Kick ass and take names Dorothy!!!! I'm amazed at the extent which cheating has been romanticized throughout time. Even with things like King Arthur and Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, Lancelot was an asshole. It needs to be said. So was Guinevere for that matter. But shit like this gets romanticized. Look at all the Hollywood movies trying to make this understandable, if not actually acceptable. I find it revolting. What's worse for me though is POPULAR MUSIC. Often this is NOT voluntary choices - we have to listen to this in gyms, restaurants, stores, on hold, etc, and I just long for silence but I'm struck by how many songs have cheating as a backdrop. I was in a store yesterday listening to some whining cheater begging for a 2nd chance when I'd probably give him a boot in the fanny. It was "Second Chance" by 38 Special and was a very big hit. There are a lot of these, and it comes up so casually and I just want to strangle them all with piano wire. Not that I would, of course, heh heh.
So rage on, because many of us hear you and agree.
I think people need to realize that in life there are often two types of people (as observed several times in "The Good The Bad and The Ugly") and they really are opposed to each other like Cat and Mouse. There are the Faithful and the Cheaters...to some extent each has, at least in our culture, based on their behavior on Judaeo-Christian social norms. The Faithful strive to BE faithful....the Cheaters strive to HIDE their cheating....but I think our essential natures are often in conflict. The Faithful would be faithful if there were NO social norms, it's our nature. Those who cheat would cheat no matter what, it's their nature. We each have our preference, how we want to live. Sure, when it comes down to lying and deception, Cheaters are often damaged people, but if it were purely based on just sexual behavior....I think it's their preference. Most of them are basically non-monogamous, they don't take it seriously, monogamy doesn't mean much to them, probably sex doesn't mean much to them - not on an emotional level anyway. And we are the exact opposite. Cheating may not even come up much for the non-monogamous...it depends on whether they are strongly motivated to do this and an easy opportunity arises and they can hide it. There are conditions to be met, just like whether you steal something in a store depends on motive, means and opportunity....except cheating is not really illegal. Maybe it should be because of its impact on families and society.
A basic problem we have in relationships is that we get swept up in the romance and sexual desire of the blossoming relationship, and are so pleased we have things in common, seemingly common backgrounds, whatever, that we never have these ugly, honest discussions about sex, marriage, love, relationships, duty, expectations, etc. I doubt if any couple in a 1000 have any discussions about this - the default is the societal norm of fidelity and holding vows, but that's not how many people actually function in reality or want to. And when we find out that they start acting according to their actual beliefs and desires, we blame it on addictions, compulsions, porn, whatever, instead of just recognizing - that's the way he or she IS. You either accept it or you don't. And if they want to stay in a relationship with a Faithful person they HAVE to change or control themselves. Or it should not continue.
I think that's the problem so many people have with reconciliation. They try to force each other, especially the Cheater, into behavior they don't, at their core, really want or believe in. So they cheat again and you have successive D-Days.
I'm talking more about serial cheaters which I think are more common than we realize, esp in early days when we're not looking. One offs and ONS may have different psychologies but I think those come down to some combination of opportunity and temptation - we're not good any more at recognizing that we have to LIMIT TEMPTATION....I can't be alone with a bag of chips, it's just never going to stay virginal in my hands - and that many people just don't regard it as that serious especially if they can successfully lie about it. Even for the one offs, cheating serves some kind of purpose - maybe it's their way of a quick and dirty feeling attractive or changing their lives, doing something risky but that can be kept compartmentalized or "secret" unlike a motorcycle or giant tattoos. And cheating to a lot of people may have just that kind of significance, even to one offs.
People have to have these awkward conversations and maybe more than once because...at some point many people just revert to their desired behavior especially if they think you're occupied and not watching.