The West is not a primitive realm simply because the Sun sets there. But if it were primitive, an imaginary tribe could adopt the spell of Cinderella's shoe as a mating ritual. Indeed, the less often you are chosen, the more your hoped-for partner becomes a Messiah, a ghost of Prince Charming. In any case, if there isn’t such thing as a generalized cold war between male and female, there is at least a wall separating the mythic elements that define the genders: a kiss is a form of eternity as deceitful as that which brings together the Sun and sea.