• Johannes Mehserle, the Bay Area police officer who shot a restrained, unarmed man in the back, has finally been arrested (on a murder warrant) as part of the investigation into the horrific New Year's Day shooting that left 22-year-old Oscar Grant dead. • Despite popular belief that pheromones play an important role in our sex lives, scientists say that no pheromones have ever been identified in humans, and that we simply may not have them. • A new study suggests that self-help groups are the most effective way to treat survivors of sexual trauma. • Micheal S. Smith, 44, has been named the official White House decorator. In a statement released yesterday, Michelle Obama said: "Michael shares my vision for creating a family-friendly feel to our new home and incorporating some new perspectives from some of America's greatest artists and designers." • A flier reading "Why I hate Black History Month" was sent home with St. Louis-area schoolchildren, much to the dismay of their parents. The flier, which was designed to promote Black History Month, has since been changed. • Recent changes in Iraqi law have weakened the quota of seats set aside for women. • A report released by The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery indicates that the cosmetic surgery industry has been negatively effected by the economic downturn. • A newspaper in North Carolina notes that a record number of obituaries have mentioned pets as the surviving relatives of the deceased. • Breaking News: Girls like to play video games, too! Unfortunately, this means more companies are coming out with games like "Party Babyz." • Unboxing videos are the newest craze in "geek porn." Oddly enough, this is exactly what it sounds like: videos of people taking shiny, expensive items out of boxes. • A new study has found that race and gender are two factors that can influence the way politicians speak. • A new bill introduced by state Senator Denis Damon may make Maine the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. • The Afghan girls who were attacked with acid two months ago while walking to school say they refuse to be intimidated out of an education. •  Prolific (and young)  16-year-old Australian author Alexandra Adornetto has announced plans to release a fourth novel before she turns 18. • Research released last spring that connected eating cereal to the likelihood of giving birth to a baby boy has just been disproved. • A task force created to investigate the problem of online sexual solicitation of minors claims that there is not actually a significant problem. • Wendy Brown, the 34-year-old Wisconsin woman who stole her teenaged daughter's identity to try out for high school cheerleading, may spend up to three years in a mental institution. • Tampa Bay residents be warned: a feces-throwing monkey is on the loose! He may be armed, but is "not considered dangerous." •

According to a story in the new issue of the Economist, selling men on scent is a tricky business, and a lot of companies have to couch it as "aftershave" and "deodorant." But a new breakthrough study reports that men are so sensitive to the way they smell that — get this — "when a man changes his natural body odor it can alter his self-confidence to such an extent that it also changes how attractive women find him."

In the article (a section of which is oddly titled, "Born chicka wah, ker-ching chicka ching,") the author explains that perfume and cologne use fall into three basic categories: masking odors; pheromones; boosting natural smells. These all are sort of real and mostly psychological. And it's the psychology that's important: which kind of explains why guys drenched in vile scent apparently have no problem attracting women.

But, what I wonder is, does the confidence a scent imparts actually offset the negative associations some of us have with cologne? A lot of women, after all, hate it with a visceral passion. "Cologne" as a concept can signify cheesiness, vanity, a certain horrible hybrid of B.O. and chemicals, and middle-school nerds awash in Cool Water. It's one of those ingrained double-standards a lot of people just can't fight. While women are encouraged to change scent with their mood, the same behavior would seem suspect in a man. The much-ballyhooed metrosexual backlash led to a lot of pieces claiming women just wanted manly smells — B.O., sweat, that kind of honest stuff.

So, if a lot of women hate cologne — not all, obviously — why does the wearing of it create such confidence in men? Are they that susceptible to lame "Axe Effect" style campaigns? Do they feel that bad about their natural odors? Are they that convinced that "cologne" equals seduction and effort? And if that's true, why is it so hard to get them to wear it in the first place? Is it more that they need to be convinced, but once they are, they are sold? Or do they require this kind of scientific justification to feel okay about wearing perfume? Or — and here is a big question? — do men not know how women feel about cologne? Inquiring minds — and noses — want to know.

The Scent Of A Man [The Economist]

Note that Sexactivator is marketed as a product for men to turn on "your woman" — suggesting that a guy slip weird pheromone shit into a stranger's drink is apparently a sleaze-bridge too far. Still, it's hard in a not to assume that some men will use this at bars or parties with women they don't know. Especially when it's touted next to Mate Magnet Cologne. After all, "using pheromones have been proven the most gorgeous women will desire to have you immediately." (Also, using grammar.)

The sad thing about these products in general (and yes, there is a sad thing, among many scary and enraging things) is that they bank on the idea that men need products to artificially induce women to like them. This implies not only that women deserve to have their autonomy subverted by chemical agents, but also that men are not enough on their own. Mate Magnet and Sexactivator are sort of like men's versions of wrinkle creams and fat-burning supplements — the opposite sex does not like you as you are, advertisers shout, but they will love you with this snake oil!

Men's Fitness [Official Site]