Butterflies in the stomach

Categories: Emotions

'''Butterflies in the stomach''' refers to a "fluttery" feeling in the stomach that automatically occurs during human pair bonding and mating, but also during stressful and dangerous situations.

This feeling is caused by a reduction of blood flow to the digestive organs as a result of adrenaline release in the [[fight-or-flight]] response. This response also increases the heart rate and blood pressure, leading to blood being pumped away from the digestive organs and toward the extremities enabling quick physical responses such as fighting or fleeing.<ref>Bennett H. ''Why do you get butterflies in your stomach?'' The Washington Post. [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/09/AR2010050902953.html Article]]</ref>
== Bluepilled take ==
[[Bluepill]]ers would call this phenomenon [[romance|romantic]] and cute, because [[love]] is "exciting" etc. Intimacy means exposing oneself to the judgement, gossip and ridicule of someone else which can be embarassing and stressful.
== Redpilled take ==
A fight-or-flight response being a hardwired part of human mating behavior suggests that mating is serious business. There are several conceivable evolutionary explanations:
* '''Male competition''': Human mating is greatly decided by physical intimidation and [[dominance hierarchy|dominance competition]] between males, at least in a "liberated" mate-choice context. Thus, when a new pair-bond is being negotiated, everyone involved needs to be physically prepared for fight. Indeed, sexual envy and revenge commonly motivates assault and murder. 
* '''Female testing''': A universal trait of choosy females is a tendency for a coy reluctance that the male has to overcome by physically subduing her, very much resembling a fight or scuffling.<ref>[[Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt|Eibl-Eibesfeldt I]]. 1989. ''Pair Formation, Courtship, Sexual Love.'' In: ''Human Ethology.'' Rougtledge. [[https://books.google.com/books?id=-CExDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT6&ots=KctjD7Zprm&dq=Pair%20Formation%2C%20Courtship%2C%20Sexual%20Love&pg=PT335#v=onepage&q=Pair%20Formation,%20Courtship,%20Sexual%20Love&f=false Excerpt]]</ref><ref name="eibl1990">Eibl-Eibesfeldt I. 1990. ''Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.'' In: Feierman, J. R. (ed.): Pedophilia. Biosocial Dimensions. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1990 151-175. [[https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Abstract]]</ref>
* '''Arranged marriage''': As part of self-domestication and k-selection, human mating has increasingly become more civilized and controlled by cultural institutions and norms, but those norms are often enforced rather brutally, especially in honor cultures. [[Mismatchcel]]s in modern free mate-choice context are not only confronted with the r-selected male competition behavior, but also in conflict with adaptations to deeply respect mating decisions by the community/parents, which may be a main cause of [[shycel]]s.

== See also ==
* [[Dominance hierarchy]]
* [[Muscle theory]]
* [[Scientific Blackpill#tocBody|Scientific Blackpill § Body]]
* [[Female orgasm]]
== References ==
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{{Redpill}}
[[Category:Emotions]]