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When asked why he climbed Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary famously said, "Because it is there." A wise-guy answer, to be sure, but it may also apply to women who stray from the marital bed today. For another analogy applicable to the situation, some women can be compared to the spider that spins a web and waits until a hapless fly gets entangled.

Traditionally, women are not the aggressors in affairs, including extramarital ones. Until a generation ago, a woman committing adultery was condemned by society, no matter what her reasons. Today, with much looser moral codes in Western nations, and with women becoming more and more equal in careers and independence, both men and women have less constraints on their sexual lives.

Therefore, when looking for answers to the question of why some married women have affairs, the responses must be within the context of 21st Century social structure. A woman who comes in contact with many men in her daily job can choose to have an affair "because it is there." She may also feel free to spin the imaginary web when she selects the man, rather than wait for him to make a move toward her. She is no longer influenced by Victorian moral codes, but more in tune with all the "Sex and the City" behavioral encouragements.

Of course, all the traditional physical and emotional reasons may contribute to her decision to roam, too. A neglectful husband. A cheating husband. An abusive husband. Money problems. No small children to keep her busy. A last chance to feel attractive before old age sets in. Is a reason really necessary?

In just about all cases, married women have affairs because ... as the lucky pool cleaner, stable boy or milkman in those classic tales would happily confess ... because it is there.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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