Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?

Gay men disliked the body odors of straight men and lesbians (but, surprisingly, didn’t mind that of straight women). Straight women and men preferred the body odors of other heterosexuals, both male and female, and so did lesbians. The researchers believe that lesbians are more “sex-flexible” than homosexual men, and that genetic influences are significantly stronger in gay men than in lesbians.

No shock here: gay men found the body odor of other gay men attractive. But strikingly, only gay men found the odor attractive. Everyone else rated gay body odors the most unpleasant of all.

Our ancestral mothers may have desired a hunky foreigner’s genes for her children (MHC-dissimilar) but also appreciated the safety and security of kin (MHC-similar). This sort of push and pull also shows up in studies that suggest women are attracted to a “foreign” hunk’s body odor for sex alone, but for long-term relationships favor facial features of men who may be somewhat genetically similar. Perhaps it was a good strategy for ancestral woman to occasionally have flings with outsiders,

Pill reverses women’s usual preference for men with MHC-dissimilar genes, but it’s evident that it has something to do with the lack of hormonal fluctuations. Pill-takers do not ovulate.

About 60 percent of women can identify their personal odor compared to less than 6 percent of men.)

Women prefer the body odors of guys who have major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene variants that are mostly different from their own. The MHC is a cluster of immune system genes responsible for detecting and identifying bacteria and viruses that invade the body.

Remarkably, people who have lost their sense of smell often also report a loss of libido.

Caucasian babies are frequently born with a neutral (often blue-gray) eye color by default, with the eyes darkening after a year or so; this could be nature’s way of protecting infants from suspicious dads.

Approximately 3–4 percent—although some studies say up to 10 percent—of all babies born in the United States and Europe have fathers who are presumed to be their biological dads but aren

Seen this way, blue eyes are a simple and predictable paternity (or fidelity) test.