"Dude, it's mating season."

I remember doing a research paper for my AP Psychology class a few years ago. We were able to choose our own topic, then explore it, study it, and analyze the factual data which was accumulated. Maybe it seems like a long, boring assignment to some of you, but I enjoyed it. I spent the four+ months which was dedicated to this project studying the differences between men and women. It was a broad topic, and had to be narrowed down for the paper. My main focus become the differences in thought processes of the two genders.

..On that raw level, looking at a person in such a primal light -removing social expectations -removing the experiences they may have had.. to see the motivations in their simplest form... was fascinating to learn.

Some of the findings I can recall include the occurrence of attraction. Apparently men with blue eyes are more likely to be attracted to a females with blue eyes. Why? Because blue eyes is a recessive gene. It’s not that the man would say, “Hey, l like this color eyes.” It’s more like his security deposit on his possible child. If the man mates with the blue eye’d female, their child would have blue eyes. Subconsciously, he would know that their relationship was secure, and that she was satisfied with him as her mate.

So on a primal level, the man would want a woman who could potentially care for his offspring, nurturing them both in and out of her womb. While primarily, women would want a man who would protect them and their offspring- warding off beasts and all that jazz.

The men had to worry that the women wouldn’t wander their eyes to the other men, insecure that another might be more suited for their protection. While women would worry the men would wander off, leaving them venerable with another mouth to feed and protect.

That is the raw slate of human mating. The beginnings of the conundrum.

In today’s society, relationships are still built on that platform. The innate need for security and trust. But the beasts are not bears- but the monetary system. And sex doesn’t always mean children, thanks to modern medicine. So everyone’s motives over those thousands of years of complicating the world have even complicated such a simple desire.

Now men try to flaunt their bank accounts in stead of (or in addition to) their muscles. Which still doesn’t even seem to cut it for the ever growing population of self-sufficient women. It’s all so cut-throat, and dog-eat-dog just looking at the money aspect.. Just look at lifestyle compatibility..intellectual compatibility..educational prospects.. at life goals and expectations... Just look at the growing population, which is more accessible than ever. Holy fuck, no wonder people get so exhausted trying to find a mate. (I use the term mate, in the long-term sense...)

We will leave the hormone level talk for another day. But just realize that a woman with higher testosterone levels is more likely to share personality traits of men... be more relatable to their way of thinking. And likewise for men with higher estrogen to women. I just wanted to add that snippet, to get you thinking about how personality plays in relationships (both conducive and unrelated to mating).

Think about all those conversations everyone has. “He’s not my type.” “She’s not my type.” “I don’t even know what my type is!” Who the fuck is in their heads saying anyone has a type?-instincts... garbled, confused instincts.

So with the sunshine so infectious- warm air breathes new life into the city- and petals fall from the trees, collecting like potpourri at the sides of the streets- it is spring.

Spring ultimately reduces to that instinct we have to procreate, wether we choose to look at it that way or not. Some try to be civilized about it as the hormones rage on, and let the butterflies flutter in their stomachs. We romanticize the days as they pass, seeking out mates more subtlety. Dates, affairs, and tirades through the magnificent sun, letting the breeze blow through our hair until we find fingers of another which might intertwine with our own.

The idea of love is so captivating to so many, that I hardly believe people really know what it is. But they want it. They desire the connection with another human being through this “love’s” interlude.

All of this babble really started because I have been receiving an odd number of compliments, and observed the unusual chivalry men have been bestowing upon their female counterparts. It all seemed out of character, as though rehearsed, just to be released in this lovely weather for all to enjoy. When I made mention of the odd behavior to a coworker at “Job 2", he said it so simply, I could not have said it better.

“Dude, it’s mating season.”