Quick, picture a "cheater." You probably just conjured up an image of some cad stepping out on his girlfriend or wife (the key word here being "his").

Well, think again.

A new study flips that image around and shows that women are just as likely to cheat, if not more so. In fact, a study by British "married-dating site" Illicit Encounters finds that there are 3.5 cheating women for every man online. The study also found that women are on these affair-seeking sites longer than men, staying on for a little more than a year as opposed to just over six months for guys. (Caveat: Guys usually pay to join these sites, while women ride for free.)

But the Illicit Encounters survey isn't the only one to find that women are cheaters as well. (It takes two to tango, doesn't it?) According to Redbook, one-third of the members of American married-dating site Ashley Madison are women.

What are some of the reasons women cheat? It's usually because they feel neglected or ignored in their primary relationship. Redbook spoke to a woman, "L," who uses Ashley Madison, and she told them her reason for straying outside the marriage was the fact that her husband's hidden financial dealings broke her trust so much that she didn't want to sleep with him anymore.

However, in a different breath, she also tells the magazine, "Nobody was ever going to be better with my kids than my husband," adding that this was a way to get back at him without hurting her children.

Points for creativity, we guess.

Related: Flirting With Danger -- The Top 3 Reasons Women Cheat More Than Men

In the olden days (OK, the late 1980s and 1990s), I would drive my parents crazy tying up the phone line for hours on end talking to my friends, rehashing the days' events and gossiping about boys, soap operas and everything in between. Those times have changed, and we now have shifted to avoiding the phone as much as possible, The New York Times reports in a recent feature.

Are we over talking on the phone?

Let's start with a simple exercise. Can you remember the last time you used your phone to chat instead of to text or play games? (Yes, I'm assuming that most of you have ditched your landline at this point, or it sits there in your home, dormant except for the occasional intrusion of telemarketers.) For me, it was yesterday to confirm a restaurant reservation. The irony? I had initially made that reservation online.

I asked several of my friends -- online, of course; why "waste" any phone minutes? -- when they last put the receiver to their ears and chatted with somebody, and the answers ran the gamut to "yesterday" (an editor at a major publication) and "Doesn't anyone use phones at work?" (one of my most delightfully snarky pals) to "If you don't count parents or my girlfriend, it's been about a month."

What's funny about this cultural turn is that it truly is a case of "everything old is new again." The Times piece notes that when the telephone was first introduced, it was only for business purposes and phone companies tried to stop people from using it to gab all the time.

Now we're moving back to using it only to make doctor's appointments, conduct business transactions and talk to older relatives.

"The only people I speak to regularly on the phone are my in-laws," my friend Dora told me via Facebook. "As much as I love them, I dread it and wish they used the Internet like everyone else in my life."

Related:
People Texting More Than Calling, Study Shows

What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but what if your fiance cheated at his bachelor party? Should you be on the hook for the $60K-plus of wedding expenses already incurred?

That's what Chicago lawyer Robert Leighton is about to find out. His ex-fiancee Lauren Serafin is suing him for breach of promise to marry, ABC News reports.

Serafin alleges that Leighton "hooked up" with a woman named Danielle when he was in Las Vegas for his bachelor party. She discovered text messages that alluded to "something happening" in the party capital. Serafin is suing for reimbursement of the $62,814 worth of wedding preparations, which include her dress, invitations, the honeymoon and the deposit for the reception at Chicago's Ritz Carlton.

Is this the best way to deal with the situation? A divorce expert who is not working with the couple told ABC News that the couple should split the costs and that Serafin is partially to blame for being attracted to a cheater. That is blaming the victim somewhat, but on the other hand, it is better to know now that dude is a Grade-A Jerk before you've tied the knot and maybe even had a kid or two. Or you could spend a lot of time in couples therapy and try to work it out if you truly believe it was a one-time "What happens in Vegas" incident. (Which again, I'm not saying is the right thing to do -- just presenting some options here, people.)

Is a long, drawn-out lawsuit a good revenge strategy, or is this something that's going to prevent you from moving on? What do you all think -- what would you do if you were Seraphin?

