4 ms·

Used to be a new father; can confirm. Women who would not pay attention to me without a baby would stop me on the street to coo over a babe in arms.

gnicholas 5y ago
There are many plausible reasons why women would approach a man with a baby that have nothing to do with how babies smell. For example, some women just like looking at babies. They may be reminded of their own babies, or thinking of babies that they'd like to have someday. Also, women may be more likely to talk to a man who seems non-threatening (men with babies are probably responsible for very little violent crime!). While it is possible that babies smell a certain way, and even a whiff of that scent makes women more aggressive, I'd be surprised if this were the most relevant pathway for 'why women are more likely to approach a man with a baby than a man without a baby'. The main variable is the presence of the baby, not how the baby smells. Now if you tell me that women were more likely to approach you when you had recently been holding a baby...then I think we can draw up articles of incorporation and start a new cologne company.
Railsify 5y ago
I would guess they decided to approach you before they smelled the baby. How close do you have to be to smell a baby. If they were close enough to smell I suspect the had already approached you by the strictest definition of approach.
- vmception 5y ago
  Any cisgender women that like to check out babies want to chime in? Maybe additional ciswomen that talk with their other cis women friends who like to check out babies?
  - tsimionescu 5y ago
    Why bring up cis women specifically? If this response/behavior is in fact real (which I have many doubts on), you could well theorize that it is related to female hormones, which transwomen who have transitioned have as well.
    - vmception 5y ago
      you could theorize that, you could also theorize that its not just hormonal and a combination of other things on the X chromosome, which trans women do not have. so its too limiting to attempt to isolate just hormones. the babies are the ones emitting the chemicals, we would just need them to bind to us to trigger any number of processes. we can have chromosomal sexual dimorphism on the olfactory glands, within our lungs, on our skin, somewhere deeper in the pipeline, different gut microbes, you name it. even if we desired trans women to have these features merged in retroactively, we still need to study the cis women created via selective pressures to understand what exactly the features are this requires natural born females responding about their experience, so it would be counterproductive for trends to get in the way of choosing the accurate sample population
greiskul 5y ago
Well, there is also a possible psychological component. Lots of women end up seeing single men as a possible threat. With a baby in your arms, you can signaling that you are much safer to them in a multitude of ways, many of them in a way that both parties are not necessarily aware in a conscious level, but we do have sub conscious processes that alter our thoughts and behaviors. But the smell is also a factor, that's the thing, humans are the single hardest animals to study, cause we are way, way too complex.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  And not just non-threatening, you've also acquired a type of social proof, in that you were attractive enough that another woman allowed you to breed with her. A wedding ring can provide the same signal ;)
kingcharles 5y ago
I don't think it's the smell. My puppy works for this too.
bawolff 5y ago
Isn't that the opposite of what this article is saying (unless the woman were really aggressive in their cooing)
mrweasel 5y ago
There's a lot of weird psychology in how humans work. Many men also notice that they are more interesting to other women, only after they enter a relationship with a woman. Apparently it's one of natures way of conserving energi. One woman have already spend the time to assess the man, and judged him to be a good partner, so it might be easier to just go after this pre-vetted man.
- xunn0026 5y ago
  Job interviews are like this too. Nothing as vetted as somebody from a FAANG!

gnicholas 5y ago

There are many plausible reasons why women would approach a man with a baby that have nothing to do with how babies smell. For example, some women just like looking at babies. They may be reminded of their own babies, or thinking of babies that they'd like to have someday. Also, women may be more likely to talk to a man who seems non-threatening (men with babies are probably responsible for very little violent crime!). While it is possible that babies smell a certain way, and even a whiff of that scent makes women more aggressive, I'd be surprised if this were the most relevant pathway for 'why women are more likely to approach a man with a baby than a man without a baby'. The main variable is the presence of the baby, not how the baby smells. Now if you tell me that women were more likely to approach you when you had recently been holding a baby...then I think we can draw up articles of incorporation and start a new cologne company.

Railsify 5y ago

I would guess they decided to approach you before they smelled the baby. How close do you have to be to smell a baby. If they were close enough to smell I suspect the had already approached you by the strictest definition of approach.

vmception 5y ago
Any cisgender women that like to check out babies want to chime in? Maybe additional ciswomen that talk with their other cis women friends who like to check out babies?
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  Why bring up cis women specifically? If this response/behavior is in fact real (which I have many doubts on), you could well theorize that it is related to female hormones, which transwomen who have transitioned have as well.
  - vmception 5y ago
    you could theorize that, you could also theorize that its not just hormonal and a combination of other things on the X chromosome, which trans women do not have. so its too limiting to attempt to isolate just hormones. the babies are the ones emitting the chemicals, we would just need them to bind to us to trigger any number of processes. we can have chromosomal sexual dimorphism on the olfactory glands, within our lungs, on our skin, somewhere deeper in the pipeline, different gut microbes, you name it. even if we desired trans women to have these features merged in retroactively, we still need to study the cis women created via selective pressures to understand what exactly the features are this requires natural born females responding about their experience, so it would be counterproductive for trends to get in the way of choosing the accurate sample population

greiskul 5y ago

Well, there is also a possible psychological component. Lots of women end up seeing single men as a possible threat. With a baby in your arms, you can signaling that you are much safer to them in a multitude of ways, many of them in a way that both parties are not necessarily aware in a conscious level, but we do have sub conscious processes that alter our thoughts and behaviors. But the smell is also a factor, that's the thing, humans are the single hardest animals to study, cause we are way, way too complex.

kingcharles 5y ago
And not just non-threatening, you've also acquired a type of social proof, in that you were attractive enough that another woman allowed you to breed with her. A wedding ring can provide the same signal ;)

kingcharles 5y ago

I don't think it's the smell. My puppy works for this too.

bawolff 5y ago

Isn't that the opposite of what this article is saying (unless the woman were really aggressive in their cooing)

mrweasel 5y ago

There's a lot of weird psychology in how humans work. Many men also notice that they are more interesting to other women, only after they enter a relationship with a woman. Apparently it's one of natures way of conserving energi. One woman have already spend the time to assess the man, and judged him to be a good partner, so it might be easier to just go after this pre-vetted man.

xunn0026 5y ago
Job interviews are like this too. Nothing as vetted as somebody from a FAANG!