The Power of a Man's Musk

A person’s scent can influence not only a woman’s mate choice, but also when and how frequently she chooses to have sex and possibly the chance she will become pregnant. 

Researchers have shown that exposure to male pheromones can increase a woman’s fertility. Pheromones are substances secreted from the glands at the anus, underarms, urinary outlet, breasts, and mouth. In nonhuman mammals, a specialized olfactory structure, the vomeronasal organ, acts as the locus for receiving phenomenal signals, which control most animals’ and insects’ mating rituals. One study found that frequent sexual exposure to men (at least once a week) regularized women’s menstrual cycles, increased fertile basal body temperature, and increased estrogen in the phase of the menstrual cycle following increased estrogen in the phase of the menstrual cycle following ovulation, called the luteal phase. Another study showed that women who slept with a man two or more times during a forty day period had a significantly higher incidence of ovulation than those who had slept with a man less often.

Once again, sexual attraction plays a role. Dr. Winifred Cutler, the director of the Athena Institute, found that exposure to male pheromones influences a woman’s sexual attraction to a man. In her study, thirty-eight heterosexual men aged twenty-six to forty-two recorded their baseline levels of sexual behavior and dating experiences for a two-week period. Then for a month they wore either their regular aftershave, or the same aftershave but with an added synthetic version of a pheromone naturally secreted by men. The men did not know which aftershave they were wearing. During the test month, the men continued to record their sexual and dating experiences. The results showed that compared to their baseline levels of sexual activity, the men who wore the “pheromone-charged” aftershave engaged in higher rates of sexual petting and intercourse, had more frequent informal dates, and spent more time sleeping next to a partner.

Over the same period, they reported no change in their frequency of masturbation—so the increase in the rest of their sexual activity could not simply have resulted from men having a higher sex drive due to their own exposure to the extra pheromone.

Sensitivity to scent does not just provide a means for identifying good hygiene or emotionally resonant perfumes. Scent also gives women cues about a partner’s immune system and also gives women cues about a partner’s immune system and body symmetry, and pheromones can unconsciously shape how women become sexually attracted and aroused.