Tuesday, October 10, 2006

MSN.com story I read this morning...

I wondered if anyone passed this story along to Denis Rodman, or Boy George??? They must be ovulating all the time!

Rrrowwr!

Ovulating women dress to impress

Females wear more jewelry, flashier clothes when they're fertile, study says

WASHINGTON - Women dress to impress when they are at their most fertile, researchers said Tuesday in a study they say shows that signs of human ovulation may not be as mysterious as some scientists believe.

A study of young college women showed they frequently wore more fashionable or flashier clothing and jewelry when they were ovulating, as assessed by a panel of men and women looking at their photographs.

“They tend to put on skirts instead of pants, show more skin and generally dress more fashionably,” said Martie Haselton, a communication studies and psychology expert at the University of California Los Angeles who led the study.

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Ummm- This is a news story? Did someone get paid to do this research?

Women who dress to impress are sending out a signal that they want to procreate?

What? They're not just putting their best face forward? We dress up because the eggs are ready? What about all the women on Birth Control? Why are they wearing skirts and jewelry?

Is everyone at the Oscars ovulating? How about at church on Sunday? Or the Temple? Or a Mosque (wait- sometimes women aren't allowed in a Mosque)

And in the media, the women of child-bearing age are so skinny they can barely keep themselves alive, much less support life for a pregnancy! But they have on dresses and jewelry!

WHY DOES THIS MATTER???

Why did this article irritate me?

Because it's silly. And because women who are looking their best are being equated with their most basic biological function...they dress up because they want to carry a child.

And men dress up because they want to get lucky.

Oh- wait...I see it now...

Equality at last!!!

15 comments:

Aunty Belle said...

Dis is jes' silly, honey--youse SO right.

Women is women all month long, no jes' when ovulatin'. ever see a lil' four yer old lady-chile' get excited when she sees shiny beads and ribbons?? Now i'se irritated too, Mayden.

puerileuwaite said...

Wow, I must have the power to make women ovulate!

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Aunty- Some of the coolest women I've met- who know how to really dress and have the money to wear jewlery from some place other than Target- are in their 50's and 60's! I've never seen more women "pull out all the stops" than the way some of these ladies do!
Ovulation my foot! :)

PW- Yes, of course you do. You should see the way I get dressed up just to read your blog! lol :)

Mayden' s Voyage said...

/t- On many levels I agree with you :)
But it was the way the article was written that gave me a problem. As if the ONLY reason we dress up is 'cause the egg needs a sqiggle- :)
I suppose that women naturally "preen"- perhaps subconsciously (?) when they ovulate...but truly- one of the greatest joys of being human is being able to dress and preen- and be made love to- WITHOUT getting pregnant!
At least this is true for me...ummmm, with my husband of course! :)

Lady Prism said...

gooooodnesss!...I'm in my "teacher uniform"...like..I wear this the whole week...in varying colors though...yellow....green...peach...blue...It's sooooo plain....I think...I think...oh' gosh'...I probably don't ovulate...have never ovulated...for as long as I've been wearing this darny' uniform!!!

Lady Prism said...

OF course...i try to be a little more unteachy during the weekends when I'm with zee hubz'...maybe i ovulate on weekends only...thinking...thinking...hee!hee!

..................... said...

mayden,

some research is obviously ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

/bark bark bark

right now i am wearing a silky black fur. grrrrrrrrrrr who's hot???

i have to say, as much as euroweenies annoy me, the ladies in france spain and italy, whatever age, always look great. all ages and sizes. never sloppy. droppin an egg or not, its for the greater good.

of course ladies have NO obligation to candy up our eyes. yes yes yes you are enough as you are.

mayden! i love it when you do a food post. pork chop? grr!

/howl

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Lux- whatever you do- don't ovulate at school! lol! :)

Schaumi- :) How can you and I get PAID to do this kind of research???
I want in on that deal!

Gorgeous dog- It's no wonder everyone loves you- me included :)

You know I would feed you anytime :) Over the weekend I made from scratch Chicken -n- Dumplings. Tonight I grilled Bratts with roasted Red bell peppers and sweet onions-
Tomorrow? What shall I do? Chicken Cordon-bleu ?
Are you coming or what? Bring Aunty with you :)

A big pot of home-made chili is in the future with the cold weather coming- maybe on Saturday? :)

X. Dell said...

I don't know if the research is ridiculous or not, since it would peg some aspect of human behavior as general primate behavior. As presented here the study didn't make anything close to a sweeping generalization--women who dress nicely are ovulating or unconsciously desiring sex. Rather the study indicates that the human unconscious is much more tuned to the body than previously suspected.

I am, however, kinda curious as to why this study upsets people.

