In contrast to adulteress and adultery, 'monogamy' sounds…well, it literally sounds like monotony. And while we may judge her harshly, we have to admit she is anything but boring. The adulteress has a noirish cast she has stepped out of a 1950s divorce proceeding, perhaps. The ess is all crackle and hiss, the long, low whistle of femaleness and dishonesty rubbing against each other, a silk dress against a suit, creating a conceptual commotion. The adult makes it sound grown up and serious, somehow, the territory of those with enough life experience and agency to know better than to do what they are doing. From recent data suggesting women may struggle more than men with sexual exclusivity to the revolutionary idea that females of many species evolved to be “promiscuous” to Martin’s trenchant assertion that female sexual autonomy is the ultimate metric of gender equality, Untrue will change the way you think about women and sex forever. In Untrue, feminist author and cultural critic Wednesday Martin takes us on a bold, fascinating journey to reveal the unexpected evolutionary legacy and social realities that drive female faithlessness, while laying bare our motivations to contain women who step out.īlending accessible social science and interviews with sex researchers, anthropologists, and real women from all walks of life, Untrue challenges our deepest assumptions about ourselves, monogamy, and the women we think we know. But who are they really? And why, in this age of female empowerment, do we continue to judge them so harshly?

In ancient Greek tragedies, Netflix series, tabloids and pop songs, we’ve long portrayed such cheating women as dangerous and damaged. What do straight, married female revelers at an all-women’s sex club in LA have in common with nomadic pastoralists in Namibia who bear children by men not their husbands? Like women worldwide, they crave sexual variety, novelty, and excitement. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Primates of Park Avenue, a bold, timely reconsideration of female infidelity that will upend everything you thought you knew about women and sex.

Untrue wednesday martin