Is Everyone Having an Affair These Days?

Explicit content warning

02/14/23 • 36 min

1 Listener

On the cusp of her seven year wedding anniversary, host Jo Piazza begins her investigation into female infidelity. For so long the trajectory for women has been that we would be good daughters, good wives, good mothers and good caretakers. But contemporary women have more choices and options and frankly they want more. In fact, the rate of infidelity among women has reportedly risen by about 40% since the early 1990s, while the rate of male infidelity has remained pretty much the same. So, what’s going on?

In this episode Jo meets "Nikki,” a mom of two in her thirties who had a marriage that looked great on paper, but was lacking the desire and passion she craved. When she looked for those two things outside of her marriage, she not only found the hottest sex she had ever had, but it also made her question why men have been allowed to call all the shots in relationships for so long. Jo also speaks with Susan Shapiro Barash, whose book this podcast is based on, and asks her what she’s learned from 30 years of research on female infidelity.

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Introducing: She Wants More

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The Walk of Shame

Affairs have always been more dangerous for women than men. Throughout history women have faced persecution, shame and sometimes even death for cheating on their husbands. But are women still judged more harshly than men for cheating? In this episode, Jo is joined by cultural critic and anthropologist, Wednesday Martin, to explore the origins of shame surrounding female sexuality. We then meet "Catie," who had to move to a new city and get a new job to escape the fallout from her affair with her husband's best friend.

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She Wants More - Is Everyone Having an Affair These Days?

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:01.839

I thought everything I wanted and needed the hottest sect that I had ever had in my life, and I thought it was interesting to recognize that, uh so, this is how men do it. And then when I thought about it, like why are men the only ones to get to call the shops? That's Nikki. She's in her thirties, she's a mom of two, and she's been married for more than fifteen years. Nikki isn't her real name, and you'll see why she wants to use a pseudonym. Wh