Bird said...

i'm in hysterics over the article's claim that ovulation is so "mysterious." thought we had a pretty good understanding of it. it certainly has never been mysterious to me - have always known when i'm ovulating - there are very particular physiological changes that indicate ovulation - i used to track 'em during my childbearing years - to make decisions about when to use birth control and when not to. my daughter was conceived by tracking those signs - i tracked and charted, we looked at the chart and said - if we don't use birth control - we'll probably make a baby - we decided to make a baby...

ok..sorry, going on too much, but one more thing....and mayden you really touched on this one - this research implies that peripausal and menopausal women have no reason to dress up!??? Well! Guess I'd best get rid of my sexy lingerie, and that slinky black, v-neck top that so flatters my figure, and the heels that goe so nicely wiht my purple skirt and make my ankles look so sweet. no need for any of that - if i can't ovulate, i can't dress up. i guess there's no use for me and no reason to go out of the house. damn - my life is over. at least i can start saving some money - no need for manicures and pedicures (definately a preening activity). i'll miss my adorable french pedicures - my toes look so sexy that way. ah well..must conform...

Mayden' s Voyage said...

X~ I think what's most curious here is the reaction between the women and the men.
This info was based on "research"- but I can find no reasonable purpose for it. A fertility Dr. is not going to advise his patients by saying, "Look men- when your woman dresses up- that's a good sign the eggs are ready."
Or an OB-GYN telling her patients- "When you feel the urge to look pretty and put on jewelry- this might be a time when you can get pregnant."
There is biological and factual information to determine the time of ovulation for women- dresses and jewelry have little to do with it.
I would have been less bothered by this info if it had been posted as a "fun fact"- rather than it being presented as an actual "news story".

Bird- For me- no longer capable of becoming pregnant...I have never enjoyed dressing up, or wearing jewelry, or looking my best as much as I do now :) Sounds like we are in the same boat! Forget saving money! Keep those pedicures coming!
lol :)

X. Dell said...

It's been my experience that people writing about scientific research find a hook, or an angle in order to entice editors with their stories. In so oversimplifying, as they are wont to do, the press sometimes comes across the sensationalistic aspects of science lest readers think of it as too complicated or dull.

In other words, the paper's line "When you feel the urge to look pretty and put on jewelry- this might be a time when you can get pregnant," is misleading, although obviously true. When you feel the urge to look pretty you MIGHT be fertile. Then again you Might not.

So I agree with you that those conclusions are pretty lame, and for very good reasons. But I do see the value in such research. Scientific discovery is not always a quid pro quo kind of arrangement, where you do a study to discover an electric lightbulb, or a laser, or three-handled-moss-covered-family-grudunza.

In psychology, we really wouldn't know much about anything were Millgram, Zimbardo, or other researchers in that field asked to state a "purpose" for their discoveries. But the accumulative effect of such studies is what will lead to an advancement of knowledge of how people operate. When there is sufficient knowledge base, technologies (and I'm not talking just about gizmos, here, but also medical protocols, teaching strategies and the like) can finally emerge. But they don't do so without studies for which people might say (if the study is misrepresented), "Well, what's the purpose of it?"

And note, the article you picked may have misrepresented something (unfortunately, I don't have the time to read the study in depth, so can't answer this for sure), but you're assuming (like the article, and perhaps even the researchers) that this study's findings indicate behavior on women's part. They gave these photos to guys. They picked out "sexy" outfits, and the tendency was drawn toward women who were ovulating. In this instance, we might have a case of what is erroneously caled ESP (I don't think it's sensory, but rather unconscious induction--of course, how are we gonna know without more studies?).

As for the ramifications of this particular study, I could see them everywhere--anthropology, criminology, psychology, sociology, media studies--and that's just off the top of my head.

As a fellow academic, I take a very dim view of the uncritical trashing of other's research simply on the grounds that it lacks immediate consumer application. There are, after all, legitimate reasons to object to research--inhumane treatment of test subjects (e.g. The Tuskeegee Experiments, MK-ULTRA(, irresponsible development of dangerous technology without due consideration of consequences (e.g. eugenics), faults in methodology (i.e. are you actually designing a valid test for your hypothesis), conclusions that are inconsistent with your data (e.g. "The Bell Curve") just to name a few. This study doesn't approach any of these criteria, or any similar criteria.

Helene said...

i dressed up today! lmao

Malinda777 said...

Now that's funny...Rodman and Boy George...

Guess I did OK somehow... In my usual jeans & sweater, usually with tennis shoes or sandals... I still managed to procreate two lovely boys.

I am SO diamonds and blue jeans. Love my wedding ring and earrings, an occasional necklace, pretty plain in all reality :)