I love a good cat-fight.

5 posted on 02/18/2004 11:19:16 AM PST by Modernman ("When you want to fool the world, tell the truth." -Otto von Bismarck)
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To: Lazamataz; patton; wardaddy
I want chocolate whine alert !

Stay Safe !!

6 posted on 02/18/2004 11:21:20 AM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: Modernman
Apparently, I've gone out with some pretty fertile women.
7 posted on 02/18/2004 11:21:24 AM PST by ChuckShick (He's clerking for me...)
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To: playball0

This might go a long way towards explaining how Hillary Clinton ever got pregnant.


8 posted on 02/18/2004 11:21:48 AM PST by Fintan (I'm all a-twitter.)
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To: playball0; Squantos; Eaker; Pete-R-Bilt; B4Ranch
In the same study, both men and women also judged the females as being generally more attractive than males.

they needed a study to figure this out?

9 posted on 02/18/2004 11:21:50 AM PST by glock rocks (molon labe)
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To: playball0
This could indicate that physical beauty is more of an asset to a woman than to a man, argues Fisher.

No!! Really?

10 posted on 02/18/2004 11:22:06 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: playball0
"Competition for males tends to focus more on aggression or displays of wealth or physical fitness"

How come Bubba was so loved by women as he possesses none of the above?

11 posted on 02/18/2004 11:23:11 AM PST by KantianBurke (Principles, not blind loyalty)
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To: playball0
From Nature.com

Caustic comments get girls a date

Women scorn each other at certain times of the month in fight for men.

18 February 2004
MICHAEL HOPKIN


Fertile females fight for mates by belittling the competition.

We're all guilty of making a snide comment about someone's appearance at one time or another. But a new study hints that women may instinctively use catty comments as a weapon in the dating game.

The research shows that when women are at the most fertile point in their monthly cycle they tend to have a lower opinion of other women's looks1. And that's not just because of mood swings. Menstrual phase had no effect on how the same women rated the looks of men, reports Maryanne Fisher of York University in Toronto, Canada.

Fisher asked 57 women and 47 men to look at pictures of female and male faces, and rate their attractiveness on a seven-point scale from 'extremely unattractive' to 'extremely attractive'.

Whereas the men were fairly consistent in their voting, the women's votes were slightly, but significantly, affected by the stage of their menstrual cycle. Women about two or three weeks past the first day of their most recent period rated females about half a point lower than women at other points in their cycle.

Poor ratings in the study might translate to disparaging remarks in the real world, says Fisher. Looking down on others may be an effective tactic in the fight to snare an attractive man, she concludes. "If you go into a nightclub washroom, you often hear women putting other women down," she says.

Hormonal changes

"A lot of feminists don't want to admit it, but I think there's a lot of competition between women," says Charles Crawford, an evolutionary psychologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. It's natural that this competition should be strongest when fertility is at a peak, he adds.

Fisher plans to do the study again to look more closely at the hormonal changes that might cause such a shift in opinion. She suspects that rising oestrogen levels are the key factor, and aims to take saliva swabs from future study volunteers to see if she's right.

"It's an interesting finding," says says Ian Penton-Voak, a psychologist at Stirling University, UK. "It suggests that women do indeed compete in this way." But he adds that it is unlikely to be such a simple story. There is probably a mix of hormones and other factors influencing the womens' votes, he says.

A recipe for loneliness

In the study, both men and women also judged the females as being generally more attractive than males. This could indicate that physical beauty is more of an asset to a woman than to a man, argues Fisher. Competition among males tends to focus more on aggression or displays of wealth or physical fitness, she adds.

If beauty really is important, then it may come as no surprise that women would want to belittle their competition's looks while promoting their own. This could even help to explain the popularity of magazines featuring photos of celebrities looking less than their best, says Fisher.

But overt caustic remarks can backfire, Fisher warns. It's fine to slag off a pop star having a bad hair day, but making fun of close friends is a recipe for loneliness. "Lots of women in the study admitted that they deliberately try to dress better than their friends," says Fisher. "But first they asked me: 'This is anonymous, right?'."


12 posted on 02/18/2004 11:24:32 AM PST by playball0 (Fortune favors the bold)
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To: martin_fierro; Tijeras_Slim

Should be fun to watch!

13 posted on 02/18/2004 11:24:56 AM PST by Constitution Day (NLC™)
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To: playball0
This could indicate that physical beauty is more of an asset to a woman than to a man, argues Fisher.

"Golly-gee, Mr. Wizard, d'ya really think so?!?"

</sarcasim off>

14 posted on 02/18/2004 11:25:36 AM PST by Jonah Hex (Another day, another DU troll.)
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To: Constitution Day; Tijeras_Slim
Explains these two:


15 posted on 02/18/2004 11:27:20 AM PST by martin_fierro (I miss the Media Schadenfreude Ping)
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To: Jonah Hex
I was thinking he was more of a "Captain Obvious", myself. LOL!
16 posted on 02/18/2004 11:27:56 AM PST by Constitution Day (NLC™)
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To: martin_fierro
Great show. I'm thinking of trying to sign a friend of mine up for it.
17 posted on 02/18/2004 11:32:39 AM PST by Modernman ("When you want to fool the world, tell the truth." -Otto von Bismarck)
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To: Neets; Mo1; grannie9; Conservobabe; restornu; sweetliberty
Just read the article and had my eyes glaze over about half way through.
But I did read enough to get a vague idea what it's about.
So, ladies and people that I know on FR, I cannot honestly say that I've ever seen or heard tell of this 'phenomena' before.
I have never seen anyone try to dress better or more attractive than others, or belittle others.
I have hear just teh opposite.
I've heard women go, "Gawd she's gorgeous. Wish I looked like that" and such.
18 posted on 02/18/2004 11:35:36 AM PST by Darksheare (Cry "Hammock!" and let slip the gerbils of war!)
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To: playball0
Cometition
19 posted on 02/18/2004 11:37:18 AM PST by playball0 (Fortune favors the bold)
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To: Blood of Tyrants
That reminds me of a friend of mine who got wasted at a party. A woman we both loathed as a biotch, yells at him. "You disgusting pig!"

He nods, smiles and says "Men are pigs, women like getting porked. So what's the problem?"

She walked away with her jaw gaping on the ground. She was too shocked to even haul off and slap him.
20 posted on 02/18/2004 11:38:11 AM PST by .cnI redruM (The only winner of a Neocon/Paleocan turd-chucking contest is John Forbes Kerry.)
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