DISCUSSION: Can A Man Or Woman In A Committed Relationship ‘Earn’ The Right To Cheat?

Can a man earn a right to cheat? (Photo credit: Crosswalk)
The right to cheat. The case of Jon
Photo by Alex Green from Pexels

Let’s be realistic, many couples are not happy with their marriages. In a large number of cases, the reason is almost often tied to a lack of sexual satisfaction or sexlessness.

According to Dr. Rachel Becker-Warner, a sex therapist at the University of Minnesota, any relationship where the partners have fewer than 10 rounds of sex in a year is considered minimal. So, what happens when one partner in a marriage is always craving sex and the other seems uninterested?

Interestingly, it is usually the men that want more sex at all the stages of a relationship. This statement was tested using a survey and found to be true by a Florida State University social psychologist, Roy Baumeister.

Based on his findings, Baumeister concluded that “Men want sex more often than women at the start of a relationship, in the middle of it, and after many years of it”. So, can a married man earn the right to cheat?

What are the factors that lead to low sex drive in women?

Women’s sexual drive usually rises at the beginning of a relationship and falls toward the end. However, other major life changes like menopause, and pregnancy, can also lead to low sex drive in women. Also, medications used in the treatment of mood problems can also interfere with sex drive.

We cannot also overlook mental distress. For example, the wage and education gap between African Americans in the United States is alarming. For this reason, couples often find themselves working long hours to pay their bills.

In most families, the wife has to combine this with house chores and taking care of the children. So, will you blame her if she becomes too tired to satisfy her husband at the end of it all?

The case of Jon

Some married men believe they have the right to get sexual satisfaction elsewhere if their wife is not capable of meeting their needs since either their religious fate or the economy will not allow them to have more than one wife. Let’s look at the case of Jon as a classic example. This is the message we received from Jon.

“I have a huge problem. My wife has lost interest in intimacy and sex ever since we got married and had our first child who is now 9 months old. No matter how much I try to talk about it with her or address any issues she might have, she refuses to entertain the subject.

“Is that all you can think about?” is all she will say and walk away.  It seems she doesn’t care about how I feel about it.  Do I have the right to cheat?  I love my wife but I also have needs. I just can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with no intimacy.  However, I feel really guilty about it, but something’s telling me I have earned the right. I had no idea my wife would be this way about sex, and it just kills me. It even puts me in a bad mood sometimes.”

After reading the story of Jon, do you think he has earned the right to cheat? Do you think his wife is also unfaithful and getting satisfaction from elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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  1. Cheat, no. Leave, maybe. You certainly have an obligation to your child for emotional and financial support, and possibly financial to your wife as well, but if she’s not even willing to talk to you about this, you can demand counseling (therapist, priest, whatever works for you) and if she won’t try, look for an exit. You still have to be a man about the promises you have made, but “It’s broken”+”I refuse to try to fix it”, after a reasonable interval (a year from when you first raised the issue?) means you should be free to raise the stakes in an honorable way. “Till death do us part” is a nice idea but a lifetime of unhappiness shouldn’t be part of the contract.

  2. I think there is something “deeper” going on with your wife and maybe you should change your approach to the issue.
    Clearly she is “unhappy” about something and until that issue is dealt with you aint getting any :).

    So please don’t cheat. Seek professional help if you have to. Studies have been done to show that alot of women go through this “phase. Some of the causes include
    – hormones – depression
    – they don’t like their body and so don’t think you are attracted to them anymore
    – stitches and etc from child birth healing up etc

  3. Lol take it easy bro. First it is no uncommon for a woman to lose interest in intimacy after having a baby. Not to worry though it passes by. She will be back to be the tiger you once knew.
    However your wifee should be open and discuss it with you. But not to be the advocate of the devil some women go through some emotional ups and downs right after a baby .
    Well sex is an art bro. Get a babysitter ,with some creativity ,some cuddling and good massage she may have pity of the lil’ fella…so good luck and no cheat!

  4. It may be medical. After I had our son, sex was painful. It took almost a year to discover the problem! I felt bad telling my husband I was in pain, so I eventually stopped telling him and just started saying “no” with no explanation. It turned out that the breastfeeding took away almost all of my estrogen (female) hormones, which dried out my vaginal tissues and caused an irritation that the doctor first believed to be herpes. After the tests came back negative, he prescribed an antifungal w/steroid. I haven’t had any complaints since-it’s been almost eight months. Whatever the problem may be, your wife loves you, give her some time, invest in your relationship and her health!

  5. I think you should try to go back to seducing your wife and making her want you.
    I dated a guy, and after two years, it was like every time he was nice, maybe a kiss or a hug, he wanted it to end in bed, and this kind of was a great put off.

    My advice: don’t pressure your wife, just take little steps towards seducing her again, a romantic dinner , a hug, a kiss, flowers, etc, with no strings or demands for intimacy after. She’ll soon come asking.

    Marraige is sacred, and once into it, you don’t have a right to cheat. If you lost interest in it, you better get out than stay in and cheat.

  6. Marraige is sacred,and its important to understand what we are going into,a wife who feels the way your wife is feeling is yet to understand her role as a wife and mother, saying NO to your husband opens room for thought of extra marital affairs, which in itself opens your home to dangers of non commitment to the children as most times your home is not a place of peace.

  7. I think the phrase “earn the right to cheat” is in of itself ludicrous!!

    I believe it is a simple concept (though practical application may prove to be a tad harder): if you are not happy in your marriage, try to make it work (i.e. try to fix it, as passerby mentioned above), when that fails, and you find yourself still unhappy, then leave!

    I am not advocating divorces, nor am I endorsing them in anyway. It simply is my opinion that when faced with the two “bad” choices of: (1) cheating and (2) divorcing, the latter might be better choice. This of course assumes that those are the only two lines of recourse left to you.

    If you think about it from a logic based perspective, the option of cheating may ultimately land you in divorce court anyway. The main difference between the two options here is that it would be relatively less expensive (both financially and emotionally) for both of you to go on your separate ways.

  8. If it a right, then it wont be called ‘cheating’. The key word here is “committed”. You are committed to one another, bear the burdens of each other, and if it becomes too much for you to bear, leave it all together if all fails. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don’t take the low road just to get even.

  9. Marriage is committment that two mature adult with all their respect ,love and care for each other made to be together forever, If a person found everything they want in each other then what is the need for them to seek anything else outside their marriage this what I beleive .

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