The propensity for men to engage in extramarital affairs has been the subject of intense debate even in academic circles and also the subject of surveys and studies. Conventional wisdom or knowledge is to the effect that, of the two genders; the male gender is most guilty of roving from their marriage bed. Studies indicate that nearly 60% of men who are married engage in online dating and extramarital activities as compared to 25% for the female gender. Nonetheless, the situation is rapidly changing if current trends are anything to go by. Traditionally, women were not financially empowered or educated and thus were restricted to household chores thereby denying them the opportunity to socialize with other men at work. This is not the case at the moment with the heavy investment and education that has been attained or ploughed into women. Currently, women have more opportunities to interact with other male workers hence increasing their chances of committing adultery. As set out, the wind of change is fast blowing on this side, and the victim is the family or marriage institution. More women are now joining the statistics of adultery alongside men.
Despite this situation, I disagree with academics that cite the notion that more men engage in extramarital affairs than women as a myth that needs to be debunked. As evident, it is the male gender that dominates this otherwise appalling behavior and as such, it cannot be argued that such a belief is a myth worth exorcising. In addition to extramarital affairs that involve sexual intercourse, social research shows that the affairs may just involve emotional or non-sexual infidelity. Indeed, research suggests that this trend has increased recently. This is attributed to the digital age availed by the internet.
References
Brand, R. J., Markey, C. M., Mills, A., & Hodges, S. D. (2007). Sex Differences in Self-reported Infidelity and its Correlates. Springer Science, 101-109.
Schackelfold, T., & Besser, A. (2008). Personality, marital satisfaction, and probability of marital infidelity. Wiley Online Library, 17-25.
Wysocki, D., & Childers, C. (2011). “Let my fingers do the talking”: Sexting and infidelity in cyberspace. Sexuality and Culture, Spring Science, 14-19.
