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The Gender Bend: Our Cheating Hearts
An infidelity battle of the sexes
By Erin Flaherty
Published: Aug 08, 2008
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YAHOOEditor's Note: DAME originally published the following article on the heels of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal. Little did we know we'd be reminded of the issue of cheating so quickly. In (dis)honor of the news of John Edwards' admitted affair, we present the article again.
Right now, it seems you can’t drink a full cup of coffee in the morning before reading about yet another male politician who just can’t seem to keep it in his pants. You’ve heard the argument hundreds of times by now: that men, being guided by their oh-so-insatiable biological need to spread their seed and all that bullshit, are more likely to act on impulse and betray someone they love.
But all the headlines got me thinking: Do women really cheat less often then men?
According to a controversial British survey that came out last year, it may well be the opposite. Said survey found that women actually cheat more than men. Mind you, not a lot more, but still a significant amount: Forty percent of females cheat on lovers, compared with 34 percent of males.
Now, of course women cheat. We’re only human, after all, and it’s not exactly easy to never wander outside the confines of a relationship when there are so many appealing options out there. And obviously, polls are wildly divergent—some say men cheat more, while others give the cheating trophy to women. (And really, if people are willing to lie to their partners, why not lie to some random statistician?)
Which begs the question: Is it that women are less likely to get caught?
Again, there’s a standard line of thinking on this—that women, acting less out of flagrant lust and more out of a need to have unsatisfied sexual and emotional needs, um, literally stroked, are more likely to go about the business of infidelity in a an orderly, premeditated fashion. In other words, without sloppy payments as Client # 9.
But yet another study debunks this claim. According to ABC News, women are genetically programmed to cheat. As one of the study’s co-authors, the unsavory-sounding Elizabeth Pillsworth, explains, “Women have evolved to cheat on their mates during the most fertile part of their cycle, but only when those mates are less sexually attractive than other men.” Clearly, ugly men are asking for it.
Pillsworth goes on to remark, in a rather condescending tone, "I hope the message women get is that they can use this information to realize their biology is toying with their desires and to ask themselves, 'Am I going to let that run my life, my sexual decision-making?' For the men, I would say not to be too fearful of these findings. While women may notice other men during this part of their cycle, unfaithful behavior is relatively rare."
Anthony DeLorenzo, a New Jersey-based investigator who specializes in outing cheating spouse, would disagree. In a recent Men’s Fitness article, he made the claim that the number of women having affairs is escalating. "With more women than ever in the workforce and on the Internet, the percentage is going up all the time. In our investigations, we follow about 68 percent males and 32 percent females, but the ratio will probably end up being 55 to 45," DeLorenzo says.
Submitted by tacksamdame | Posted 44 days 45 minutes |
With all the recent break-ups and rumored affairs in Hollywood (Madonna and A-Rod, Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook), infidelity is on everyones mind these days. Check out this list of expert tips that help people to create an action plan when theyve been cheated on atPeopleJam,
http://www.peoplejam.com/blogs/action-plan-dealing-affair
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