Is cheating kind of acceptable?

I feel strange saying that, but it seems like it's almost more of a surprise to me when I meet couples who have not cheated. This goes for men and women. I know men who seem to be fine with cheating as long as their significant other doesn't find out, and I know of women who've done the same. One man I recently spoke with went on a trip with friends and hooked up with a girl out there. I asked him about it, and he somehow was rationalizing having done so. He said he wouldn't let his girl get hurt by it. I almost get the sense that by that, he just means he won't tell her. I know of a woman who has cheated on her boyfriend, and I don't know the rationale, but I get the sense he just wants her badly enough that he lets it slip. Another person felt like once he finally got a girlfriend, suddenly other women were interested in him, and that's why he did it. There are so many people who seem to be coming from the prospective that as long as the person you're dating doesn't find out, it's not that big of a deal unless maybe you're engaged. I could go on and on about scenarios, and this is all just in the last 6 months or so and the people I've been hanging around, in many different areas of life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't cheating supposed to be really bad? Why are so many people okay with cheating if they're the ones doing, it, but mad if they get cheated on?

Submitted February 11, 2020 at 12:26AM

I feel strange saying that, but it seems like it's almost more of a surprise to me when I meet couples who have not cheated. This goes for men and women. I know men who seem to be fine with cheating as long as their significant other doesn't find out, and I know of women who've done the same. One man I recently spoke with went on a trip with friends and hooked up with a girl out there. I asked him about it, and he somehow was rationalizing having done so. He said he wouldn't let his girl get hurt by it. I almost get the sense that by that, he just means he won't tell her. I know of a woman who has cheated on her boyfriend, and I don't know the rationale, but I get the sense he just wants her badly enough that he lets it slip. Another person felt like once he finally got a girlfriend, suddenly other women were interested in him, and that's why he did it. There are so many people who seem to be coming from the prospective that as long as the person you're dating doesn't find out, it's not that big of a deal unless maybe you're engaged. I could go on and on about scenarios, and this is all just in the last 6 months or so and the people I've been hanging around, in many different areas of life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't cheating supposed to be really bad? Why are so many people okay with cheating if they're the ones doing, it, but mad if they get cheated on?