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I was dismayed at the report of my conference paper about how people account for infidelity, their own and their partner's (É«ºÐÖ±²¥S, September ). In particular, I did not say, nor do I agree, that women are hypocrites.

Second, I was careful to point out that I was not attempting to make moral points about the desirability or "rightness" of monogamy or non-monogamy. The moral inferences in the article are not mine, and they are not supported by my research.

Third, the point of my paper was to explain how the discourse of infidelity constructs inequality in heterosexual relationships.

Within this men are constructed as inherently unfaithful where women are constructed as faithful, which explains why women have a difficult task explaining their own infidelity, whereas men do not.

ANGIE BURNS Open University PHD student Stafford