As Rousseau tells it, the desire to do more than simply copulate and reproduce like other species is the desire to be desired – the element of sexuality which is peculiarly human. That desire led primitive folk towards the first forms of culture, adorning themselves with paint and feathers, inventing song and dance to get the attention of the opposite sex. We were left not only with permanent rivalry, but the inability to see ourselves except as reflected in the eyes of others – two facts that poisoned most further attempts at civilisation. – Susan Neiman, Why grow up?