Stealing has been going on for centuries. But unlike thieves from the past who would snatch an apple or some bread because they were hungry, today's shoplifters are taking everything from drugstore lipsticks to couture dresses.

Author Rachel Shteir looked into the world of thievery and found that there's more to stealing than just swiping a pack of gum in her latest book, "The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting."

Shteir spoke with MyDaily about shoplifting's rise, why celebrities have the urge to steal and how shops and malls have been trying to keep thieves away.

"I wanted to figure out how we got to where we are today in terms of shoplifting," she said.

You start the book off with Winona Ryder's shoplifting stint. Why do you think some celebrities like her have chosen to steal?
I think celebrities shoplift for the same reasons as us but obviously not because they need a loaf of bread. We live in a consumer society. And when you go into a store, there are all these gorgeous objects all around you. One of the things that struck me, watching the video of her in Beverly Hills, was how she just seems overwhelmed by all of the clothes and accessories. She's wandering through the store in frenzy, and she keeps piling more and more clothes, more and more shoes, and more and more accessories until she practically falls down on the floor. There's this transformative power in beautiful clothing and beautiful shoes. There's a kind of rush. There's a thrill that you get from stealing these objects that you don't get from buying it. I also think there's a sense of entitlement. Sometimes celebrities feel they should just be given these things.

Do you think the recession has anything to do with the rise in stealing?
Shoplifting has gone up, but I don't think it's because people are starving. I think, in some cases, people are just trying to stretch their money further. So instead of buying the luxury item, they're shoplifting it. It's like the "pay for one, steal one" plan or the "buy one, get one free" plan. That's the biggest way things have changed. There are also these professional gangs of shoplifters. They go into stores, target and steal specific things. It could be lipstick or underwear from Victoria's Secret. These gangs resell these things on eBay. Some people associate the prevalence of shoplifting with the rise of these gangs in the recession. But I don't think there's enough research to prove that.

Is stealing an illness?
If anything, it's a compulsion. But I have met people who just could not stop stealing. They were compelled to steal. They were in the store and just grabbed a bunch of Tommy Hilfiger shorts and ran out. For these people, it wasn't about reselling. There just seems to be something driving them into the store to get these things and scoop them up. So I have an issue with the medicalization of crimes. I get anxious when people talk about shoplifting as an addiction. I'm not completely sold on that. And the word "kleptomania" goes back to the 19th century and has a specific meaning. There are studies that show kleptomaniacs are a tiny, tiny, tiny percent of all shoplifters.

Does stealing give women a sense of power?
These things can transform you into somebody else. Things like makeup and beautiful clothes have so much power, especially for women. There's the idea that when you walk into a store, a lipstick is going to transform you into another person -- a more beautiful person, a more desirable person, a more famous person. There's a very seductive atmosphere in a lot of these stores. They're trying to get you to buy all these things. Sometimes it's the thrill, but the thrill is because these objects have this power. The idea of dressing up and become someone else is just a good feeling.

Instead of waiting till they tie the knot, more couples today are moving in together to cut costs. But does cohabitation really save money?

New research shows that living together can save a buck -- but there's a catch. While cohabiting couples save about 1.4 times more money than those who don't shack up, how much they put away depends on their careers and backgrounds.

College-educated unmarried couples who lived together saved far more money than those who only finished high school, according to the Pew Research Center.

This is could in part be explained by their income levels. College-educated couples who are unmarried but live together have an average household salary of $106,400 while married college grads share an average $101,160 combined salary.

In contrast, unmarried cohabiting couples who have only completed high school have a median income of $46,540 and married high school-educated couples have a combined salary of $56,800.

Pew researchers say children may factor in to the trend. College-educated couples were less likely to have kids before they tied the knot compared to those who didn't get their college degree. In addition, higher-educated couples are more likely to marry within three years of living together as well as "pool their resources" more efficiently, they said.

Cohabitation is more common among "less educated" couples, according to the Pew figures. Among women aged 19 to 44, 73 percent who only have a high school degree have lived with a mate compared to 52 percent of women with some college education and 47 percent who graduated from college.

If you're worried that your guy is a cheater, you might want to check his dad's track record.

A team of Czech researchers found that men whose fathers have been unfaithful while they were growing up are likely to pick up the same behavior themselves.

Women, on the other hand, weren't significantly affected by their mothers' infidelity.

Lead scientist Jan Havlicek and his team looked at 86 couples, asking each partner separately about their feelings and attitudes toward relationships and sex as well as their family histories with infidelity.

Researchers found that good-looking sons of handsome fathers were more likely to cheat. Meanwhile, pretty women who had beautiful mothers aren't necessarily going to be "unfaithful." Instead, they're just likely to be selective when it comes to choosing a significant other.

Since men's main motivation in a relationship is sex, he will likely stray if his "appetite" is unsatisfied and he wants more sex or sexual partners. But if a woman cheats, it's because she isn't happy with her significant other or her relationship, the researchers said.

The expression "like father, like son" has never sounded so bad -- until now.

Who works more -- men or women?

The answer is both.

Men and women worked about the same number of hours, according to stats from last year's American Time Use Survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics looked at how much "work" people aged 15 and older actually do a day. The results? Americans spend an average of 6.16 hours working.

But with so many doing nine-to-five jobs -- even when a one-hour lunch break is accounted for -- how do the findings make sense?

Apparently the bureau relied on a loose definition of "work," factoring in the time spent on household chores (which women do more of) as well as time spent on the job (which was greater for men).

Even with this new equality, 2009's statistics show that women's amount of time working hasn't really changed while men's dropped .14 hours from the previous average of 6.30 hours a day.

Men also spend more time on leisure activities and sports, according to the survey. Guys were on the golf course or watching a game at a bar an average of 5.57 hours a day, compared with women who spent just 4.82 hours on similar pastimes.

But the study didn't include time spent on shopping, going to the spa or church activities in the "leisure" category, according to Atlantic.com.

Harvard Business School will be seeing more women in the classroom this fall. The top university has announced that 39 percent of its incoming M.B.A. students are women.

While that breakdown still may seem low, it is the largest number of women ever accepted into the program.

Deidre Leopold, managing director of Harvard M.B.A. Admissions, told Forbes that women can use the degree toward goals other than becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

"Women are using it not only for finance but also to work in nonprofits or open their own business," Leopold said.

Wharton, the business school at the University of Pennsylvania, also has accepted a large number of women to its competitive M.B.A. program this year -- the class of 2011 is 40 percent female. But Penn's medical and law schools are ahead of the game with almost half of the classes' students being women.

Both schools say their admissions processes are based on merit rather than gender.