Posted by jeff on October 08, 2002 at 13:38:01:
Almost a quarter of British women would try to conceive without their partner's consent if they wanted a baby, says a new survey.
The Scruples and Lies Survey found that modern women are willing to lie about everything from contraception to the size of their bank balance.
Whether it's little white lies or serious porkies, 94% of the 5,000 respondents confessed to telling fibs, with 48% lying on a daily basis.
The survey was commissioned by women's magazine That's Life!.
The vast majority (84%) said they could lie with a clear conscience, with many justifying their deceit as a means of sparing other people's feelings.
Susan Quilliam, psychologist and That's Life! agony aunt, said: "Women's lives are changing very fast and the fact they lie is an indication they're under pressure at work, at home and in their relationships, so sometimes they feel they have to bend the truth just in order to survive.
"However, it greatly saddens me that 24% of women would have a baby without their partner's consent. The decision to have a baby is a very serious one and it's just not on to play Russian roulette with a baby's life."
But while women were prepared to lie on most subjects, many were willing to stay with their man even if he dressed in their clothes (53%), robbed a bank (59%) or his libido dropped to nil (80%).
A secret stockpile of blue movies would be forgiven by 79% of respondents and 52% could excuse him whispering the name of a former girlfriend during sex.
But loyalty would fly out of the window in the face of bad personal hygiene, with 51% of the women questioned saying they would pack their bags if their man developed a nasty body odour. British women expect fidelity from their men. Six out of 10 (62%) would dump their partner if he had a one-night stand and sleeping with another man would signal the end for 82%