# What subtle behavioral signals do women give to men that they are fertile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032 "2009-10-08T10:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/21 "2009-10-08T19:18:15Z")
I think it depends on how you define masculine. I not sure that what women are looking for in their fertile phases is higher levels of testosterone. And as far as earlier death due to risky behavior – as long as he’s alive long enough to donate sperm, that’s good enough. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/22 "2009-10-08T20:09:57Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Per this article](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218808/Contraceptive-pill-women-attracted-masculine-men--interested-boyish-looks.html)apparently women are somehow conveying their fertility status to men. How would they be doing this behavior wise? Lordosis 😃 ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/23 "2009-10-11T02:15:51Z")
IIRC I read about a study that said that husbands in marriages are actually pretty bad at reading signals. Men initiated sex at a constant rate whether his wife was ovulating or not. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/24 "2009-10-12T23:17:45Z")
My wife has always had a very regular period and she’s known exactly when she’s fertile and when she’s not. But somehow she never noticed the fact that her “receptiveness” (i.e. horniness) increases greatly during her fertile period. Not until I pointed it out to her. Is this a common blind spot for women? ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/25 "2009-10-13T15:33:26Z")
> [@EdwardLost](#): > > My wife has always had a very regular period and she’s known exactly when she’s fertile and when she’s not. But somehow she never noticed the fact that her “receptiveness” (i.e. horniness) increases greatly during her fertile period. Not until I pointed it out to her. Is this a common blind spot for women? I always realized what was going on. Now, I’m actually less horny when I ovulate because it’s so painful. But I used to realize, hey I’m ovulating… I’m horny… make sure I have rubbers… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/26 "2009-10-13T16:02:28Z")
> [@Haunted](#): > > … > Taking Charge of Your Fertility. > > Basically, it involves taking your temperature every morning and noting changes and also checking your cervical fluid and likewise noting changes in it. When you start to secrete fertile quality cervical fluid, you know you’re about to ovulate. > . I worked for a while as a janitor, cleaning restrooms. I always wondered about those dipsticks some women left behind in the ladies’ room. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/27 "2009-10-13T17:10:05Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > IIRC I read about a study that said that husbands in marriages are actually pretty bad at reading signals. Men initiated sex at a constant rate whether his wife was ovulating or not. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? We talked about the study in one of the classes. The theory behind it is, women don’t want to obviously signal their fertility to men in order to get the men to stick around when they aren’t fertile. It’s the same reason human females are sexually receptive even when they aren’t ovulating. > [@tdn](#): > > Be that as it may, humans are one of the few species that hide their fertility really well. Human women’s butts don’t turn bright red during estrus, for instance. In fact women’s bodies are evolved to fool and out-maneuver men. I think the reason is to get the best sperm. I’m not sure why that trait didn’t evolve in other species. The reason is to confuse paternity. The trait didn’t evolve in many other species because we are a species with an unusually high level of paternal care and there was more evolutionary pressure on women to convince the men to stick around and defend/care for their offspring in our species. > [@](#): > > While at other times she may tend more towards men who are richer or have means of some sort. It’s really in all women’s interests to marry a rich guy but get pregnant by a masculine guy. That way she gets good genes and her offspring will be well taken care of. This is a way oversimplification and doesn’t hold up to studies. After all, a rich man may chose to spread his seed around and be a bad father, while a masculine guy might be a caring and devoted parent. Women look for a lot of different things in mates, while there may be trends and slight preferences, you can’t argue in absolutes for something as complex as mate choice. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/28 "2009-10-13T17:35:52Z")
> [@Haunted](#): > > Basically, it involves taking your temperature every morning and noting changes and also checking your cervical fluid and likewise noting changes in it. When you start to secrete fertile quality cervical fluid, you know you’re about to ovulate. > [@AskNott](#): > > I worked for a while as a janitor, cleaning restrooms. I always wondered about those dipsticks some women left behind in the ladies’ room. :smack: Well, you’re possibly partially right about those “dipsticks”. There are two main types of stick-tests women would be using: pregnancy tests and ovulation tests. They could have been the latter. But those both test levels of hormones in your _urine_, not cervical fluid. The changes in cervical fluid are in color, clarity, and most importantly, viscosity, and so you’d be testing strictly with your eyes and fingers. If it looks and feels [something like egg white](http://www.fertilecm.com/images/eggwhitecmframe.gif) (totally work safe), you’re probably about to ovulate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032/29 "2009-10-13T17:43:56Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > So what the hell do I do, then? I have an IUD - I’m never fertile. Well, poster after poster after poster after poster mentioned that a woman will – perhaps unconsciously – dress more provocatively on especially fertile days. So just cut out the middleman by choosing to put on the flashy jewelry that draws attention to the plunging neckline now jutting out thanks to the high heels that match the short skirt. Men will get the signal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subtle-behavioral-signals-do-women-give-to-men-that-they-are-fertile/513032.md?page=1)