Why women cheat
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Desperate housewives and lonely girlfriends are increasingly straying from their men. And thanks to sneaky text messaging and internet dating, things have become a whole lot easier for the wandering femme. So why do so many modern women cheat?
Boys, lock up your women: The number of them who cheat have increased by 27 per cent since 1970.
The glamorous Harpers and Queen UK magazine drawls that it's the "immaculately coiffed women sweeping around in shiny convertibles, firing, hiring and having flings on business trips" that are doing the dirty behind their men's backs.
But whoever they are, modern women are doing it in whopping proportions. A recent survey of divorce lawyers in the UK found that in almost half of cases where infidelity is cited, the female is the guilty party.
But don't pretend you're shocked by the stats - after all, women who cheat have been around for decades. In ancient Egypt, Queen Cleopatra had an affair with both Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. And in modern day America, the television show Desperate Housewives portrays cheating wife Gabrielle Solis (who indulges in an affair with her younger bronzed gardener) as a modern day heroine.
"TV programs like these infer to women who can't make their own decisions that it's OK to cheat," says relationships expert Allan Pease. "The basis of this concept is the false belief that women are motivated to cheat for the same reasons men do."
Experts agree that Mars and Venus have vastly different reasons when it comes to explaining their wandering eye. According to relationship psychologist Toby Green, "men will always statistically be the greater cheaters because monogamy isn't natural for them. It has to be concentrated commitment that keeps them faithful. But monogamy is natural for women - the instinct to settle and breed and nest."
Green argues that because women are now more financially independent, they want equal partners in the area of friendship, household chores, co-parenting and emotional intimacy. And if they're not getting it? "They feel free to put on their walking shoes or their straying shoes and go for what they want," she says.
Sexologist Dr Janet Hall cites a different reason: "It's the element of danger, of surprise, of being naughty, of adding a sense of sexcitement."
But what about getting caught? Susan Shapiro Barash, a New York-based author who has written several books on the topic including A Passion for More: Wives Reveal the Affairs that Make or Break their Marriages, seems to think getting caught isn't on the agenda.
"Women are very good at multitasking," Barash told CNN. "If they don't want their affair to be discovered it won't be."
Perhaps (since 9 out of 10 affairs are revealed from evidence found on mobile phones), she should warn them against leaving their phones lying around
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Desperate housewives and lonely girlfriends are increasingly straying from their men. And thanks to sneaky text messaging and internet dating, things have become a whole lot easier for the wandering femme. So why do so many modern women cheat?
Boys, lock up your women: The number of them who cheat have increased by 27 per cent since 1970.
The glamorous Harpers and Queen UK magazine drawls that it's the "immaculately coiffed women sweeping around in shiny convertibles, firing, hiring and having flings on business trips" that are doing the dirty behind their men's backs.
But whoever they are, modern women are doing it in whopping proportions. A recent survey of divorce lawyers in the UK found that in almost half of cases where infidelity is cited, the female is the guilty party.
But don't pretend you're shocked by the stats - after all, women who cheat have been around for decades. In ancient Egypt, Queen Cleopatra had an affair with both Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. And in modern day America, the television show Desperate Housewives portrays cheating wife Gabrielle Solis (who indulges in an affair with her younger bronzed gardener) as a modern day heroine.
"TV programs like these infer to women who can't make their own decisions that it's OK to cheat," says relationships expert Allan Pease. "The basis of this concept is the false belief that women are motivated to cheat for the same reasons men do."
Experts agree that Mars and Venus have vastly different reasons when it comes to explaining their wandering eye. According to relationship psychologist Toby Green, "men will always statistically be the greater cheaters because monogamy isn't natural for them. It has to be concentrated commitment that keeps them faithful. But monogamy is natural for women - the instinct to settle and breed and nest."
Green argues that because women are now more financially independent, they want equal partners in the area of friendship, household chores, co-parenting and emotional intimacy. And if they're not getting it? "They feel free to put on their walking shoes or their straying shoes and go for what they want," she says.
Sexologist Dr Janet Hall cites a different reason: "It's the element of danger, of surprise, of being naughty, of adding a sense of sexcitement."
But what about getting caught? Susan Shapiro Barash, a New York-based author who has written several books on the topic including A Passion for More: Wives Reveal the Affairs that Make or Break their Marriages, seems to think getting caught isn't on the agenda.
"Women are very good at multitasking," Barash told CNN. "If they don't want their affair to be discovered it won't be."
Perhaps (since 9 out of 10 affairs are revealed from evidence found on mobile phones), she should warn them against leaving their phones lying around
