Female Courtship Strategies | Page 9

fe m ale . P erp e r ca lle d th e se co nd re je ction str a te g y
I n co m ple te Reje ction o r D ela y. T he wom an sig na ls bo th in te re st and he sit a tio n . S he wan ts to
c o n tin ue the e motio na l re la tio n sh ip , but po stp on e th e phys ic a l re la tio nsh ip un til her
r e qu ir e m ents fo r em otio na l re cip ro cit y an d pu bli c c om m it m ent have be en met. S om e de gree of
n o n gen it a l se xua l co n ta ct su ch as k iss in g and non -g e nit a l fo nd lin g is allo w ed whic h sig na ls
a ff ection , in te re st or even a rou sa l. H ow eve r ge nit a l co nta ct, w hic h sy mboliz e s lo ve , is
p roh ib it e d . If th e male re sp ects her w is h e s and co n tin ue s to be e motion ally re sp o nsiv e , t hen
t he re is th e fu tu re po ss ib ilit y of ge nit a l se x be tw een th e co up le . M ale s ty p ic a lly don 't m ake th e
d is tin ctio n betw ee n wha t n on -g e nit a l a nd gen it a l con ta ct m ean to th e fe m ale . T o him , gen it a l
c o n ta ct is m ere ly a co ntinu ation o f the plea su ra b le e xp erie nce be tw een the m. T o her, g en it a l
s e x sy mbo liz e s lo ve . A s th e co up le co n tin ue s da tin g th e fe m ale must con tr o l th e exte n t o f the ir
p h ys ic a l i nte ra ctio n in ord e r to avo id gen it a l se x until he r requ ir e m en ts fo r em otion al re cip ro cit y
a n d pub li c c om m it m ent are sa tis fie d .
W hat f acto rs in te rna l to th e in div id u al sp e cif y tha t a m ou nt of em otio n al re cip ro cit y and pub lic
c o m m it m ent t ha t is ne ce ss ary prio r to th e on se t of gen it a l se x in a new re la tio nsh ip? In 19 60 ,
I r a Reiss id en tif ie d fo ur p
re m arit a l sex u ali t y sta n d ard s i
n our so cie ty :
ab stin en ce ,
p erm is s iv en ess wit h affe c tion , p erm iss ive ness witho ut affe c tion and th e doub le
s ta nd ard .
T hese se xu a lity s ta nd ard s s pecif y th e