Should Oxytocin be Banned?

[Nerys Ghemor]

Estrogen is also a natural hormone, but such treatments in menopausal women--whose bodies are supposed to be producing them at different levels than they once did--is not healthy. What I mean by "non-natural" is that such levels are not natural to that gender or stage of life.

Similarly, with oxytocin we're talking about exposing men to levels their bodies were not made to process, and I would be concerned about what health effects it might have.

 

[gturner]

Actually, we're still talking about naturally occuring levels, but those levels typically occur when a man is head-over-heals in love, getting happily towed through the women's dress section while mooning over his girlfriend.

I think there was a thread about this a couple years ago based on studies of prarie voles (which are monogamous) verses meadow voles (which are assholes). The differences were caused by vasopressin and oxytocin.

2004 BBC link

2003 study

1993 study

Oxytocin and vasopressin are the hormones controlling pair bonding and parenting in mammals (aka love).

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Perhaps those levels are natural for certain periods of time...but again, I would be concerned about exposures to a substance like that, that aren't what the body ought to be producing.

 

[trampledamage]

Perhaps those levels are natural for certain periods of time...but again, I would be concerned about exposures to a substance like that, that aren't what the body ought to be producing.

I agree. Everything works in harmony (or should) within the body, so it doesn't matter if these levels of oxytocin are normal at certain times, they aren't normal for the time of spraying since you've added them from an external source - who knows what that imbalance could cause.

 

[Amaris]

Hey, I'm a man and I'm interested in cuddling, and since I'm only aware of the pre-game cuddle and not the post-game cuddle, all I can say is that I like cuddling. I'm also a hugger and a holder, but that's another story.

 

[Teelie]

5 pages is a lot to read... and no one really asked this: If it's acceptable or legal to use this, would it not be the same to allow something that makes women want to have sex more? If all it took was spraying some kind of "horny gas" in their face like this "cuddle spray?" It's based on the same principal afterall.

That is why I think this should be banned. In the general sense, women want more sensitive, caring and affectionate in the ways they are, men want women to be more sexually aggressive and less emotionally reactive. It's biological and the trends are for men to behave like men and women to behave like women.

Society definitely puts expectations up but it's not fair to throw all the traits of both sexes at the feet of society and say it's why we are how we are. Suggesting that something which "softens" men up is okay but something that makes women more turned on is not acceptable is blatantly sexist.

 

[Trilliam]

Ha...I thought this was an Oxycontin thread too!

Anyway, the introduction of ANY non-natural hormones into the human body is something I have grave concerns about--especially for frivolous purposes. Even the administration of estrogen to women in menopause has proven dangerous to the health, and I would be concerned about what this could do to anyone who takes this into their body without very close medical supervision.

Now, IF this thing were somehow cleared for personal use (and personally I would think this would be a VERY small possibility because my instinct is that this is not physically healthy)--I would be very much against a woman giving a man any sort of drug without his express, informed, uncoerced consent. If we accept that women should not be given drugs without their consent, for sexual gratification of a man, then the same principle MUST work; the rights of men must also be respected. Now if a man FREELY decided he wanted to try this, then I would not interfere with his right to choose. But it must be HIS decision, not anyone else's.

Again, though--I do not think it likely that this would ever be acceptable, for reasons of physical health to anyone who is taking in hormones their body is not producing for itself.

I don't even think that the OCP, let alone HRT are good things.

 

[sidious618]

Do you really think that kind of thing ("man behavior" ) is what defines you as a man?

If we are not allowed, by society, to act that way, it's taking away part of us, yes. I'm not saying all men have to act like brutes but neither should we be kept from it. Sometimes we really do just want pizza, beer and a ball game.

The point is that there's nothing "manly" about pizza, beer and a ball game!

If he thinks pizza, beer and a ball game is what makes him a man then he has some serious self-exploration to do.

 

[scotpens]

I don't even think that the OCP, let alone HRT are good things.

And OCP and HRT are . . . what?

EDIT: Never mind. I Googled both terms. OCP is what we Yanks usually call “the pill,” and HRT is hormone replacement therapy.

Seriously, you believe no woman ought to be taking birth control pills?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Omni Consumer Products?

 

[Kestra]

I agree. Everything works in harmony (or should) within the body, so it doesn't matter if these levels of oxytocin are normal at certain times, they aren't normal for the time of spraying since you've added them from an external source - who knows what that imbalance could cause.

I know we're talking about something specific there, but I want to point out that the idea of everything working in harmony often falls short in practice.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I don't even think that the OCP, let alone HRT are good things.

And OCP and HRT are . . . what?

EDIT: Never mind. I Googled both terms. OCP is what we Yanks usually call “the pill,” and HRT is hormone replacement therapy.

Seriously, you believe no woman ought to be taking birth control pills?

That doesn't necessarily mean not believing in birth control at all...it's just an issue of whether artificial hormones are a good idea, and I admit I'm suspicious of the health effects, myself.

 

[Trilliam]

I don't even think that the OCP, let alone HRT are good things.

And OCP and HRT are . . . what?

EDIT: Never mind. I Googled both terms. OCP is what we Yanks usually call “the pill,” and HRT is hormone replacement therapy.

Seriously, you believe no woman ought to be taking birth control pills?

I know how they affected my body and how I felt when taking them, and I refuse to take HRT (for pretty much the same reasons). If another woman is happy to put strong exogenous hormones into her body, that's her business. I wont' do it.

There are other methods of birth control.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I agree. Everything works in harmony (or should) within the body, so it doesn't matter if these levels of oxytocin are normal at certain times, they aren't normal for the time of spraying since you've added them from an external source - who knows what that imbalance could cause.

I know we're talking about something specific there, but I want to point out that the idea of everything working in harmony often falls short in practice.

Yeah, if things in the body always worked in harmony, we'd never need drugs of any kind.

 

[greenguy]

It is really funny to see the immense insecurity about gender and sexual orientation on this thread and the board.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It is really funny to see the immense insecurity about gender and sexual orientation on this thread and the board.

Well, consider the audience.

 

[Kestra]

Well, consider the audience.

What are you trying to say here?

 

[sidious618]

Just because I'm a man doesn't mean I shouldn't dress well.

Or shall I say dress... FABULOUS!

 

[gturner]

Could oxytocin, though novel, be any worse than changing our behavior with beer?

 

[Amaris]

Could oxytocin, though novel, be any worse than changing our behavior with beer?

One is willing, the other is not. Drinking a beer requires a conscious effort, where one is willing to take the smaller risks associated with alcohol (when I say smaller risks, I mean looking like an idiot and having sex with the guy/girl who you thought was Michael J./Megan Fox). This spray is more like slipping a "Mickey", even if it's not nearly as effective. Let a person be his or her self. If you don't like it, move on. If you can live with it, live with it.