Cheaters: More American Women Admit to Adultery
But golly gee, secular and conservative Christian culture, I thought all that most women wanted was “security,” and “emotional intimacy” and didn’t care about sex!
And, goodness gee whiz, conservative Christians, I also thought that married people never, ever commit sexual sin, especially not wives (only males have a libido, am I right?) – only un-married women are harlots who sleep around. These articles say that just ain’t so.
(Link): THE PERCENTAGE OF WIVES HAVING EXTRA MARITAL AFFAIRS ROSE ALMOST 40 PERCENT
(Link ): Cheaters: More American Women Admit to Adultery
- By Frank Bass –
Jul 1, 2013 7:00 PM CT
American women, who trail men when it comes to making money, leading companies and accumulating wealth, are closing the gap on at least one measure: cheating on their spouses.
The percentage of wives having affairs rose almost 40 percent during the last two decades to 14.7 percent in 2010, while the number of men admitting to extramarital affairs held constant at 21 percent, according to the latest data from the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey.
The narrowing gap, reported by a sociologist at Auburn University at Montgomery, reflects multiple trends. Wives with their own jobs have less to lose economically from a divorce, and social media have made it easier to engage in affairs.
“Men are still more likely to cheat than women,” said Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research. “But the gender gap is closing.”
Blacks, executives and managers, and Southerners were most likely to report extramarital affairs to the 40-year-old survey, the oldest continuous source of data on American behavior.
The main impetus behind extramarital affairs was predictable, Djamba said: One in four men described their marriages as “not very happy,” more than twice the number of wives who rationalized their adultery that way.
The survey results lend support to one researcher’s argument that what’s been presumed about female sexuality for centuries may be wrong. Daniel Bergner, the author of the newly published book “What Do Women Want?,” said cultural expectations have prevented women from having more affairs.
Sex Drive
“Women are programmed to seek out one good man, and men never have been really well-suited to monogamy, right?” Bergner said in a telephone interview. An increasing body of science suggests that women’s sex drives are as powerful as men’s libidos, Bergner said, though they’ve been repressed by thousands of years of male-dominated culture.
Alton Abramowitz, president of the Chicago-based American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said he’s seen an increase in the number of divorce cases sparked by cheating wives.
“We always had a few cases with women, but they were much more discreet about it,” he said. “In the past 10 years or so, though, there’s been an uptick in those cases coming through our office.”
More women may feel free to cheat because the economic consequences aren’t as dire as they were when more women stayed at home, said Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist who writes “The Naked Truth” column for AARP, the largest group representing the elderly in the U.S.
Better Mate
“They can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects,” she said in an e-mail. “They have more economic independence and may meet a better class of mate.”
The ease of online affairs and the prevalence of computer use among younger women may be responsible for a large share of the increase, Schwartz said.
“Think Ashley Madison,” she wrote, referring to the online affair-matchmaking service [for married people].
The website has grown since its 2002 creation to serve 3.5 million active users speaking nine languages in 26 countries, said Noel Biderman, the chief executive officer of Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., which operates Ashley Madison.
“There’s been a cultural shift,” Biderman said, “and female infidelity is very linked to cultural change.”
Younger Cheaters
The website’s usage patterns by age highlight the shifts, he said. The ratio of males to females is greatest among users older than 65, with 14 men for every woman. The ratio is 4-to-1 among users in their 50s, 3-to-1 for spouses in their 40s, and evenly divided among people using Ashley Madison in their 30s.
The number of female affairs still lags behind male dalliances. For every two women like actress Meg Ryan, who exchanged cheating accusations with her ex-husband Dennis Quaid, or Paula Broadwell, the biographer-turned-mistress of former CIA Director David Petraeus, there are three men like former President Bill Clinton, pro golfer Tiger Woods or onetime South Carolina governor, and now U.S. congressman, Mark Sanford, who have been the focus of much-publicized reports of extramarital affairs.
As the nation’s median age increases, changes in attitudes about women engaging in sex with someone not their spouse may cause the gap to narrow more, Bergner said.
“Once you strip away the stigma from the equation, interest in casual sex is about equal for women and men,” he said. “So we men may have a lot to worry about.”
