Body Language Secrets A Guide During Courtship & Dating

(^36) BODY LANGUAGE SECRETS
head, vertical is bad. Where the drink is held, high as
a barrier is bad. Hand activity, clenched, squeezing or
pinching is bad but open, caressing or stroking is
great.
AVOID FRUSTRATION AND ANGER
Please take a moment and read the Preface if you
skipped it. Because, in it I presented the premise
that underlies the entire book. Without reading the
Preface, you may not enjoy, or learn, what is needed
from What Is Courtship? the next chapter.
Also, please take a few seconds to read Darwin's
quote at the beginning of the next chapter.
In the most distinct classes of the animal
kingdom, with mammals, birds, reptiles
fishes, insects, and even crustaceans,
the difference between the sexes
follow almost exactly the same rules;
the males are always the wooers.
CHARLES DARWIN, The Descent of Man, 1871
What Is Courtship?
Courtship is practiced by all species in which the
male is a beggar, that is, the female does not in-
stinctively and actively seek copulation. Each spe-
cies has a ritual that must be followed carefully. The
rituals involve displays of dominance and aggres-
siveness on the part of the male, reluctance and sub-
rnissiveness on the part of the female.
Adult gorillas take five hours to complete an in-
tricate dance of gestures and branch waving. That's
four hours longer than it takes to conduct the typi-
cal singles' bar ritual.
IT'S LOTS OF THINGS
Courtship is subtle. Courtship is demonstrating
good intentions. Courtship is signaling. Courtship is
nonverbal. Courtship is calming fears. Courtship is
attraction, supplication, stimulation, fascination,
exhilaration, inspiration, titillation, but most of all,
courtship is—PERSUASION.
In the animal world, the function of courtship is
to persuade the female to let the male mount and
penetrate her. Contrary to what many people want