North by Northwestern

As a hormonally regulated female, I’d like to make a plug for the effete guy. I went on the Pill when I was 17. Shortly thereafter, the relationship with my first and only lacrosse player ended. Fortunate enough to be able to find sexual attraction in a guy who can sustain a conversation, my dating history has been pretty enriching. But then again, reduced libido is supposedly another fantastic side effect of the Pill. At this point, I’m not even sure what I should consider superior masculinity. Don’t the “sex symbols” from the middle of the century look like they smoked a pack a day and hit the strip clubs every night? Besides, in hand-to-hand combat, I could probably take Zac Efron, so date rape will probably decline. Maybe we’ve changed for the better.
- Caty Enders, Weinberg junior

Sure, Hollywood has lost its manly edge. Pill or no Pill, millions of screaming and swooning adolescent girls keep the Jonas Brothers rolling in cash. Frankly, if our male stars are becoming more sensitive, our leading ladies are going in the opposite direction. Could The Daily Mail be onto something else, a point they touch on at the very end of the article? Is this the precarious “women’s hour” in Hollywood — a time when female stars use courtroom visits,sexual double entendres and reality TV drama to get attention? With this increasing vivacity in their professional and personal lives, could these stars be pushing their male co-stars, at least for the time being, into sexual submission?
- Hallie Busta, Medill sophomore, Assistant Opinion Editor

This is just the sort of news I have been hoping for since the third grade, when glandular freaks with anger management problems were pushing me in snow banks and beating me with backpacks. Now I’m more intelligent, better dressed and (apparently) sexier than they are. It almost makes up for all those years I thought it was a good idea to tuck my T-shirt into my corduroy pants. But the issue is bigger than the Pill. Once upon a time, women may have been looking for a Jean-Claude van Damme to protect them, to go out to the factory to feed the family, and, I don’t know, build birdhouses. But those days are over. In this economy, muscles aren’t getting you anywhere. And you can buy birdhouses now. Put simply, it’s all about the Pentiums, baby.
- Caleb Melby, Medill sophomore, Opinion Editor

Hugh Jackman, a muscular, dark-haired Australian was named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2008. The magazine’s first “Sexiest Man” honor was awarded to Mel Gibson, a similarly toned and hairy actor in 1985. Other celebrities who graced People’s cover for the same reason include Tom Cruise (1990), Harrison Ford (1998) and Matthew McConaughey (2005), all classically handsome and chiseled and overall (to borrow the eloquent words of Derek Zoolander) “really, really ridiculously good-looking.” George Clooney even won twice in an eight-year span. Evidently, the magazine has been finding masculinity attractive for more than 20 years. My conclusion: Either this theory about the Pill changing women’s taste in men is all hocus-pocus, or the magazine industry uses alternative birth control.
- Amanda Simmons, Medill freshman

From a sociological perspective, this is excellent news. Instead of the stereotypical passive female and aggressive male roles, perhaps society is reverting to more equal gender roles? Gender is after all, a mere construction of society. Gender norms can be taught and unlearned, and shift over the course of human evolution. This calls for a toast — we are evolving!
- Amber Gibson, Medill freshman

Every few months I hear about a new scientific paper about pheromones or fertility-related body chemistry, and the media starts making outlandish claims that flow into the public psyche. Just think of how popular Axe became when teenage boys found out that canned man-smell could turn normal women into raging nymphos. Now journalists are using the Pill to explain changing tastes in movie stars, based on a paper whose author claimed “there is no evidence” that the Pill actually has the described effect. As much as I would like it if the Pill kept girls from ditching the nice guy for the bad boy once a month, it’s better to sit back, let science do its job and wait to see more evidence before jumping to conclusions.
- Vince FitzPatrick, Weinberg sophomore

The Pill could very well be affecting the way men behave outside their interactions with women. Straight men will often change their behavior in order to obtain the affections of a pretty girl (or, depending on the guy’s circumstances, any girl). If this study is to be believed, then more and more men will become less assertive and aggressive in order to appeal to the “fairer sex.” This may mean that men are apt to become more deferential and demure in the political, business and academic realms as well. Already, there is a preponderance of women on college campuses (the gender ratio on campus today is 57/43 in favor of the females). Quite a large consequence from such a small pill.
- Kian Hudson, Communication sophomore