Just like science is always finding out that animals are more complex, intelligent, organized, playful, etc. than humans used to admit, we’re also often surprised that humans are more animal than we like to admit.

Lap dancers ‘in heat’ are the ones to watch - being-human - 11 October 2007 - New Scientist
Last month, biologist Randy Thornhill challenged the orthodoxy that women do not undergo regular bouts of hormone-induced oestrus, or “heat”, when they are at their most fertile - something most female mammals experience (New Scientist, 15 September, p 18). Now a study of the tips men give to lap dancers, conducted by a colleague of Thornhill’s, lends further support to the argument for oestrus.

Geoffrey Miller and his team at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, compared the earnings of lap dancers who were menstruating naturally with those of dancers taking the hormonal contraceptive pill. During the non-fertile periods of their menstrual cycle, both sets of dancers earned similar tips. But when naturally cycling lap dancers entered their fertile period they earned significantly more in tips than their co-workers on the pill (Evolution and Human Behavior, DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.06.002).

I once had a traditional Chinese medicine doctor explain to me that I couldn’t possibly have PMS because the pill negates the cycle — not having cycles meant I couldn’t possibly have PMS.

I almost invited him to move in with me for a month to do a study, but I was PMSing at the time and didn’t feel like helping him expand his horizons.