Female promiscuity

Among women, as well as men, inclination for sex outside committed relationships is correlated with a high libido;[1] however, evolutionary biology, as well as social and cultural factors, have also been observed to influence sexual behavior and opinion.

A Dutch study involving a large survey of 1,561 professionals, concluded that "The relationship between power and infidelity was the same for women as for men, and for the same reason.

These findings suggest that the common assumption (and often-found effect) that women are less likely than men to engage in infidelity is, at least partially, a reflection of traditional gender-based differences in power that exist in society.

Libido is correlated with the menstrual cycle so that many women experience an increase in sexual desire several days immediately before ovulation.

Thierry Lodé found possible evolutionary explanations for polyandry relating to sexual conflict, including mate competition and inbreeding avoidance.

In the Middle East, sacred prostitution, usually in honor of Goddess Astarte, had been prevalent before the 4th century when Emperor Constantine I attempted to replace pagan traditions with Christianity.

[33] In Greek mythology, nymphs are portrayed as dangerous nature spirits sexually uninhibited with humans; hence, the Victorian medical term nymphomania.

Imperial Rome is popularly seen as being sexually profligate,[34][35] and certain Roman empresses—such as Theodora I, Messalina and Julia the Elder—gained in their lifetime a reputation of extreme promiscuity.

and even thus found no allayment of her craving ... And though she flung wide three gates to the ambassadors of Cupid, she lamented that nature had not similarly unlocked the straits of her bosom, that she might there have contrived a further welcome to his emissaries.The Bible features many female personages identified as being promiscuous, among them the Whore of Babylon, Princess Jezebel, Prophetess Jezebel, Gomer, Rahab, Salome, and Potiphar's unnamed wife.

In contrast, some recent ethical philosophies—both secular (coming from individualism and sex-positive feminism) and religious (e.g., Wicca, Thelema, LaVeyan Satanism)—either tolerate it or outright celebrate it.

What better way to defeat oppression than to get together in communities and celebrate the wonders of sex?Public opinion has fluctuated over the centuries, with such downturns as New England Puritanism (1630–1660) and the Victorian era (1837–1901), when hypersexuality was often treated as an exclusively female disorder, diagnosed on the grounds of as little as masturbation alone (see here).

It was, for practical reasons, almost necessary to set up such taboos in small communities, savage tribes, where the wife was nothing but a general servant, where the safety of the people depended upon a high birth-rate.

"[40] Popular at that time was a female subculture called "flappers", who flouted social and sexual norms and were considered a significant challenge to Victorian gender roles.

[42] Despite this, the 1925 silent film The Red Kimono, sympathetic toward its promiscuous protagonist, was subject to severe censorship,[43] and led to a landmark legal case, Melvin v. Reid.

In addition to her sexually explicit song lyrics and occasional nude self exposures during live performances and almost being arrested in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 29 May 1990 for simulating masturbation in public,[44] her book Sex released on 21 October 1992 was a commercially successful nude pictorial of her and various famous celebrities engaging in scenes of purported promiscuity, further enhancing her vision of gender equality in this regard.

[45][46] On 3 April 2011,[47] the SlutWalk movement—protesting against explaining or excusing rape by referring to any aspect of a woman's appearance[48] and later, by extension, calling for sexual freedom in general—began in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and went on to spread throughout the world.

[52] When a Muslim woman is found to have engaged in extra-marital relations, she falls under the risk of being executed, either by a governmental institution[53] or by natural persons.

For "zina", adultery, the Quran prescribes flogging 100 times in public;[56] the Sunnah adds stoning ("Rajm") to death if it was extra-marital.

[57] On 20 April 2010, Iranian Islamic cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi provoked transnational ridicule by blaming promiscuous women for causing earthquakes.

[58] Six days later, on 26 April, the American Boobquake gathering, organized by the blogger Jennifer McCreight and attended by 200,000 participants,[59][60] was held in response to it.

[66] In and before the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, terms like "strumpet" and "whore" were used to describe women deemed promiscuous, as seen for example in John Webster's 1612 play The White Devil.

Discrimination targeting individuals, specifically women, for sexual behavior deemed excessive, has been referred to, since at least spring of 2010, with the neologism slut shaming (also hyphenated, as slut-shaming).

Its use was an expression of the belief that to be socially and morally acceptable a women's sexuality and experience should be entirely restricted to marriage, and that she should also be under the supervision and care of an authoritative man.