> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Deborah Harrell > Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 6:33 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: Re: Colour vision and pheromones > > --- Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Jan Coffey wrote: > > >--- The Fool <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s881312.htm > > > > > > > > Colour vision means pheromones unnecessary > > > > Tuesday, 17 June 2003 > <snipped much> > > > >Simply becouse one sense is more importatnt than > > other doesn't necisarily > > >mean that the other does not still play a part. > > > > > > My main thought when I read the article was that if > > human females _did_ > > have an area of skin which changed color in order to > > signal to males that > > they were, ahem, "receptive", the fashion and > > cosmetics industries would > > have long since taken full advantage of the fact... > > <shudders> > Perish that thought! Although I think there *is* > something to lipstick as a signaler, otherwise we'd > just use neutral chapstick...
I always thought that the purpose of lipstick was to make lips 'stand out and appear more perfectly formed' but that it wasn't necessarily the color that acted as a signaler but instead, the shape and structure. IOW, Men desire feminine, kissable lips (which usually means fuller and plumper) and colored lipstick can give this illusion. I could be wrong tho. > > > (My secondary thought was that cats and dogs have at > > least bichromatic > > color vision, and they still rely heavily on their > > vomeronasal organs for > > both reproductive and territorial communication.) > > Horses are bichromatic as well; stallions perform a > peculiar-looking 'curled lip sniff' called flehmen to > check 'long distance' for mares in heat, who will then > give visual/physical cues to the stallion to show him > their interest. [Other animals also 'flehmen:' lions, > housecats and goats frex; raising the head and opening > the mouth are part of this behavior, which apparently > improves the delivery of pheromone chemicals to the > VMO, also called Jacobson's organ.] Yes. Exactly. BTW, I was under the impression that *all* cats, equines and bovines could flehmen. Isn't it a species-specific trait? (I promise not to go off on another 'what's a species?' tangent.) :) > The medical literature is contradictory in this area; > I personally think that chemical communication *does* > occur among humans, but its role has been diluted by > verbal and cultural overlays. I totally agree with you. > Anecdotally, pay > attention at the office to when different people are > "on" -- others will stop by their cubicle/desk more > often, laugh or talk with the "on" person more, etc. > It does happen to me, and I think there is a > twice-a-month surge - although as I said, it's purely > a subjective observation. However, an experiment with > cameras etc _could_ be devised to investigate this > more objectively. > *grin* There have also been studies done that analyze human body movements with regard to this. The results have been interesting. I'll try and post references. :) Jon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
