When you think of infidelity, you are most likely to associate men with the practice than women. And you would be right… until when you’re talking about millennials.
When it comes to millennials and other young people, the tables seem to be turning already. According to recent findings by the Institute for Family Studies, based on data was from the General Social Survey, millennial women have higher rates of infidelity.
The survey found that 11 percent of women from 18 to 29 state they are guilty of infidelity versus 10 percent of men within the same age range. And it’s not just emotional cheating; the people studied in this research admitted to sleeping with someone other than their partners.
Admittedly, this is an American study with emphasis and attention on American people. But it’s no not far-fetched to conclude that the same [or something very similar] applies around here, too. A poll conducted here on Pulse a while back seems to attest to this. We asked readers to vote in a poll and the results showed that participants think women are worse cheat than men.
But why is this?
Experts think there are a few practical reasons for this shift. There’s the internet, of course, which has made finding a better or different partner easier than it was for past generations. You could hook up with an old flame with a simple search; you can keep up a whole relationship without leaving your house or meeting up for weeks or months on end.
And then there is also a cultural shift which has seen women become less sexually repressed. Women are increasingly willing to push up against prescribed gender norms. The idea that women only want sexual gratification within the confines of a relationship is surely being pushed against.
The fact is that good old-fashioned lust appeals to plenty of women, too. Wednesday Martin, author of Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Infidelity Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free, says that “many experts now believe that women struggle as least as much as men and probably even more with monogamy and that they actually require variety and novelty of sexual experience more than men do.”
The gender gap in adultery is closing and it’s not just about opportunity and possibility; it’s about choice. Apparently, women are leveling up with men in making these bad decisions.