Are you attractive?

Oral Contraceptives react on women’s bodies provoking different effects. There are experts who say that they may produce cancer, and others who affirm that they decrease our sexual impulse... How true is that?

Look at the pictures and choose the face you like the most... Which one do you prefer? A or B? 

Feminized man (A) v/s Masculine man (B)

According to the research conducted by Robert Josephs, the election of “A” is guided by the consumption of contraceptives and the influence they have on our hormones. Women who use this method like better feminized men (A), who are those with small jaw and forehead, high eyebrows and rounded lips; rather than masculine men (letter B), whose attributes are a big jaw, wide forehead, low eyebrows and thin lips. 

Don’t worry, taking the pill doesn’t mean that you won’t like a “macho men” ever again. The thing is that it helps to control the fluctuation of hormones during your cycle, stabilizing your emotions; that is to say, a woman who does not use a contraceptive method changes her opinion while her hormones rise and decrease (they chose “A” during the menstruation, and “B” during the ovulation); on the other hand, medicated women prefer A most of the time.

Even though birth control pills revolutionized women’s life, they are one of the biggest responsible for changing the old masculine beauty standards, creating a whole new concept (think about the new idols, such us Zack Efron, Justin Bieber, etc). The illusion of a rude man with lots of testosterone is in the past; nowadays, a soft, gentle guy is more attractive to our quiet hormones since he also projects a sensitive appearance which also makes our “hormones” believe that he would be a perfect father and partner. Evolution is always there!

I asked some friends and incredible their answers were according to their reality; I mean, those who use the pill voted for A and B was the election of those who do not use this method.

What do you think? Are pills really changing our beauty standards? Think about your experience (taking the pill or not). Have you noticed that change around you?

The hormone of love

There are some factors that might determine our character or behavior, from the outside (environment, social etc) or from the inside of us (genes, hormones etc). One factor that caught my attention was “Oxytocin”.

 It’s a hormone released by the pituitary gland that affects both the body and the brain. For years, it has been known as the hormone of love, but it has a lot of other properties according to this website 

- Easy to get: The simple act of bodily contact (hug or kiss) will cause your brain to release low levels of oxytocin.

- Love potion: It helps couples to establish a greater sense of intimacy and attachment.

- It helps mom to be mom: Through labour by stimulating uterine contractions, and after birth, mothers can establish intimacy and trust with their baby.

-What makes us human: Plays a crucial role in forging our ability to maintain relationships, to empathize, trust, and even love one another.

This hormone is a clear example, at least for me, why the natural world is perfect, every little thing has a meaning and a purpose in our development. Can you imagine how would be life without it? I know there are people who can’t produce this hormone, so they have to use special medicine that replace it. But if this weren’t an option, these people would be forced to live like an outsider? Did you know oxytocin was that important? 

Can Facebook worsen love relationships?

Can Facebook worsen love relationships?

Have you ever arrived home very tired of work or university, and wanting to have a break from problems of real life? Many times Facebook has played the role of our entertainment; however, we don´t know how much it can affect our personal relations. Recent studies have shown that there are certain features of Facebook that make it a source of problems among couples. Many people have confessed that they have had problems because of the information that is shared on Facebook.  One of its characteristics is related to time; not only the time that they spend on the social network, but also what are they really doing on it during that period of time. Another important aspect is the over-informative attribute that is related to Facebook. This means that you can control what you write; yet you can´t control what other people write about you, what they write on your wall, and what they read about you.  For instance, a girl notices that her boyfriend has accepted five friends requests of girls that she doesn´t know, so they have an argument.  Of course that jealousy itself as well as self-esteem and emotional health are starting points in these situations. What do you think is to blame? Is it technology that influences our relations, or is our own personalities that we can´t control? 

Mates for life

Spring is coming! Everything we can hear is "love, love, love". We can see couples in the streets, parks, and even in our campus. But are we the only ones who experiment this "special" feeling? What about the animals?

Some biologists found out that not only turtledoves stay together for a long time, as the twelve days of christmass tale told us. There are some extraordinary animals' lifestyles that have inspired our culture through time.

A clear example of this are swans. As we all have watched in movies, they are always the symbols of pure and eternal love. This is consequence of their monogamy. Swans stay with the same partner for almost all their lifetime. Even in some cases they even comite suicide when their lover dies.

Birds aren't the only one faithful specie. Wolves are always related to the concept of betray and coldness. Which it is not closed to what their family's lifestyle is about. They stay in groups called packs that consist in a male and female and their offspring. It's very similar to how families are made in our society but their relationship is even more stable than a lot of humans have.

Maybe love is not a concept well-known by the animal kind but they are able to have a faithful and long term relationship. Do you know some other examples? Would you call their bounds “love”?

(Source: http://www.divinecaroline.com/33/94736-eight-animals-mate)