If you asked Charlie Sheen about his recent fail, chances are he wouldn't say that getting booted from his hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men" was a "failure." In fact, Sheen probably has had more attention in the past few weeks than he has in the last few years, despite being the star of one of the most popular television shows of the past decade. It's a train wreck. We can't look away.

But why can't we? What is it that makes us become so absorbed in a star's misfortune? The Charlie Sheen hype isn't the garden-variety schadenfreude we experience when someone like Christina Aguilera gets caught in an unfortunate moment (arrested for public intoxication, anyone?), but something bigger.

He's acting nuts, and he's not going away. You can't glance at your Facebook or Twitter feed without reading a mention of F-18s or "WINNING" or how the only drug anyone is doing these days is "CHARLIE SHEEN!" As far as celebrity meltdowns go, this one is up there with Anne Heche's admission that she once thought she was an alien named Celestia and when Britney Spears decided Sinead O'Connor was her new style icon and spontaneously shaved her head.

And as of yesterday, Sheen joined Twitter and had tweeted a few times, alluding to how he's always "winning." Who knows what else he's going to spew out in unfiltered, 140-character bursts. We're all just along for the ride, and we might be reaching the point where we want to jump off.

You know that feeling you get during the holiday season, when you're just begging for a break from all the rich food, fancy drinks and general merriment that hits you all at once? That's kind of what it's felt like over the course of Charlie Sheen's media blitz of the last few days. It was fun at first -- who doesn't want to chuckle at quotes like "I'm tired of pretending I'm not a b----in' rock star from freaking Mars?" But after a while all the winning turns to losing and we move on. We're reaching the "I desperately need to exercise and eat a ton of vegetables" point that most people hit on January 2 after a month of parties and fattening family visits.

We take pleasure in when celebrities like Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan or Christina Aguilera meltdown because it ultimately makes us feel better about ourselves. Sure, we don't have millions of dollars, fabulous wardrobes and handlers at our beck and call, but we can take comfort in the fantasy that if we did, we wouldn't "throw it away" like these people did. We get to feel some moral superiority.

Celebrity meltdowns also bring us together because they give us something to talk about that isn't usually as contentious as politics and the other issues of the day. It's much easier to cluck with a co-worker around the water cooler about how Lindsay Lohan is blowing her second chance at a career than it is to discuss the occupation of the Wisconsin capitol by public employee unions. Lohan's latest is just harmless and weird, while bringing up something political could quite possibly offend.

Ultimately, celebrity meltdowns are about conforming to social norms. These people are "special," and by acting out in these ways, they reaffirm our society's standards because we condemn them for misbehaving.

They are the ultimate example of the exception that proves the rule.


Heather Muse is a media scholar who's tired of pretending she's not special. She does not, however, have tiger blood or Adonis DNA.

Attention, fashionistas: It may be time to start saving your pennies.

The Associated Press reports that the economic recovery has caused the price of raw materials and labor to increase, and those prices are about to be passed onto you. You'll be paying about 10 percent more for your clothing this spring.

It could be worse. The price of cotton has more than doubled in the last year, the A.P. reports, reaching at a 150-year high. Some brands are already increasing their prices. A Brooks Brothers men's dress shirt has jumped from $79.50 to $88.

What does this mean for your wallet and your wardrobe? You'll be paying more for less. Manufacturers will probably offer fewer color choices and embellishments. And if you think you can get around laying out more money for your outfits by going the synthetic route with your fabrics, think again. Demand has increased, driving those prices up too.

To get the most bang for your buck: budget, budget, budget. Set aside a certain amount of money for your wardrobe and stick to it! Look for the best quality you can at your price point. It's better to spend an extra $20 on a pair of jeans that lasts for two years than to "save" that money and then have to shell out for a new pair in six months because they've worn out. Or hit a thrift shop for quality vintage pieces that will save you dough. Just make sure to follow proper precautions to prevent bedbug infestation.

Looking at the bright side, this may be a strategy to help us curb our impulse purchases, and we find we always need darn good reasons not to shop.

Then again, here's a list of new jeans that will cost you under $40. Score!

What do you have your eye on to buy this spring?