We all know the old axiom: men are genetically predisposed to keep sowing their oats, moving from woman to woman to ensure the survival of the species. Women, in contrast, are programmed to find a man who can provide for them, and will then hold on for dear life. We can't help it; we're just monogamous by nature.

Well, apparently not. 

American author Daniel Bergner is about to publish What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire, a book that presents mounting scientific evidence that women, in fact, are less into the whole monogamy thing than men are. The studies cited in the book suggest that we're more attracted to the idea of a variety of partners.

'Recent science and women's stories left me with pointed lessons: that women's desire – its inherent range and innate power – is an underestimated and constrained force, even in our times,' writes Bergner in an extract in the Guardian. 'One of our most comforting assumptions – soothing perhaps above all to men, but clung to by both sexes – that female eros is much better made for monogamy than the male libido, is scarcely more than a fairytale.'

For those women who haven't been daydreaming about our wedding days since we were children – and we do exist – this is a comforting confirmation that we're not abnormal. Whether you're the monogamous type or not (or whether you aren't now, but might be later), it's nice to know that nature hasn't made your mind up for you. And in celebration of having the choice to live our love life exactly how we want, here's a look at some iconic women who never tied the knot.

Coco Chanel

Chanel had several meaningful relationships with interesting men, but never got married. Her lovers included the English polo player 'Boy' Capel (who inspired some of Chanel's designs), the illustrator Paul Iribe and the poet Pierre Reverdy. No surprise that one of our greatest French icons had a fabulously chic love life.

Stevie Nicks

65-year-old Fleetwood Mac wild child Nicks has never married or 'settled down', though she did famously have relationships with two members of her own band. Nicks, whose unique style makes her one of the greatest rock chick idols, recently told New York magazine, 'We moved fast and furiously in those days, and I had lots of boyfriends and lots of amazing relationships and lots and lots of fun. I had enough fun and enough relationships to last me for the rest of my life, really.'

Diane Keaton

Keaton knows a thing or two about interesting relationships, having dated Woody Allen, Al Pacino and Warren Beatty. But she didn't see any of them as a lifelong love: 'Each man had a different decade,' she told the Telegraph. And why not? 'That concept is such nonsense – the idea that if you never marry you’re destroyed. I can’t imagine marrying now – that’s not happening.'

Of course, monogamy makes some of us very happy. But deciding for ourselves how we want to live and love? Now that's an idea we could commit to.