Walk into any men’s locker room and breathe deeply. You may think you’re exposing yourself to a biohazard. Yet you, gentle reader, are in fact inhaling a very important part of human history: pheromones.
This is, of course, an extreme example. You don’t have to be bowled over by an unpleasant stench to respond to these very subtle signals. There is over 20 years of research supporting the theory that the nearly indistinguishable human pheromones play an important role in our romantic interactions.
It’s nature’s way of ensuring genetic diversity. Studies have shown that people are attracted to partners with immune systems that vary greatly from their own and are indifferent to those with similar immune systems. This increases the chances that, in the event of a catastrophic disease, potential offspring will survive and one parent will survive to continue caring for the children. It is possible that pheromones are even responsible for that ever-elusive “spark” that everyone is looking for in romantic relationships.
Ironically enough, things that we consider to be basic hygiene, like frequent showering or wearing perfumes may actually interfere with this time-tested system. Pheromones are carried primarily in our sweat and in our “highly romantic” body odors.
Now, before you give up showering and smelling socially acceptable, keep in mind that nature has provided other ways of ensuring genetic diversity.
Kissing, regardless of how unscientific it might seem, is really just a genetic taste-test. Being that we wash away and cover up our natural scents, nature wants to make sure that we discover bad genetic matches before it’s too late and a child is born with a poor immune system. Have you ever heard a friend bemoaning a date that was going really well – that is until she kissed him and felt, disturbingly, like she was kissing her brother? Her body detected that his immune system was too similar to her own. It doesn’t matter how compatible they might be otherwise, their pheromones have decided they would be unlikely to produce genetically resilient offspring, and that elusive spark just disappears.
Birth control has been known to interfere with this system, blocking women’s ability to pick up on pheromone signals. This becomes a problem when a married woman who has been on birth control for many of her dating years decides to go off the pill in order to start a family. Suddenly and quite mysteriously, she finds herself considerably less attracted to her husband. It’s no surprise scientists felt the need to study this phenomenon.
Many people don’t want to think about themselves as animals responding to one another’s scents. The theory flies in the face of civilized culture. Regardless of this, however, entrepreneurs have attempted to cash in on this theory. If you google the word “pheromones”, you will be treated to many Web sites that claim to sell scents that women can’t get enough of. It is, of course, ridiculous. As pheromones are specific to individuals, there is no one-size-fits-all love potion. This might not be welcome news as Valentine’s Day approaches. You might just have to rely on your good looks and charm to ensnare a valentine the old-fashioned way. Just bear in mind for all our sakes, please don’t stop bathing!