Love Signals
by David Givens
First published 1985
Many of the postures, gestures and facial cues of attraction
are universal, in all societies and cultures. David Givens 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. According to Givens, courtship moves 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. Givens documents the little courting
rituals witnessed in elevators, on subways, and in the workplace. He examines
the role the face, decodes the body’s silent messages, analyses the expressive
shapes, colours, and markings worn, deciphers the background messages of
spaces, places and interiors, and the chemical cues that can shape a partner's
feelings.