# Novel sexy fashion and the Coolidge Effect **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980 "2014-03-06T02:10:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/1 "2014-03-06T02:10:48Z")
> **[Coolidge effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolidge_effect)** > > The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female is introduced, even after sex with prior but still available sexual partners. To a lesser extent, the effect is also seen among females with regard to their mates. > The Coolidge effect can be attributed to an increase in sexual responsiveness, and a shortening of the sexual refractory period. The evolutionary benefit to this phenomenon is that a male can fertilize mu... > [@](#): > > …the Coolidge effect is a phenomenon seen in mammalian species whereby males (and to a lesser extent females) exhibit renewed sexual interest if introduced to new receptive sexual partners, even after refusing sex from prior but still available sexual partners… > > …Human males experience a refractory period after sex. After ejaculation, males generally lose their erection, presumably to avoid displacing their own semen from the vagina. However, this post-ejaculatory refractory period is reduced or eliminated if a novel female becomes available… This explains why about half of people cheat… they simply become more attracted to new partners compared to their old one. This also explains why people seek new porn rather than just use the old porn all the time. I think this explains why women like to wear lots of different clothes and have different hairstyles - it makes them seem like a new girl to their partner. Also some women dress up in the bedroom in costumes, etc. Of course the Coolidge Effect isn’t the only explanation for novel sexy fashion though. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/2 "2014-03-06T03:30:03Z")
And here I thought the Coolidge Effect was the Silent Treatment. “You lose” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/3 "2014-03-06T03:36:10Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > This explains why about half of people cheat… they simply become more attracted to new partners compared to their old one. This also explains why people seek new porn rather than just use the old porn all the time. Really? You’re going to project the time it takes for a mouse to rest up after humping onto the human urge whether to be monogamous? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/4 "2014-03-06T03:43:11Z")
While there is a certain degree of inference going on, it’s not as bad as that. Did you read the second para? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/5 "2014-03-06T04:22:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Really? You’re going to project the time it takes for a mouse to rest up after humping onto the human urge whether to be monogamous? BTW about mice - here is a diagram: > **[Synergy Explorers](https://synergyexplorers.org/)** > > Synergy Explorers presents the world’s traditions that recorded approaches to sex advising conscious, careful cultivation of sexual energy Also I had a quote about experimental results from “human males” ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/6 "2014-03-06T04:27:39Z")
BTW I learnt about the Coolidge Effect here: [http://yourbrainonporn.com/series-1](http://yourbrainonporn.com/series-1) [http://www.reuniting.info/images/YBOP.eh.jpg](http://www.reuniting.info/images/YBOP.eh.jpg) Like I quoted before “After ejaculation, males generally lose their erection, presumably to avoid displacing their own semen from the vagina. However, this post-ejaculatory refractory period is reduced or eliminated if a novel female becomes available” This explains why people can get hooked on things like porn while not being as turned on by their long-term wife. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/7 "2014-03-06T04:35:22Z")
About human studies again: > **[Porn, Novelty and the Coolidge Effect (2011)](https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ybop-articles-on-porn-addiction-porn-induced-problems/you-evolved-to-be-hooked-on-porn/porn-novelty-and-the-coolidge-effect-2011/)** > > The Coolidge Effect is an ancient biological program that can override your sluggish contentment after orgasm if there are new mates begging to fertilize > [@](#): > > …when Australian researchers displayed the same erotic film repeatedly, test subjects’ penises and subjective reports both revealed a progressive decrease in sexual arousal. The “same old same old” just gets boring (habituation, which indicates declining dopamine). > After 18 viewings—just as the test subjects were nodding off—researchers introduced novel erotica for the 19th and 20th viewings. Bingo! The subjects and their penises sprang to attention. (Yes, women showed similar effects.)… > **[Synergy Explorers](https://synergyexplorers.org/)** > > Synergy Explorers presents the world’s traditions that recorded approaches to sex advising conscious, careful cultivation of sexual energy So this could mean that it could be harder to get an erection with the same old sex with a wife… and easier to get an erection with a new partner (or virtual partner [porn]) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/8 "2014-03-06T04:48:59Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > This also explains why people seek new porn rather than just use the old porn all the time. Which brings to mind the dying words: “_More porn, more porn !_” Saying which I’ll do something shaming and quote what I wrote elsewhere [Digg, a million years ago]: Deathbed scene: The strong old man, wasted but still virile in spirit, raises his withered hand commandingly and beckons to his eldest son as the crowd of women and lawyers weep uncontrollably, covering their faces with aprons and handkerchiefs. The sturdy son dutifully kneels beside the white sheets, waiting for his father’s hand in benediction. “No time for that, my boy,” the rasping voice cracked, “John, go to that coffer and withdraw the great ivory box.” The troubled man took the tiny golden key and with difficulty carried the box to his waiting father, then gasped as he unlocked the lid and saw… “Yes,” croaked the dying man, “that is the great 100 Terrabyte SSD drive bought by my great-grandfather. He partially-filled it with the finest porn money could then buy; as did his son, and his son, and as did I. You now have trust of this great treasure that has made our family what it is: use it wisely and add to it’s store; share the contents with all, yet never let it leave your possession. And now, if it pleases you, take the blessing of an old, tired man.” Reverently, he knelt again, and the elder’s left hand rested upon his temple in benediction, then lay limp as the death-rattle shivered all who hearkened, and the other hand ceased that frantic non-stop jig beneath the coverlet. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/9 "2014-03-06T05:34:08Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > “Yes,” croaked the dying man, “that is the great 100 Terrabyte SSD drive bought by my great-grandfather. He partially-filled it with the finest porn money could then buy; as did his son, and his son, and as did I. You now have trust of this great treasure that has made our family what it is: use it wisely and add to it’s store; share the contents with all, yet never let it leave your possession. And now, if it pleases you, take the blessing of an old, tired man.” “Uh, Dad, have you heard of Moore’s law? 100 Terrabytes is, like, a quarter of what you need for one low-res image these days…” ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/10 "2014-03-06T06:01:23Z")
