How Humans and other Animals Experience Sex and Love

Birds and bees do it.

Sex was created by nature to perpetuate genes.  That said, there is so much diversity, abundance and expression of sexuality among organisms, it may be understood that sexuality, and even love, is a foundation for life on the planet.

Here are some things observed in human and other animal sexual  culture; protection, nurturing, defense, feeding, sharing, body a verbal language bonding, competing and posturing, just to name the basics.  Non human animals have culture too.  They sing, dance, display, decorate and are seen to behave in amazing, sometimes irrational, ways.  On a cellular level, the brain stem, adrenal glands and many neurotransmitters all activate when it comes to sex and love. This is measurable, and well founded sciences of biology, neuroscience and psychology.

In human culture, music, dance, art and writing abound with the imagery of sex.  Humans are not the only animal that loves, bonds and mates.   Many animals, especially mammals, display many kinds of love.  There is protective love, feeding and nurturing love, social sharing love and of course, sexual love.  Although animals are not always as obsessed with sex in the abstract as humans are, they are very involved with it in the course of cooperating, mating, competing and copulation.

Many animals display pair bonding for life. They tolerate homosexuality.  They create attractive nests and homes for mates. They preen and strut, and dance. They have so many beautiful patterns, pelts and designs, that human culture copies them.  They have rituals, dances, calls and super sexy displays and physical attributes.  Somehow, they do all of this without Internet porn sites.  Other animals more often share sexuality in the real world, and without shame.

When one thinks of love, it is often associated with language in human understanding.  Yet, love on a much more basic level, that concern for others is vital to survival, is solidly based in bio-chemistry and the very real electrochemical response all organisms have. When stimulated by love, extreme survival behaviors are triggered. An increase in adrenalin,  cortisol, heart rate, breathing and more is common. This is best exhibited when an animal automatically senses a need to defend her young. But, such intense arousal of bio-chemistry is also frequently set off by sexual cues as well.

All organisms interact and form symbiotic relationships.  This is perhaps the best way to think of love.  It is a very real survival mechanism evolved for organisms to cooperate, exchange genes and resources.  Love, in fact, creates all resources, because laws of attraction are written into photosynthesis, transpiration, and much more. One can honestly say that the flowers love and need sunlight and rain, forest animals love the plants thus created, the hydrology system depends too, on these plants and animals, and all such connections.

It is not an exaggeration to say the Universe is bursting with love, and sexuality is a wonderful expression of this.  How can human beings use this knowledge to better comprehend themselves, nature and co-existence?  By fully understanding that earth is a series of dynamic attracting systems, people can cease the destructive belief systems based on separation, and alienation from nature. Racism, sexism, and homophobia, for example, can be traced to sexual competition that is better off understood, and channeled, into cooperation.

In human evolution, sociology changes sexuality in cultures over time.  This happens as people learn to tolerate, respect and revere the other as having valid rights to life and liberty.  In the animal and plant world, this was never much of an issue.  Animals are more true to their nature, and thus to their sexuality.  They are in this aspect, a great inspiration and hope for the human world.