Okay, set aside the evo/psych bit —

— since your fair blogger hasn’t begun to get her head around that topic yet, and she’s not in curmudgeonly skeptic mode at the moment — this is still astonishing.

Not that women are driven a bit bonkers, from time to time, by our hormones. But that men are, too. Driven bonkers by women’s hormones. Only not in the way you thought:

Men . . . appear to step up mate-guarding strategies when their wives or girlfriends ovulate, even when neither is keeping track of the woman’s cycle, the research shows.

“It’s not just that men are more jealous and possessive when their partners ovulate, but they’re also more attentive to their partners and more giving to their needs,” said collaborator Steven W. Gangestad, a University of New Mexico psychologist.

We’re hopelessly entwined, aren’t we. Biologically — chemically entwined.

Wild.

[tags] health hormones [/tags]

5 thoughts on “Okay, set aside the evo/psych bit —

  1. I am indescribably honored to have my blog included in the ‘etc.’ category along with your cat’s blog. It will be the first time, to my knowledge, that my blog has been cited by someone else, albeit I’m sure the cat is receiving many more hits than I. I enjoyed reading some of your entries, but not as much as seeing your picture. Why, you appear to be absolutely and perfectly normal! I’d invite you over for tea based upon your photo alone. Do you have any mortal enemies that I may slay for you? I could pepper spray a dragon for you, or I could hire a private investigator to unearth some dirt on the Black Knight if you like. Not sure why I feel like doing all of this for a complete stranger, but chemically I’m just all giddy.

  2. Why thank you! I’ll be sure to email you if I see any suspicious characters in armor lurking about! (A Green Knight commented here once but he’s in Toronto — quite a long swim away.) (Also Canadian knights don’t really make me too nervous, for some reason.)

  3. Pingback: KirstenMortensen.com » Blog Archive » Mind meld

  4. This is very interesting. I just had an ‘interesting’ experience lately where i had extreme cramps and other abdominal/intestinal issues, and found out later that someone i am close to was beginning her period. I am male, btw, and I used to have the same thing happen with a girlfriend a long time ago, but not since. When I told my friend, she had a biochemical explanation about sweat and progesterone and the fact that we had hugged. I wonder if it’s that simple though.

  5. Hard to say. But statistically speaking, your recent troubles were more likely caused by something you ate. A surfeit of raspberry tarts, perhaps.

    Otoh, I’ve been known to give cramps to complete strangers but usually of the mental variety :-D

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