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The effects of oral contraception
Women's use of oral contraception can affect fertility-driven attractiveness. One factor that is affected by oral contraception is attraction to symmetry. Symmetry is an indicator of developmental stability, a low number of mutations and an ability to resist pathogens and thus is an indicator of good genes. The ovulatory shift hypothesis predicts that women are particularly attracted to male features that are indicators of good genes when they are at the fertile stage in their cycle. In line with this, women are most attracted to the scent of symmetrical men during ovulation when they are most fertile, and there is a high chance of conception. However, women using oral contraception showed no increase in preference for the scent of men’s symmetry. This indicates that physical attraction for women using hormonal contraception does not follow this cycle as there is low chance of conception, in line with the ovulatory shift hypothesis.

Although women using oral contraception are less attracted to symmetrical men, they are more attracted to healthy men which can be indicated by skin tone and texture. This may be because it is adaptive for pregnant females to avoid exposure to pathogens to ensure their child’s well-being. Similar avoidance in women using hormonal contraception may be due to the increased progesterone levels that mimic levels during pregnancy. Additionally, fertile women may be more willing to risk exposure to pathogens in order to gain access to a high-quality male.

Masculinity is another factor that normally cycling women are attracted to as it is an indicator of good genes, however women using oral contraceptives show no preference for facial or vocal masculinity. For example when men’s voices were manipulated to be of higher or lower pitch, women in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle rated low-pitched voices as more sexually attractive. This preference was not seen in women using oral contraception. Additionally, a study has shown that this decrease in preference can influence mate choice as women who met their partners while using contraception had partners with less masculine faces than those who met when regularly cycling. This change in attraction can lead to subsequent effects on the relationships as it has been found that women who met their partner while using hormonal contraception were more satisfied with their partner emotionally, but less satisfied sexually. These studies suggest that women using hormonal contraception are attracted to more feminine partners that are more likely to invest.

Normally cycling women are more attracted to men with dissimilar genetics to themselves when fertility is high. In contrast women using contraceptive pills prefer the scent of genetically similar men. Genetic similarity can be signalled by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) through odor. The more MHC-dissimilar one is from their mate, the more resistant their offspring will be to disease. However, hormonal contraception can affect attractiveness to MHC-dissimilar men; women that started using hormonal contraception showed a shift in preference towards MHC-similar men compared to before using the contraception. This change in preference may be maladaptive as MHC similarity between partners has been associated with reduced offspring birth-weight which can have long-term effects on health.

It has also been suggested that hormonal contraception could interfere with mate preferences and lead to women choosing different partners than they otherwise would be attracted to (e.g. less masculine, symmetrical and genetically different). It is believed that this occurs because oral contraception generates a hormonal state similar to that of pregnancy which causes preference for the smell of genetically similar men as they may be relatives, and so more likely to support in child rearing.

The use of hormonal contraception has also been found to affect male’s attraction to females. Females are rated as more attractive around ovulation, when most fertile, compared to infertile parts of the cycle. However, this increase in attractiveness across the cycle is not found in women who use oral contraception which may have consequences on women’s ability to attract high-quality men. There is also no peak in odor or vocal attractiveness in women that use hormonal contraception, which is otherwise found in normally cycling women. These changes in perceived attractiveness have been found in the real world, for example lap dancers using oral contraception do not experience an increase in earnings that normally cycling women do during the fertile phase of the cycle.