for what?

this general david petraeus scandal is just... sad. it's yet another in a looooooong line of men cheating on their wives. respected men who have a lot more to lose than the average philandering spouse. which brings up the question, "so why do they do it?" ...which is a question i'm not going to answer. ha! but a lot of people use these few cheaters as a tally mark against men in general. many people think that women in high positions would not cheat on their spouses. and lots think that simply because they believe that women don't care about sex as much as men do. i don't know if that's true. but i do think that the reason more men cheat (assuming that actually more cheat, and not just that more are caught) has a lot more to do with biological factors.

it's harder for women in power. it's harder for them to get there and it's harder for them to stay there. for many women who get promoted to high positions, there's always the question of "who did she sleep with to get that raise?" or "is she really the best candidate or is this an affirmative action thing?" who's going to ask that of a man? especially of a white man? any woman who has risen the ranks has dealt with her share of sexual harassment. so any woman tempted by having an affair would probably think harder about it than a man would.