Tears may send a sexual message in addition to an emotional one, study finds (WP)

[somone]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010603490.html

Tears may send a sexual message in addition to an emotional one, study finds
By David Brown

Tears mean a lot of things in the drama of human interaction. They telegraph heartbreak, hopelessness, anger, frustration, elation and relief. They express mood - and can alter behavior - in an instant. But it turns out there might be more to know about tears, which historically have interested poets more than scientists.

A team of Israeli researchers believes that tears, in addition to everything else they convey, send a sexual message that can be summarized as: "Now's not a good time." In a study published online Thursday by the journal Science, the researchers report that men who sniff tears cried by sad women experience a temporary decline in both sexual arousal and circulating testosterone, a hormone tied to libido. "We've identified that there is a chemo-signal in human tears," said Noam Sobel, the researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science who headed the study.

Only women's tears have been studied so far, but the researchers suspect men's tears, and possibly children's, also contain chemical signals. They are eager to find out what messages those tears may convey. "This experiment opened gazillions of questions. It opened way more questions than it answered," Sobel said.

The new study places human tears in a raunchier family of fluids that includes urine and the secretions of anogenital glands. Those fluids contain behavior-altering compounds, known as pheromones. Emotional tears have a different chemical composition from tears shed when the eye is irritated. But the identity of the ardor-quenching substance they contain isn't known. Earlier research in rodents showed that liquids secreted from around the eye have a variety of social effects. In mole rats, the secretions reduce aggressiveness in head-to-head underground confrontations, but in mice they do the opposite...

[SpiralHawk]

1. Teh Boehner = tears = Republicon Family Pharisee Values

"Psssst. Not just now. Wait till be get to the republicon cloakroom. Wink wink, nudge, nudge.

- Teh Boehner (R)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7Sia0Gazdj0/TQXd1aMgSkI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/FAh4ItIKXVc/s1600/Boehner+crying.jpg

[TalkingDog]

2. Actually I think the Weeper of the House's tears are closer to wedding tears.

Researchers asked if people cried at weddings and why.

It turns out that the happy occasion led some people to ponder the happiness of the day and how their life (expected life) just didn't measure up.

He feels like a fraud. (he is a fraud and he knows it)
He had a sucky childhood (true) and now every time something good/positive happens he grieves for what he didn't have then.

No matter the cause. Some unresolved issues there.

[Richard D]

3. I wonder . . .

. . . if tears of joy would create a totally different response.
I've often thought that they would be chemically different.

[TalkingDog]

16. Wedding tears are tears of joy.

Just tears of grief called something more pleasant.

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. So apparently, the man's a walking, talking pheromone emitter!

So be it. By the end of next week, I expect the entire membership of the rebubbalickin caucus to be rutting like rabid weasels on the floor of the House. Better that than passing any legislation.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. When she's crying is a bad time to make a pass on her???

Now they tell me!

:sarcasm: 'cuz you never know.

[seabeyond]

6. ya know.... lordy. nt

[thereismore]

7. I say bullshit research. Sniffing sad women's tears. Doesn't pass my smell test. nt

[pinboy3niner]

8. "Now's not a good time." Duh!

What male doesn't know that?

[Toucano]

9. Raunchy fluids?

Nice work, David Brown.

Way to inject your puritanical hatred of biology.

[saras]

10. Think it's genuine?

Has anyone else considered the possibility that consultants trained in psychology and sociology have simply found someone who can put on a particular act, much as they found Obama to be able to fool people into thinking he's a progressive?

[reflection]

11. Snif'n The Tears! I love that tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr4wGFJrSss

[apocalypsehow]

12. "Let me comfort you...."

:cry:

[prole_for_peace]

13. A quick knee to the groin also says "nows not the time"

Seriously does everything humans do actually relate to sexual availability?

Red lipstick mimics the flush of sexual arousal
High heels sticks out the boobs and butt to signal sexual availability
etc.

Maybe we just want to be tall and have red lips

[TalkingDog]

17. You forgot one more thing re: heels

They show joint flexibility which relates to 2 things: the amount of estrogen in the body and health. They also "tone" the calves, slenderize the ankle and firm the thighs.

Granny don't wear 5 inch heels.
Neither does Grandpa.... but that's another story.

If we (only) wanted to be tall, platforms are easier on the feet and more stable. Women in previous centuries wore platform shoes under those beautiful floor length gowns.

Heels really weren't popular until we started showing more leg.

In studies, silhouettes of women with a body to leg ratio of 1 to 1.25 to 1.5 were rated more attractive. Physiologically longer legs mean a wider pelvic structure which suggests easier births.

Your conscious mind says: I just want to be tall and have red lips. But we are animals, instinctual creatures and try as we might, certain things will appeal to us regardless of our "rational" thinking on it.


Hmm.... I think that was more than one thing.

[TalkingDog]

18. A site that cites a study

http://www.femininebeauty.info/leg-body-ratio

[Forkboy]

14. I knew this. Making people cry has turned me on for years,

:evilgrin:

[Stevenmarc]

15. Weeping as they fuck the country