OP here. Yes, this is what would bother the person being cheated on. But are people who are having one-off sex really deep down inside feeling guilty about violating trust? I mean before they get caught. |
Because they have empathy for their partner. Because they know what they did would hurt their partner, and in turn, that hurts them. You seem to be lacking that empathy. |
+1 |
I'm not sure what you're looking for here. People keep answering you, and then you keep twisting the question. Honestly, your inability to comprehend this makes me wonder if you don't have some personality disorder that leaves you unable to empathize with others. |
would you wonder if your partner was sexually unsatisfied with you? |
| Freud thought guilt served to effectively regulate social behavior. If people didn’t feel guilty, so the argument goes, they’d be much less likely to care about hurting others feelings or damaging their property. Consequently without guilt people would be running around doing whatever the hell they felt like doing without care or consideration for others and oh what a wonderful world that would be. |
| I'm with the OP and I'm also a woman. I actually have never cheated on anyone, but wouldn't rule it out in the future and wouldn't really care if my husband did if I never found out and he was careful. (How could I care about something I don't even know about any way?) I also think people get so worked up over cheating when to me there are so many other things that people do in marriages that are so much more soul-sucking -- cruelty, mistreatment, loss of affection, constant nagging, etc. |
+1 and I am also a woman. |
OP. Big hugs to you both! So glad I'm not the only one. I bet there are other people reading on who agree with us, but won't post because DCUM can be so sanctimonious. |
So if your husband told this theoretical other woman that he loved her and wanted to take care of her, shared details about his life and was emotionally close to her, would that bother you? |
That is not the situation posed by the OP. Go back and read her first post. |
Probably not. I would ask, but I wouldn't really be torn up about it. |
(OP) Thank you for correcting this person. I am not sure why people aren't getting that I don't mean a mistress or longterm cheating. |
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Op, I am similar in that I actually don't consider sex necessarily a big deal--I've certainly enjoyed my fair share of mutually satisfying encounters that would not threaten a primary relationship. But, I happen to be married to someone who doesn't feel the same way, so I don't cheat, because I know that it goes against what he believes and he would not have the same reaction that I would.
I think actually I would have been happy with someone who was interested in an open marriage, although I think it can be very tricky. At one point I initiated a conversation with my husband about deal breakers/cheating, open marriage, etc (in part because I was interested in opening things up). I told him that if he had someone that he just got his rocks off with, but wasn't in love with, and wasn't a source of primary emotional connection, then it really didn't bother me (and what i guess I was intimidating was...how would he feel if I occasionally slept with someone else?). His response was to say that he was not interested in that kind of relationship-and that he tended to fall hard for people, and to invest romantic attachment with sexual attachment. And for me that's a deal breaker, because while I don't really care about an occasional dalliance, the idea of him falling in love with someone else is threatening to me, our marriage, our family. And as for him, the idea of me sleeping with another guy--with or without emotional attachment-- was pretty much a dealbreaker--kind of a turn on, but mostly a deal breaker. So, we are, for the time being, faithful. Anyway, I get where you're coming from, but its rare to find others like you, and its even rarer for two people like that to have a successful relationship, free of jealousy, betrayal etc. |
Are you on the autism spectrum? I'm not trying to be funny. I can understand if you don't think cheating is a big deal, but to not understand why anyone else would speaks to a level of social tone-deafness that is often found in people on the spectrum. A lack of empathy and an inability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. You draw the line at spending money and time on someone else. Other people draw their line in a different place. I think the biggest problem is knowing where your partner draws his line and choosing to ignore it, even if it's just a one-off thing. Because that's just a shitty thing to do, whether we are talking about having sex with another person or something else. |