You've heard the saying "animal attraction" right? You've probably also heard the Nine Inch Nails song of a more, shall we say, sensational title! But if you think this metaphor is merely a play on words, you couldn't be more wrong! There's a reason why we humans refer to intense attraction as animal.
When it comes to sex, we're not so different from our four-legged (or six legged or no-legged) friends, according to Doctor David Givens, an anthropologist and author of Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship. In a recent article, he sheds light on some new pick up tricks taken straight from a few wild creatures who mate for life!
Send Scent-ual Signals
For many animals, courtship stinks - literally! You've known that dogs and cats mark their territory in ways many humans see as unhygienic, but for the North American bull moose, urination is an actual mating call. Likewise, a single molecule of the female gypsy moth's odor can be detected by a male seven miles away!
Now is the fine doctor suggesting that you relieve yourself at the doorstep of your object d'amor? Of course not. Nor is he saying you should load up on the perfume or cologne. In fact, Givens says there are more subtle and effective ways to use scent to your romantic advantage. He suggests men actually not wear cologne when they meet a woman because the scent may be deemed too strong. Women, however, he says, can manipulate how dates see them with scent. A spicy floral perfume may make them appear more slender.
Strut Your Stuff
For this example, Givens mentions the "zig-zag dance" mating ritual of the three-spin stickleback fish. Faced with a female he finds attractive, the male swims back and forth across her field of view, giving the female stickleback time to check him out from head to tailfin and removing any intimidation factor that a straight on approach might create.
Givens says humans can copy the stickleback's technique in the form of a pass-by. If someone sweet (or not so sweet!) registers on your radar, make it a point to be seen. Don't approach, but walk by "with proper nonchalance." The animal expert says you'll want to be sure to establish eye contact and then gauge your perspective partner's response to your proximity. A head nod, smile or eye-brow flash of recognition indicates you may want to go in for the kill, um, or, pick up.
Be a Copy Cat
Givens says that when North American whooping cranes get down and dirty, they use a principal called isopraxism to establish rapport. Basically, they mimic each other. The male faces the female, flaps his arms, and bobs his head. If equally smitten, the female does the same - in syncopated rhythm. As he bows, she rises, and as he rises, she bows, and so on until they're ready to get it on.
So bobbing your head isn't gonna get your juices flowing? Don't worry. Givens isn't suggesting synchronized swimming (or any literal interpretation for that matter). Though he does say that isopraxims works wonders for the homo sapien species. All living things find similarities reassuring. So, for instance, if you cross your legs, lean back in your chair, or sip your drink as your date does, you're illustrating that you're on their wavelength, opening the door for a romantic connection.
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