We’ve all been told that big girls don’t cry. Our parents, dentists and Fergie were probably just trying to toughen us up. Or maybe they knew what Noam Sobel does.
Women’s emotional tears lower men’s testosterone levels, according to Sobel’s study, which was released Thursday in the journal Science.
The Israeli scientists behind the study found that emotional tears have a scent that significantly lowers testosterone, which affects sexual arousal.
It could be an evolutionary defense mechanism to protect women from sexually aggressive men, Sobel told the Toronto Star.
Women who participated in the study sat down with their favourite sad movie (who wants to bet Sophie’s Choice was on the list?) and a vial to collect their tears.
Men then smelled the tears while looking at images of women’s faces, and found them less sexually attractive than when they smelled saline solution. Like Hot or Not, but with research.
Sobel says they wanted to test the effects of men’s tears on women, but they couldn’t round up enough men willing to weep like babies. Shocker.
Now, this could be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to sex. You might accidentally repel a few hotties (Oops! Thanks, Nicholas Sparks), but if you play your cards right, it can always be used to your advantage.
Imagine a world where you don’t need to fake a headache. Where you don’t need to do the desperate Help me! whisper behind the guy who won’t leave you alone. No fake emergency phone calls.
Just turn on the waterworks. A mental replay of Terms of Endearment should do the trick, but Pay It Forward would do it for me.
