What is Androphilia and what role does it play in girls?

Expert Jeffrey Kluger explains what Androphilia is, and the roles and effects that it can play in girls
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What is Androphilia and what role does it play in girls?

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Androphilia, as the Latin word suggests, is a special powerful attraction to males. This is primarily a sexual attraction to males. Some studies, on South Pacific islands, have found that women who exhibit androphilia, which means they have a greater number of sexual partners, they tend to start menstruation earlier. They also have more babies. Also tend to have a slightly higher instance of having a gay male child. Part of this could be that she just has more children, so it statistically likely that one of them are going to be gay. Another part of it is, at least the thinking is, that there's an androphilic gene. Two things may happen here. First, that androphilic gene gets passed on to the son, which makes a powerful attraction in man. By definition, the son would be gay. Evolutionary, that doesn't make sense, because it's a reproductive wash. Yes, the mom produces more kids, but the son is likelier to produce none at all. As a result there is no reproductive advantage here. But there does tend to be a reproductive advantage down the line because if the mom has as strong attraction to males, any daughter she has has at least a better than average chance of picking up that gene. They may produce more prodigiously also. In addition, gay males tend to be very good uncles. This is very common particularly in the U.S. As a result, a very invested care giver is already in the family who is going to do a good job of helping to raise and look out for the family. All in all, it becomes a reproductive plus for families who carry the androphilic gene.
ALL PARENTS, Health and Wellness

Expert Jeffrey Kluger explains what Androphilia is, and the roles and effects that it can play in girls

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Jeffrey Kluger

Science Journalist & Author

Jeffrey Kluger is a senior editor and writer at Time magazine, covering science, health and other fields. He is the coauthor, along with astronaut Jim Lovell, of Apollo 13, the book that served as the basis of the 1995 movie. His more-recent release, Splendid Solution, told the story of Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine.  His novel, Nacky Patcher and the Curse of the Dry-Land Boats, was published in June 2007, and his newest nonfiction book, Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex, was published in June 2008.

Before coming to Time, Kluger worked for Discover magazine, where he was a senior editor and humor columnist. Prior to that, he was health editor at Family Circle magazine, story editor at The New York Times Business World Magazine, and Associate Editor at Science Digest magazine. His features and columns have appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Gentlemen's Quarterly, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Omni, McCall's, New York Magazine, The New York Post, Newsday, and, of course, Time. He has worked as an adjunct instructor in the graduate journalism program at New York University; is a licensed—though non-practicing—attorney; and is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He lives in New York City with his wife Alejandra and their daughters, Elisa and Paloma.

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