You started almost exactly this same thread, almost exactly a year ago. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684327](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684327) Sing us a new one, eh? ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/11 "2014-03-06T06:26:54Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > You started almost exactly this same thread, almost exactly a year ago. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684327](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684327) > > Sing us a new one, eh? He missed it by 2 hrs 4 mins. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/12 "2014-03-06T06:44:12Z")
Yes I’ve talked about the Coolidge Effect before but the original point of this new thread is about fashions and dressing up… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/13 "2014-03-06T08:16:55Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I think this explains why women like to wear lots of different clothes and have different hairstyles - it makes them seem like a new girl to their partner. Or maybe, just maybe, we like wearing different clothes and hairstyles for the fun of it? Dude, please. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/14 "2014-03-06T09:53:58Z")
Yeah “Of course the Coolidge Effect isn’t the only explanation for novel sexy fashion though.”… But some girls spend hours getting ready… do they do it to try and impress guys or just for “fun”? Do they spend heaps of money on lots of different dresses when they go to formal occasions just for “fun”? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/15 "2014-03-06T10:17:58Z")
So how do we explain hipsters wearing glasses that were last fashionable in 1959 and clothes from the thrift shop that were donated when the owner died? And from that graph, they say that the same partner gradually increases the time to ejaculation as if it’s a bad thing… You have your 2 minute sex, mouse whores. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/16 "2014-03-06T10:22:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > So how do we explain hipsters wearing glasses that were last fashionable in 1959 and clothes from the thrift shop that were donated when the owner died? Since they’re not seen much they have once again become “novel”. They have become fresh new looking girls to people who have become bored of the current scene. It’s a bit like this pic: > **[Synergy Explorers](https://synergyexplorers.org/)** > > Synergy Explorers presents the world’s traditions that recorded approaches to sex advising conscious, careful cultivation of sexual energy Liz Hurley is objectively attractive but due to the Coolidge Effect partners of hers would lose some physical attraction to her and prefer someone else… eventually even someone who isn’t as objectively attractive. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/17 "2014-03-06T10:48:48Z")
I guess I’m not really applying the Coolidge Effect properly. It says “if introduced to new receptive sexual partners” - so I guess the original partner just changing into different costumes wouldn’t have such a big effect as having a genuinely new partner. I think changing clothing and hairstyles, etc, could help but may not be enough compared to a completely new partner. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/18 "2014-03-06T10:48:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Or maybe, just maybe, we like wearing different clothes and hairstyles for the fun of it? Dude, please. I suspect the OP is probably extrapolating too far, but this sort of comment just begs the question: why has your brain evolved so as to find it fun? It’s like saying humans like fat and sugar because they taste good. Yeah, but why do they taste good? There’s not some sort of inherent properties in either fat or sugar that make them “taste good”. They taste good because evolution favours the pursuit of highly calorific food. If they weren’t highly calorific you would never have evolved such that they tasted good to you. If sawdust gave you heaps of calories and was just what you needed for health and survival, you would have evolved such that it tasted good. Saying “I don’t do this because I am driven by evolutionarily favoured mechanisms, I just do this because its fun” just begs the question “so why have you evolved to find it fun?”. An example of this that often hits home is breasts. One might say “men like breasts because they have evolved to be mindlessly attracted to a woman’s secondary sexual characteristics” and a man might counter “Or maybe, just maybe, we like breasts because they look great? Dude, please” But why exactly do men think rounded lumps of skin covered fat on the front of a woman look great? It makes no damn sense. There’s nothing inherently attractive about them at all. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/19 "2014-03-06T11:11:25Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > …But why exactly do men think rounded lumps of skin covered fat on the front of a woman look great? It makes no damn sense. There’s nothing inherently attractive about them at all. About breasts and sexual attraction: > **[Breast taboo in the North American culture](https://www.007b.com/breast_taboo.php)** > > Discussing the breast taboo, why female breasts are seen as sexual objects in North American culture, and how all this relates to breastfeeding Note: it contains photos of bare breasts. > [@](#): > > …Men are actually being **conditioned** to see breasts as sexual - to them, breasts become almost like inanimate objects that automatically “click” their brains to the “turn-on” mode… > > … > we do have a peculiar obsession with breasts in this culture. A lot of people think it’s just the human nature to be fascinated with breasts but in many cultures, breasts aren’t sexual at all. I interviewed a young anthropologist working with women in Mali, in a country in Africa where women go around with bare breasts. They’re always feeding their babies. And when she told them that in our culture men are fascinated with breasts there was an instant of shock. The women burst out laughing. They laughed so hard, they fell on the floor. They said, “You mean, men act like babies?” > **[Where does the breast obsession stem from?](https://www.007b.com/breast_obsession.php)** > > Discussion how lack of breastfeeding, early weaning and media cause people view female breasts as taboo and sexual objects and cause breast obsession in North American culture. > [@](#): > > …So, what is it about breasts that makes North Americans SO obsessed with them as sexual objects? In the course of history many different parts of the female body have been fetishes for men, for example ankles, necks, and tiny feet (in China)… so WHY breast obsession in our age?.. I guess the answer is in there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980/20 "2014-03-06T12:21:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Or maybe, just maybe, we like wearing different clothes and hairstyles for the fun of it? Dude, please. Hey, Guin. Never saw you in that dress beforeeeeAAAAAaAaAA… Never mind; nap time.:o [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-sexy-fashion-and-the-coolidge-effect/682980.md?page=2)