There is now a biological explanation for why men go all soppy when their baby is born. It seems moms are not the only ones hardwired to nurture their offspring.
According to Northwestern University's study which was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, when his child is born, a man’s testosterone levels temporarily drop.
Like many male species, new fathers experience a dip in the macho hormone, testosterone, leaving them more able to look after their babies.
The study followed a group of 624 men in the Philippines who weren’t yet fathers, then watched over almost five years to see whether their hormones changed after they became dads.
"It's not the case that men with lower testosterone are simply more likely to become fathers," said Lee Gettler, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Northwestern and co-author of the study.
"Fatherhood and the demands of having a newborn baby require many emotional, psychological and physical adjustments," Gettler said. "Our study indicates that a man's biology can change substantially to help meet those demands."
Interestingly, the authors also found that single men often have poorer health than married men and fathers. Lower testosterone levels might actually protect them against certain chronic diseases as they age.
Did your man get noticeably softer after you gave birth? What changes did you notice in him?
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Madonna obviously thinks she's royalty. When the Toronto Film Festival rolled out the proverbial red carpet for her this week, she was gracious, openly thanking volunteers while promoting her new film, W.E., about the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson.
Backstage, however, it was an altogether different picture. She more than lived up to her blue-blooded part, requesting that Festival volunteers "turn their faces to a wall" so as to not look upon the pop-queen-cum-director as she headed to a press conference.
At the Venice festival Madonna recently lamented her comparable royal status. “I think once you become famous, you have to pretty much relinquish the idea that people are going to see you for who you are, or look beyond the surface of things. I think that was a source of great frustration for Wallis Simpson...”
While the perpetual invasion of privacy by paparazzi would drive me nuts too, a star on her way to a press conference (for the sole purpose of marketing her work) should expect some attention. Here's a little tip for you, Madge: If you want to be treated like a mere mortal, come off your high horse and start acting like one.
Everyone knows Facebook is guilty of TMI. But for an Irish dad, TMI went one step further when his 12-year-old daughter managed to upload sexually provocative photos of herself onto the social media site. Hello, pedophiles!
The dad in question claims it’s Facebook's has fault for putting the girl at risk, and he’s suing. As it stands, the site doesn’t have any checks in place to ensure that children are over the permitted age of 13 when they open an account.
Apparently, when the father found out about the photos, he immediately closed his daughter’s account. But she simply opened another. According to the Evening Herald, following the pictures in which she appears “heavily made-up”, men have been sending her explicit messages and requesting more photos. Clearly she looks older than 12 years old.
So whose job is it, anyway, to protect our children online? Is it realistic for parents to constantly monitor their children’s activity on the net, or should sites like Facebook set up more stringent security measures to ensure its members are of age?
I can’t wait to see what the court decides.
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