Cheating Women: Why Are Women Narrowing the Cheating Gap?
- July 2013
When it comes to cheating, men are still more likely to stray — but women are catching up.
According to recent data from the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey, the number of women having affairs has increased 40 percent in the last two decades, and one in six married women now admit to having an affair. Meanwhile, the percentage of men who admitted to infidelity held constant at 21 percent.
Experts were quick to chime in with possible reasons for the rising numbers, including Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist and HuffPost blogger.
“[Women] can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects,” she explained to Bloomberg Businessweek. “They have more economic independence and may meet a better class of mate.”
We wanted to hear from you, though. Click through the slides to see why our readers think more and more women are cheating, then head to the comments and tell us why you think female infidelity is on the rise.
What’s This?? Women Having More Affairs And Men Having Less Cars
- Recently the National Opinion Research Center reported that over the last 20 years American wives having extra-marital affairs have nearly doubled [up to 15% while the number of men admitting affairs remained steady at 21%].
Little reason to think this is a reflection on wives’ morality as much as it is their realization they no longer need marriage to survive as they once did.
This is from a British site but discusses American behavior/marriages:
- Thanks to financial independence and social media, wives are engaging in more affairs than ever.
The percentage of American wives being unfaithful to their husbands has risen by 40per cent in the last twenty years to 14.7per cent – while the number of cheating men has plateaued to 21per cent, according to the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey.
‘Men are still more likely to cheat than women,’ Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research told Bloomberg. ‘But the gender gap is closing.’
This narrowing gap, reported by a sociologist at Auburn University at Montgomery, is in part thanks to more women having less to lose financially in case of a divorce, and the ease with which social media enables women to sneak around.
‘They can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects,’ said Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist.
‘They have more economic independence and may meet a better class of mate.’
While one in four men rationalized their adultery with the excuse ‘unhappy marriage,’ there were more women (one in two) who actually used the same justification.
According to the survey, which has been conducted for over 40 years, groups of females most likely to report extramarital affairs after African Americans, executives and managers, and Southerners.
Alton Abramowitz, president of the Chicago-based American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, admitted than in the last decade, he has seen an increase in the number of divorce cases sparked by unfaithful wives.
‘We always had a few cases with women, but they were much more discreet about it,’ he said.
‘In the past 10 years or so, though, there’s been an uptick in those cases coming through our office.’
And the ease of online affairs has certainly contributed,.
The prevalence of sites such as Ashley Madison, an online affair-matchmaking service which has grown to serve 3.5million users over 26 countries since 2002, is one example.
‘There’s been a cultural shift,’ explained Noel Biderman, the chief executive officer of Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., which operates Ashley Madison. ‘And female infidelity is very linked to cultural change.’
While the number of female users still lags behind male members (for every two women there are three men), it seems changes in attitudes about women engaging in sex outside of their marriage may close the infidelity even further, says Mr Bergner.
‘Once you strip away the stigma from the equation, interest in casual sex is about equal for women and men.
‘So we men may have a lot to worry about.’
(Link): More US wives cheating on husbands
(Link): US wives narrow infidelity gap with 40% increase in cheating
- by Frank Bass
July 10, 2013
The main impetus behind extramarital affairs was predictable, Djamba said: One in four men described their marriages as “not very happy,” more than twice the number of wives who rationalized their adultery that way.
The survey results lend support to one researcher’s argument that what’s been presumed about female sexuality for centuries may be wrong. Daniel Bergner, the author of the newly published book “What Do Women Want?,” said cultural expectations have prevented women from having more affairs.
“Women are programmed to seek out one good man, and men never have been really well-suited to monogamy, right?” Bergner said in a telephone interview. An increasing body of science suggests that women’s sex drives are as powerful as men’s libidos, Bergner said, though they’ve been repressed by thousands of years of male-dominated culture.
(Link): New study shows women cheating on husbands up 40 per cent
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Related posts, this blog:
(Link): Married Women Engage in Sexual Sin – and most men in denial particularly Christian conservatives
(Link): Married Christian Couples and Sexual Sin, More Examples – and Women and Porn
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