Apparently researchers asked 100 women in their 40s and 50s to look at photographs of women. According to the Fail, "It found that those who had reached the menopause were more likely to agree that good-looking women were 'attractive'. In contrast, those who had not yet reached the menopause were more likely to say they disliked the woman in the photograph." Haha, I mean, duh, we're all just ready to claw each others' eyes out in order to guard our men! Unless we no longer have our periods and then we're just benign old crones waiting to die.

Apparently researcher Lisa DeBruine told the Daily Fail, "Post-menopausal women are taking on a completely different role in society. They have a change in their balance of hormones which changes their lifestyles. They go from needing to find a mate and competing with other females to wanting to become heads of the community.This change means that they will view the attractive women they once saw as rivals as friends. They will still want to nurture them or mother them but they won't see them as threats." Despite perpetuating these stereotypes of older women as sexually impotent, the Fail will also have you know that it is totally not sexist, because it points out that "Other studies have shown men are just as likely to be bitchy as women."

But! Fun fact from Live Science: guppies and gorillas also go through menopause. This makes sense, as Koko is way less bitchy now than she was in the 70s.

Why Women Become LESS Bitchy As They Get Older (And Yes, It's To Do With Men) [Daily Mail]
Women Mellow With Age [Live Science]

According to the study, before adhering the patch to themselves, the post-menopausal women involved reported 2.5 satisfying sexual episodes a month. After use, women reported an extra 2.1 additional episodes, "a significant increase from the placebo group, which reported, on average, fewer than one extra episodes monthly," Reuters notes. And it's not just sex that improved with the patch: women reported better self-image, desire, orgasm and pleasure. So are there any downsides to this magical patch?

Well it is testosterone, so some of the women reported extra hair growth. However, Melbourne-based Dr. Susan Davis, who led the study, tells Reuters that the extra hair "doesn't seem to be an issue for the women. If it had been, you would have seen much greater withdrawals from the treatment groups." Another potential cause for concern is that breast cancer occurred in four of the 534 women who received the patch, while no women in the 277-person placebo group were diagnosed with the disease. Two of those women had tumors before using the patch, and in any study of that many older women it is likely that breast cancer will develop for some. Nevertheless, doctors are studying a possible link between extra testosterone and cancer.

But overall, both doctors and patients alike are excited about the prospect of a libido patch for ladies. Dr. Davis says she was overwhelmed by volunteers for her "Aphrodite" study, because older women are saying, "I'm too young to start feeling like this. I have a lot of years ahead in my relationship. This is important to me." And guess what? Intrinsa may be even more effective than the little blue pill: "Davis said that with drugs like Pfizer's Viagra, men typically get one extra satisfying episode per month. 'We found women get two. So it at least matches the benefits to men.'" Woohoo!

Testosterone Patches Boost Libido In Older Women [Reuters]