Before Marriage |
After Marriage |
After scrolling across two newspaper photographs of a lion and lioness, I couldn’t help but stop and ponder over the intrigue surrounding their behavior. In the first photo, we witness the male lion erupt a fierce roar while standing astride his lioness as she coyly plays upon her submissive nature. Roles are immediately reversed as next we see the male lion hold his head in shame, after a quick scolding hiss, lulled out by his female counterpart. Fixated side by side, these photos are cleverly labeled the before and after phase of tying the knot.
My mind begins to race with a plethora of thoughts. While the male initially courts the female, showing power of his overtures, his phallic behavior, his bravado you might say–the female is hardly passive. She invites or rejects, and if she does, her admiration, or disdain, dictates the flow of the courtship. But at what point does this change? When does the purr manifest into a snarl? Both males and females possess similar desires and fears, yet they are hardly identical.
It’s widely accepted and believed that the mere motive for the young buck is to spread his seed, while the female’s primary objective is to clip his wings in hope of a long-term, stable family life. According to George Bernard Shaw, a woman marries to change him, while Margaret Meade believes ninety percent of the behavior of men and women is culturally determined. I once believed anatomy is destiny. However, these are opposite views.
The woman, who produces one egg, once a month, safeguards, protects and vehemently defends her channel, while the man shoots thousands of sperm, without a care where each happens to land. This innate biological difference affects gender behavior, which will ultimately form the basis of our future dissection of this topic. See you next week.
Got thoughts or opinions on this topic? A helpful anecdote you want to share? Feel free to leave a comment below.
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