Strange question, you might say. Most female mammals behave differently during their most fertile time: it’s called oestrus, or ‘heat’. According to traditional belief, women do not experience this in this way: “Humans, unlike some other species, do not have any obvious external signs to signal receptivity at ovulation.” (Wikipedia). Yes, we humans are simply much too advanced to display such primal, animalistic behaviour.
But this orthodoxy is being challenged in a new study by Geoffrey Miller and team at the University of New Mexico, as reported in an article which appeared in New Scientist magazine (dated Oct 11th).
“[They] compared the earnings of lap dancers who were menstruating naturally with those of dancers taking the hormonal contraceptive pill. During the non-fertile periods of their menstrual cycle, both sets of dancers earned similar tips. But when naturally cycling lap dancers entered their fertile period they earned significantly more in tips than their co-workers on the pill.”
This would appear to suggest that women are significantly more attractive when they’re at the most fertile part of their cycle, whether that be due to a greater attention to how they look, some other facet of appearance, confidence, scent, subliminal signals or something else. In any case it’s quite an interesting discovery, wouldn’t you say? Maybe we’re not above animal instincts after all.