Fun_People Archive
28 Aug
What Turns Men On?

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 94 16:55:01 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: What Turns Men On?

Forwarded-by: bostic@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
Forwarded-by: harry@starbase.sj.unisys.com

Think He's Turned On By "Obsession for Men"?  You're Wasting Your Money

 (by Sheryl Stolberg, _Los Angeles Times_)

 CHICAGO -- OK, so it isn't exactly haute science.  And maybe it is a
 little bit risque.  But of all the trips Dr. Alan Hirsch has taken during
 his wacky journey from the tip of the nose to the center of the mind, his
 study of male "blood enhancement" is surely the most provocative.

 Hirsch is a Chicago neurologist who treats people with smell disorders. 
 But his passion is investigating the murky area of how smells affect
 behavior.  For this euphemistically titled experiment, he asked the
 question perfume makers have spent decades -- and untold dollars -- trying
 to answer: What scents turn men on?

 Hirsch recruited a group of male medical students.  Monitors, akin to
 those that measure blood pressure, were strapped to their genitals. 
 Hirsch then had the men sniff an array of odors.  He tested delicate
 flowery scents -- lily of the valley and rose.  He tested the earthy aroma
 of musk.  He tested Chanel No. 5 and Obsession by Calvin Klein.

 And now, the untold secret, the only fragrance that consistently increased
 blood flow:

 Fresh cinnamon buns.

 "That," Hirsch jokes, "told us one of two things: No. 1, medical students
 are always hungry.  Or No. 2, the way to a man's heart really is through
 his stomach."

(excerpt of long article about how scents may affect human behavior)

© 1994 Peter Langston