guywhoneedshelp said:
Believe it or not you said it best. However, I think my girl cheated BECAUSE i was treating her like crap.
I visited a more gender neutral discussion forum where women swore how they cheated on men when they felt they needed something that they weren't receiving from their relationships. Often times, they were referring to something other than sex. They sort of offered sex to another man in exchange or as part of whatever else they were looking for. They advised the male readers to make sure that they were taking care of their girlfriends if they wanted their girlfriends to remain faithful.
That's ridiculous.
Cheating reflects poorly on a woman's character no matter why she cheated. Hey, they're human and people make mistakes, but a woman may instead break up with her boyfriend before pursuing another man or.... how about this one? Discuss the relationship with her boyfriend to see if there is potential for it to improve. But no, a man is expected to read his woman's mind and fulfill her every whim and desire if he wishes to continue having sex without fear of contracting the same STD as the man she's banging on the side. That's garbage.
And where do you draw the line? A woman will justify cheating because her man beats her. Another woman will justify cheating because her man does not listen to her and lacks passion and intensity to fuel her desire. And yet another woman will justify cheating because her man cannot afford to buy her expensive jewelry or because her man simply was not as sexually attractive or available as the serendipitous pool boy.
Man, your girl didn't cheat on you because you treated her like crap. She cheated on you in response to you treating her like crap. Big difference and I hope that a different girl would have responded differently. If she would have taken a knife and stabbed you instead, would we have blamed you or her? No ill-informed feminist propaganda would ever convince a jury that a woman is justified to cross that line. But if she hooks up with someone on the side, gets sick, and passes on the cooties to you that is almost as reprehensible. We could discuss the emotional repercussions of cheating... but we're in a men's forum, ha ha. You might all think I've been drinking the soy milk.
Charlie - It's easy to get depressed about being single when society is constantly feeding us this image of the "happy couple". Then once you see how difficult a relationship is, other methods of media such as shows like Sex and the City and radio such as The Tom Leykis show glamorize what it is like to be a player.
Yes! Exactly.
These conflicting messages are so very powerful. I can sense the conflict and confusion in so many men I meet and read about in this community.
Such a tremendous part of this quest is actually determining what you want as opposed to what I want or what somebody else wants. I think that we are kind of destined to prefer one philosophy over the other and no amount of will power or coercion can change a thing about what feels right to us.
But we can waste a lot of time and experience a lot of heartbreak barking up the wrong tree.
That's why I postulated that there are 2 "types" of men... the player prototype and the boyfriend prototype. Most men are probably a combination of the two and such traits and their relative influences are likely a product of genetics and decades of personality development.... not a reaction to being burned and seeking retribution... not a reaction to finally seeing the light after getting caught with your pants down and looking to elude further embarrassments.
You're correct, however, that the media neglects that most men are somewhere in the middle and sensationalizes one extreme or the other... there's the happy relationship man who is half of the couple united in every happy ending. In so many movies and novels, the end to the protagonist's heartache and misery manifests as a warm, committed companion. They typically get married and raise children. The media equally sensationalizes the pick up artist. The player who charms everyone with quality and charisma, but will not settle down with one woman. Women feel that there is something inherently dishonest about him but many of them fall for him nonetheless.
The result: if you are anywhere between these two extremes as are many of us, then you will likely feel torn between playing the field and finding Mrs. Right. Men who visit "pick-up forums" like this are especially torn.
Maybe it's not cheating unless you're married.
I sometimes wonder about this. In my (presumably
our) culture, marriage is deemed the deadline or ultimate cut-off for bullsht. Men and women routinely offer "We ain't married" as an explanation for their excursions. But if a unwed couple is working to maintain a relationship that requires sacrifice and or commitment, then apart from financial and legal ramifications, what makes it so less valuable than marriage?