Jezebel: junk science

This Week Everyone Got Weaves & Got Knocked Up

Jessica — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:30:00 EST

It goes without saying that the biggest news of the week was Jamie Lynn Spears' underage spermination.
But she's not the only one! Fantasia and Lily Allen are also up the stick.
Stars are also pregnant with hair. A look back at the year in weaves.
In other news, ur-douche Paul Janka did not date rape Moe. Imagine that!
But if he had, British politician John Redwood probs would have let him go, but not without a stern talking-to. Because it wasn't stranger rape or anything.
The beauty and fashion industries are still trying to sell us a lot of whitewashed models and junk science.
But it's the holidays, bitches! So go fall into an egg nog coma whilst watching the Spice Girls, you fucking dykes!

Newsflash! Hormones Give Women Mood Swings

dodai — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:40:00 EST

When a woman is called "moody" or "emotional," it's often a thinly veiled way of saying "weak." The truth is that women are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to suffer from major depressive disorder than men. "There is growing evidence that estrogens have powerful effects beyond their role in reproduction — that they play a critical role in mood disorders in women," says Kathy Hegadoren, the Canada Research Chair in Stress Disorders in Women at the University of Alberta. "This opens new avenues for research into the underlying biological mechanisms and treatment of depression." The interesting part is that the rates of mood and anxiety disorders for little boys and little girls are fairly similar. But then something happens to girls that doesn't happen to boys.

It's only after females begin menstrual function that a gender differential in mood disorders manifests itself. This, coupled with the observation that women appear to be especially vulnerable to mood disturbances during times of hormonal flux, certainly lends support to the claim that a relationship exists between sex hormones and mood.

The real question is this: Does it make you feel better to know that being "moody" isn't just a "silly girl thing" but has actual scientific causes? Or does it make you feel worse, to know that men pretty much have a free pass to call women "hormonal" or "hysterical" or, sigh, "moody" ?

What Is The Link Between Women's Hormones And Mood Disorders? [Science Daily]

Could We Date Barack Obama? The Astrology Says No, But The Sweaty T-Shirt Says He's Allergic To Cats...

Moe — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:31:12 EDT

Helen Fisher is a highly-regarded Rutgers professor whose mastery of biology, anthropology, psychology and philosophy somehow led her to her current career formulating "biology-based" personality tests for Chemistry.com and hypothesizing about how politicians would score if they actually bothered to waste fifteen minutes answering questions about risky situations and geometric shapes like I just made Anna do on the Chemistry.com website:

I think you can see this in Hillary and Bill. For example, the Director really needs the warmth and the nurturing and the people skills of the Negotiator. The Negotiator needs the decisiveness, the ambitiousness...[Barack Obama] has an energy level that you almost can feel and he has an optimism that is very much the Explorer.

Fascinating.

It's almost as good as astrology! Anyway, after finding out that both Anna and I were both, like Barack, combination explorer-negotiators (guess who won the "negotiation over doing this item? heh) , I was about ready to dismiss Fisher's junk "biology" until I came across the words "sweaty T-shirt experiment" and realized Helen Fisher is a genius.

Women are unconsciously attracted to men with a different immune system; they do it by smell. If you are attracted to someone whose immune system is different from yours, why wouldn't you also be attracted to those with other genetic differences? Mates with distinctly different genetic profiles would produce more genetically varied young.

So THAT'S why we both fuck dudes who are allergic to cats! (I was wondering what was up with me and Virgos lately..)

Anyway, B, don't be shy, we're used to cleaning the floors before dudes come over. Happy birthday, Leo!

When The Heart Says Yes, But The Brain Says Listen To Your Seratonin [Washington Post]