seduction

thumb|The Proposal (1872), William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) In sexuality, seduction means enticing someone else into sexual intercourse or other sexual activity. Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual features, non-verbal communication, and short-term behavioural strategies.

The word seduction stems from Latin seducere, which means, literally, 'to lead astray' or 'to draw aside'. As a result, the term may have a negative connotation. Seen negatively, seduction involves temptation and enticement, often sexual in nature, to coerce someone into a behavioural choice they would not have made if they were not in a state of sexual arousal. Seen positively, seduction is synonymous for the act of charming someone—male or female—by an appeal to the senses, often with the goal of reducing unfounded fears and leading to "sexual emancipation". Some sides in contemporary academic debate state that the morality of seduction depends on the long-term impacts on the individuals concerned, rather than the act itself, and may not necessarily carry the negative connotations expressed in dictionary definitions.