Can Ovulation Make You More Attractive to Men?
- Aldrin V. Gomes
- 22 hours ago
- 4 min read
Have you ever wondered if there are subtle hormonal and physical shifts during ovulation that are detectable to others? During the menstrual cycle, women go through many changes, not only physical but also hormonal. One day you are feeling moody, and your face is full of redness and blemishes, the next you wake up with clear skin and feeling great. Though this is not the case for every woman, many express feeling more energized and more confident during the ovulatory phase (Schleifenbaum et al., 2021). These changes not only affect women but also have an effect on their counterparts. They are thought to be driven by the fluctuations of certain hormones during ovulation.
What is ovulation?
Ovulation is when an ovary releases an egg. For a short time after release, the egg can be fertilized by sperm, making pregnancy possible. Ovulation usually happens during day 14 of a typical 28-day menstrual cycle.
During ovulation, the hormone estrogen peaks and remains at that level for two days. This surge leads to the increase of another hormone called Luteinizing hormone (LH). LH is the hormone that is responsible for ovulation and aids in preparing the uterus for implantation by telling the ovaries to produce progesterone (Hoolesh et al., 2023). Progesterone, on the other hand, prepares the uterus for implantation and is essential for maintaining a pregnancy. If the egg is not fertilized, progesterone levels decrease.
Can men perceive any differences during ovulation?
There is scientific evidence that women’s cycle has an effect on women’s voice, odor, and facial appearance (Burriss et al., 2015). These changes tend to make women feel better during ovulation. However, there is some evidence that men might be able to unconsciously perceive these changes driven by ovulation.
Changes in Voice
There is evidence that women’s voices change across their cycle. Studies report that women’s voices tend to be higher in pitch whenever they are at a higher risk of conceiving, this can also be during the pre-ovulatory (fertile) phase. The opposite tends to happen during menstruation; women experience less harmonic vocal patterns and a higher degree of vocal breaks (Fischer et al., 2011). This can lead to increased hoarseness in women’s voices during this phase in the cycle. Fischer et al. (2011) noted that male listeners showed a slight preference for audios of women in their pre-ovulatory (within the fertile window) compared to audios of women in other phases of their cycle.
Changes in Odour
Scientific evidence suggests that men may perceive women’s odour to be more attractive during ovulation. However, it is also dependent on the part of the body it is coming from. Odour emitted from women’s backs caused men to release more testosterone. Whereas the odour released by women’s chest causes a drop in cortisol leading to a calming effect in men (Tarumi & Shinohara, 2020). Interestingly, these physiological reactions in men are unconscious. Research also shows that men’s mating motivation may increase when exposed to women’s odour during ovulation. When exposed to an ovulating women’s scent, men become more perceptive of social cues and better at emotional recognition (Oren & Shamay-Tsoory (2012)). These cues alter how men interact with potential partners.
Changes in Facial changes
Other research shows that when women are in their fertile phase, their faces appear more attractive to men (Burris et al., 2015). The increase of facial attractiveness that women experience is subtle but is still perceived by men. Subtle shape differences in faces are sufficient to trigger men's preference for a woman in her fertile cycle phase (Bobst & Lobmaier, 2012). This highlights how evolutionary biology quietly influences human attraction.
Conclusion
Your body may have better timing than your group chat, and it doesn’t need to announce it. Around ovulation, many women get a little boost, including feeling more confident, more attractive, and maybe even end up in a better mood. But here’s the cool part: these changes aren’t obvious like flipping on a bedroom light. Instead, they show up as subtle “behind-the-scenes” signals. These shifts are likely powered by hormonal changes, particularly increases in estrogen, which are associated with perceptions of health, femininity, and attractiveness. So, while men generally can’t consciously tell when a woman is ovulating, their brains and bodies may still be picking up on these cues and responding to them.
Written by Bessy Carrasco, BS, and edited by Aldrin V. Gomes, PhD
References
Bobst, C., & Lobmaier, J. S. (2012). Men's preference for the ovulating female is triggered by subtle face shape differences. Hormones and behavior, 62(4), 413–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.07.008
Burriss, R. P., Troscianko, J., Lovell, P. G., Fulford, A. J., Stevens, M., Quigley, R., Payne, J., Saxton, T. K., & Rowland, H. M. (2015). Changes in Women's Facial Skin Color over the Ovulatory Cycle are Not Detectable by the Human Visual System. PloS one, 10(7), e0130093.
Fischer, J., Semple, S., Fickenscher, G., Jürgens, R., Kruse, E., Heistermann, M., & Amir, O. (2011). Do women's voices provide cues of the likelihood of ovulation? The importance of sampling regime. PloS one, 6(9), e24490. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024490
Holesh, J. E., Bass, A. N., & Lord, M. (2023). Physiology, Ovulation. In StatPearls. StatPearlsPublishing.
Oren, C., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. G. (2019). Women's Body Odor during Ovulation Improves Social Perception in Single Men. Chemical senses, 44(9), 653–662.
Schleifenbaum, L., Driebe, J. C., Gerlach, T. M., Penke, L., & Arslan, R. C. (2021). Women feel
more attractive before ovulation: evidence from a large-scale online diary study. Evolutionary
human sciences, 3, e47. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2021.44
Tarumi, W., & Shinohara, K. (2020). Women's body odour during the ovulatory phase modulates testosterone and cortisol levels in men. PloS one, 15(3), e0230838.
Comments