I often wonder if people ever see some similarities in human and animal sexual behavior.

A friend of mine just told me there is no comparison. He says animals have sex for reproduction, and that humans more often have sex for pleasure.

I agree with him to a certain extent. Humans indeed get pleasure from sex, but they have developed ways to avoid pregnancy after sex.

There are some similarities that seem very obvious to me, such as, "the chase."

A lot of female animals only breed with the alpha male. You know, like the toughest, strongest or most territorial of the other males. Well, I see so much of this happening in our society and even on our campus. A lot of women are instinctively attracted to the "alpha male," or the guy who is considered a powerful individual.

The only blatant difference in comparing human and animal sexual behavior is the chase. The chase in human society is strategic and somewhat sneaky. I'll say it has to be strategic because one has to be careful about what he says. You can't always say exactly what's on your mind.

Like, "Hey, what's your name? Well, I think you're beautiful, and I could see myself with you in the future. I really could. But I want to have sex with you now, if that's okay."

So I say "somewhat sneaky" because the approach is never like that. No matter what a (smart) guy's really thinking, those words will never come out of his mouth. Instead, he will quite strategically choose his words throughout his pursuit. But it's OK.

In our society we accept this. The majority of women would much rather be approached by a nice liar than an honest guy who speaks exactly what's on his mind, if for no other reason than we often perceive sexual comments as offensive.

I have heard people say, " It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Naturally, girls desire sex just as much as guys."

And if this is true, then my question is: Why do men go through so much trouble to chase women? Even though it would be rather funny to see people chasing each other like squirrels on the South Oval, human societies and cultures just don't lead to that sort of sexual behavior.

At the same time, humans perform the same chases. I guess in squirrel culture, there is just a different type of acceptable way of doing things. I often ask myself what kind of animals we are. Scientifically, are we made up with the same instinctive sexual needs as animals?

And, if so, what is the real difference between humans and animals? In addition to the common, acceptable statement that men are naturally sexual, I believe women have inherent sexual desire. The differences in women (and the same thing applies to men) are in regard to circumstances.

For example, there are nuns, married women, sluts, good girls, mixes of everything and a wide variety of other women from many different backgrounds that, for their specific reasons, view sex differently. In the end, however, they all view sex in some way.

In my opinion, culture is what separates our views of sex. On a more personal level, I believe past experiences also greatly affect our views both positively and negatively. I have learned that, just like animals, we also have way of doing things.

I am pretty sure that Momma squirrel would find it kind of strange if Poppa squirrel wrote her a poem or something.

But it would also be weird for you to chase your loved one up a tree and along a fence.

-- Jeff Mims is a film and video studies junior. His column appears every other Friday, and he can be reached at dailyopinion@ou.edu.
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