Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of CourtshipMacmillan, 2005 - 230 pages A world renowned anthropologist explores the nonverbal signs, signals, and cues human beings exchange to attract and keep their mates. As a medium of communication, Love's silent language predates speech by millions of years. Today, we still express emotions and feelings largely apart from words. The postures, gestures, and facial cues of attraction are universal, in all societies and cultures. According to Dr. Givens, courtship moves slowly though five distinct phases: attracting attention, recognition phase, conversation phase, touching phase, making love. Since potential mates "test" each other before uniting as one, courtship is a choreographed give and take of signs granting physical and emotional closeness. Love Signals is part enthnography and part how-to. Dr. Givens documents the little courting rituals witnessed in elevators, on subways, and in the workplace. He examines the essential role the face plays in courtship and how it can be optimally displayed. He decodes the body to find silent messages given off by shoulders, neck, arms, hands, waist, calves, ankles, feet, and toes. Dr. Givens analyzes expressive shapes, colors, and markings encoded in arm wear, shoulder wear, leg wear, and shoes. He deciphers the background messages of spaces, places and interiors to learn how environs help or hinder in the meeting process. Chemical cues emanating from aromas, tastes, steroids, sterols, and hormones strongly shape a partner's feelings, so they are explored as well. The book suggests ways to gaze, ways to read eyes across a room, and ways to sit, stand, align, walk dress, and lift a drink to participate in the fascinating adventure of finding, winning, and keeping a mate. Knowing the unspoken vocabulary of love signals will give readers an edge. What this means for courtship is that the reader becomes able to read unspoken motives, emotions, and feelings with great clarity and precision. The more readers know about the nonverbal idiom of attraction, the more likely they will find a loving, lasting partner. |
Contents
The Five Phases of Courtship | 1 |
Attracting Attention | 23 |
How to Read the Gleam in an Eye | 49 |
Exchanging Words | 71 |
The Language of Touch | 89 |
Making Love | 107 |
The Face of Attraction | 119 |
Meet A Case of Love at First Sight Hidden Meaning in Hair | 135 |
Dress to Obsess | 155 |
Show Strength His and Hers Sneakers Leg Signals The Hid | 172 |
Chemical Cues | 191 |
Staying TogetherNonverbal Cues That Bind | 209 |
221 | |
Other editions - View all
Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship David Givens Limited preview - 2006 |
Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship David Givens Limited preview - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
amygdala animal anthropologist aphrodisiacs apocrine appeal approach arms aroma arousal Attention Phase biologists body language brain breasts brows called centers Charles Darwin chemical cingulate gyrus close close talker clothing color communication companionate love contrapposto Conversation Phase couples courting courtship dance DAVID GIVENS Desmond Morris display emotional eye contact eyebrows face facial feel female feminine fight-or-flight response forehead foreplay friendly gaze gender gestures hair hand head hips hormone human hypothalamus Isopraxism kiss lean legs less lift lips look Love Signals lovemaking male man's masculine mate Monkeyshines mood motions move muscles neck nerves nonverbal signs nose notice other's oxytocin palm partner percent person pheromone posture preening primate psychologically psychologist Recognition Phase response scent sebum sexual shape shoes shoulders side skin smell smile someone space speak stimulates stranger anxiety tactile toe cleavage touch upper voice waist wear woman women words