Heterosexual Seduction in the Urban Night Context: Behaviors and Meanings

Abstract

This article presents an anthropological analysis of heterosexual seduction behaviors of men and women (from 18 to 65 years old, with varying civil status) who attended nightclubs located in the movida areas of Lisbon, Portugal. These behaviors were analyzed according to structure versus communitas theories. Nighttime seduction behaviors were observed and recorded in a field diary, and in-depth semistructured interviews with 60 men and 60 women were conducted. Interviews were analyzed using the thematic content analysis model. Results suggested that the communitas domain was evinced in the various seduction strategies. These courtship behaviors tended to follow a specific pattern: nonverbal seduction, visual seduction, verbal seduction, and acting-consisting of caresses, touches, and kisses. When this escalation process evoked positive responses, it generally culminated in the complete synchrony of movements between the two bodies. The seduction process encompassed both masculine and feminine initiatives: Women engaged primarily in nonverbal and visual seduction, while men appeared to orchestrate verbal courtship and acting. However, sometimes men and women did not want to seduce or be seduced because they were married (especially women) or were with their partners (especially young men) and did not want to endanger the structure domain.

Making Choices in Discourse: New Alternative Masculinities Opposing the “Warrior’s Rest”

“…The second contribution of the article refers to the importance of communicative acts and their influence on partner selection among men ( Renninger et al, 2004 ; Brak-Lamy, 2015 ; Fisher et al, 2020 ). The present research provides a novel insight into the potential of the use of language to break the tendency of reproducing the double standard in heterosexual relationships and the model of the female warrior.…”

“…Regarding the manifestation of the linguistic process, research has also pointed out the different interactional styles between men and women (Baxter, 2006;Jackson, 2018). Other studies have analyzed the use of non-verbal signs and communication behavior among men on partner selection and courtship interaction (Renninger et al, 2004;Brak-Lamy, 2015;Fisher et al, 2020). Besides, many researchers have related the accounts of violence and the discourse of hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1995;Mullaney, 2007;Mañas-Viejo and Martínez Sanz, 2020;Mensah, 2021).…”

Nocturnal selective pressures on the evolution of human musicality as a missing piece of the adaptationist puzzle

“…Adults mostly remember and selfidentify with music heard during adolescence and young adulthood (Jakubowski et al, 2020;Loveday et al, 2020). Many recognized locations/contexts for short-term mating are shifted to night-time and contain loud music, e.g., nightclubs, dance clubs, bars, (fraternity) parties, concerts/festivals, and weddings (Jonason et al, 2015), where seduction culminates into the high synchrony of couple's body movements (Brak-Lamy, 2015). Compared to afternoon, music-listening preferences after sunset are focused on increasingly higher tempo and danceability (Heggli et al, 2021).…”

National income inequality predicts cultural variation in mouth to mouth kissing

“…Although not a human universal, romantic kissing is observed in a wide variety of cultures 11 and being perceived as a good kisser can enhance a person’s desirability as a partner (e.g., for short-term relationships 12 ). Indeed, some naturalistic studies have documented kissing in courtship, where reciprocal affection is related to synchrony in body movements 13 . Cues obtained from close physical contact with a partner may facilitate mate assessment 14 , consistent with species that use gustatory and olfactory cues to regulate courtship rituals 15 (see also 16 ).…”