ANIMALS FLIRT JUST LIKE WE DO
ONE aspect of courtship is unlikely ever to change: the way we flirt. The essential choreography is the same the world over — and often shared by animals and birds.
To find out how women do it, a German scientist had a camera constructed with a secret lens that took pictures to the side when he was pointing it straight ahead.
During extensive travels, this allowed him secretly to film the facial expressions of women as they flirted in Samoa, Papua, France, Japan, Africa and Amazonia. Then he carefully examined each frame.
A universal pattern emerged. First, the woman smiles at her admirer and lifts her eyebrows in a swift, jerky motion as she opens her eyes wide to gaze at him.
Then she drops her eyelids, tilts her head down and to the side, and looks away.
Other gambits include a coy look, in which a woman cocks her head and looks shyly up at her suitor. Among other mammals, a female possum does this, too — turning toward her suitor, cocking her snouty jaw and looking straight into his eyes.
Female animals frequently toss their heads to get the male’s attention.
So do women: they raise their shoulders, arch their backs and toss their locks in a single sweeping motion.
And men? Think of the last time a colleague walked up to you, smiled, arched his back and thrust his upper body in your direction. If you’re a man, he was subconsciously asserting his dominance; if you’re a woman, he was flirting.
Both sexes also make use of what scientists call the copulatory gaze. They stare intently at a potential mate for about two to three seconds, during which their pupils may dilate — a sign of extreme interest. Then they blink and look away. Eye contact triggers primitive parts of the human brain, calling forth one of two basic emotions — approach or retreat.
You may smile and start a conversation or look away and edge toward the door.
But first, you’ll probably tug at an earlobe, adjust your jumper, yawn, fidget with your glasses or perform some other meaningless movement. This helps alleviate anxiety while you make up your mind how to respond.
Animals who also do the copulatory gaze include baboons and bonobos (pygmy chimps). Female baboons fidget — often with their feet — while deciding if they’re really interested.
Like chimps and gorillas, we also deploy special smiles to signal our interest in a potential mate. There are 18 types of smile, but the one that signals we’re sexually interested is distinctive: lips completely drawn back and teeth fully exposed.