Last week I saw a TV interview with a well-known actress who maintained that all men are programmed to cheat. According to this genius, testosterone surges compel men to dive into the sack with strangers. The poor dears can't help themselves, and it's our duty as women to accept it.

Fortunately, a well-known sex therapist just happened to be the show's next guest, and she set the actress straight. All men do not cheat. All men do not fight their hormones all day long.

Honorable men are faithful.

Many women, like the actress, kid themselves into believing that men just can't be expected to behave decently. Don't be one of them. Putting up with substandard treatment from a love interest can be dangerous (consider AIDS and other STDs). Expect men to treat you as you would treat them: with love, loyalty, respect, and passion.

No woman should ever assume that her boyfriend or husband is biologically incapable of monogamy any more than he is of, say, clearing a table. The fact is, the world is full of wonderful men who want to love a woman the way she should be loved.

Silly magazine blurbs ("HOW TO GET A GUY TO COMMIT," "IS HE CHEATING? 10 TELL-TALE SIGNS!")are designed to make readers feel insecure enough to "need" the products advertised within. Do not let them sway you into lowering your standards. Ignore misguided proclamations about male sexuality from women who've talked themselves into allowing rotten behavior from so-called "lovers."

Raise your standards. Expect only the best men to enter your life. Allow no cheaters, liars, abusers, mama's boys, or controlling toads to cross your threshold.

Hold out for the man who will adore you and lift you up. He's out there, and you deserve nothing less.