The historical evolution of seduction

When we think of seduction throughout history, we immediately imagine the first beginnings of the art of flirting, with a blow to the head of the chosen one, who is then thrown into a bush to do her bidding and move on to someone else. In reality, no anthropologist really knows what approaches were practiced in those remote times. But there’s no reason to believe that hominids were any more brutal than animals in their sexual approaches.

Seduction in Antiquity is more easily verifiable, notably through the writings of several authors, Ovid, for example, who, in his treatise ” The Art of Loving “, paints a very interesting portrait of Roman mores. It was an era of great sexual freedom, with everyone sleeping with whomever they wished, from available bachelors to slaves, freedwomen, hetaeraians and more. The theater and the circus were famous hunting grounds, and anyone could get their money’s worth by offering a small gift.

In certain other civilizations, such as  in Viking times and among the Germanic peoples, seduction involved abduction and rape. This is nothing new: women have been ravished since time immemorial, but the practice became commonplace in the Middle Ages, when women were used as bargaining chips. Either she was the object that sealed alliances between great families, or she was kidnapped to weaken the enemy. Either way, you’re out of luck when it comes to dating.

But medieval times also offered the other side of the coin in the practice of courtly love. Marriage was still a politico-economic alliance, but the mores of the time tolerated a knight’s courtship of the lady of his heart within the bounds of Platonism. A little gentleness in this world of brutes, seduction within the parameters of courtly love becomes an idealized discipline that allows men to externalize their feelings, and women to delude themselves as to their importance in the hearts of men.

In the 17e century that an art of seduction was truly born in the bedroom of the Précieuses. Leading the way was Madeleine de Scudéry, kindly encouraged by her naughty cousin Bussy-Rabutin, famous author of ” L’histoire amoureuse des Gaules “, who elevated the art of lovemaking to a level of finesse and subtlety. Ninon de Lenclos, the most famous courtesan of her time, would then propagate this art of seduction, with its distinguished codes and unique vocabulary, to her many lovers, friends and acquaintances in the salon she held, from five to nine, every day.

At the end of the 18e It was Pierre Choderlos de Laclos who, in the 19th century, heated by decades of perfected seduction, came up with his must-read novel Les liaisons dangereuses , a veritable apology for the hunt for love, elevated to the level of absolute strategy. A sort of cross between the advice of a Machiavelli and the cooing of a Casanova, the novel presents a feminine and a masculine version of the art of flirting. An example that has undoubtedly since been followed by many amateurs.

During this 18e In this astonishing century, we’ve also noticed that seduction comes in the form of clothing, and particularly in the fashion for flies. Originally, flies, small fake moles  applied to the face, were intended to conceal skin imperfections. But they soon became a code of seduction. Each spot on the face has its own significance: on the chin, it’s the discreet one; on the smile line, it’s the playful one; at the corner of the lips, it’s the fucker; under the lip, it’s the rascal; near the eye, it’s the assassin; on the forehead, it’s the majestic one; on the nose, it’s the naughty one; on the cheek, it’s the gallant one. And the fly on the chest represents the generous one. That said, the fly was not the only accessory coded into the language of seduction in the Age of Enlightenment. The fan alone has at least 22 different meanings, depending on its owner’s use. Depending on its position, it indicates to the lover who covets Madame the position in which she is facing him. A truly poetic ballet of the hand!

Then came the Industrial Revolution, which dramatically altered seduction standards. So did the two world wars. With women demanding rights and greater autonomy, role models such as Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen stood out from the crowd, giving women the desire to seduce in ways other than the symbolic, and to take action, just like all the Don Juans of the world. But it wasn’t until May 1968 and the advent of contraception that morals were liberalized, allowing women to have a little more control over their bodies. Then came the 1980s and ’90s, with their nightclub fashions, extraordinarily wacky musical trends, and the apology of an androgyny that allowed both sexes to escape the usual stereotypes, creating a current of sexual freedom unparalleled since ancient Rome.

Perhaps it’s because of this sexual overexposure that today, seduction goes through social media and dating sites. It’s as if we’re trying to put a little distance between ourselves and the all-too-easy access to sex. The Internet becomes a kind of shield, allowing us to say no without actually doing it. Avoiding physical contact with the other person gives us back the power to refuse an unwanted relationship or to make the other person languish in our society, where everything has to be immediate.