There is so much to cheating that goes beyond the physical. In fact, women generally need a lot of emotional and mental stimulation to even get to the point of sex. And if a woman does have a physical affair, it’s likely she’s been having an emotional one long before that. The bottom line is when it comes to women and cheating, it’s complicated. Here are the 8 types of cheating women do.
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Complaining about the relationship
It’s normal for women to discuss their relationships with their friends. It’s what they do. They vent. They exchange ideas and empathize. But when they vent to a man whom they know is attracted to them, about their current man…that can be a form of cheating.
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Why is it cheating?
Oh, come on now. You know that that poor guy is getting the idea that you’re going to leave your man for him. He thinks you want him to “save you.” He’s made it pretty clear he wants you, and now you’re telling him all about your relationship woes? If your partner knew about these vent sessions, he would feel deeply betrayed.
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Encouraging online flirtation
Women do this for two reasons: 1) They want the attention or 2) They don’t want to confront the flirter. If a man who is not your partner is sending you flirtatious messages and even explicit photos and you are not firmly telling him this needs to stop, you’re cheating in a sense.
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Why is it cheating?
That man has no obligation to anybody to stop sending those messages. It’s okay for him to want to send them—he doesn’t have anybody to be faithful to. If you’re in a relationship, you have to set boundaries between yourself and the rest of the world. You’re the only one who cares about protecting your relationship. Other men can and will keep flirting with you unless put your foot down. If your partner saw those messages, and saw that you never asked them to stop, he’d feel betrayed.
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Cuddle “buddies”
Women run on the hormones produced from physical contact. Sometimes women will cuddle with a man who isn’t their partner because they’re not getting enough cuddling at home. Sometimes they’ll do this even if they are getting lots of affection at home—they’re just being greedy.
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Why is it cheating?
How would you like to find your man spooning another woman? Exactly.
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Emotional crutches
If a woman is feeling insecure in her life, whether it be in her career, in her friendships, in her body, or even in her relationship, she might turn to a man who isn’t her partner to be an emotional crutch. She’ll call this guy just to chat when she’s feeling down. She’ll ask this guy for late night drinks when she’s awake with anxiety.
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Why is it cheating?
Your partner should be the person you turn to when you’re feeling insecure about life. Sharing your insecurities is a very intimate thing. Why can’t you do that with your man? I’m not saying you have to, but I am saying that if you don’t want to, then you’re probably with the wrong man.
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Work husbands
Within couples, it’s easy for work conversations to be dominated by the man. Women like a work-life balance, so they often don’t mind leaving the office at the office, and just listening to their partner’s work woes. The problem with that is that they still need to talk to somebody about work—it’s a big part of their lives. And so they take a work husband. Think Jim and Pam from The Office before they were actually husband and wife.
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Why is it cheating?
You can end up feeling closer to your work husband than to your real partner. Your work husband knows more people in your life than your real partner. Your work husband witnesses more of the important moments in your life than your real partner. If you don’t tell your real partner about your work life, you’ll end up feeling distant and that’s unfair to both of you.
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Surrogate girlfriending
Women are nurturers and that’s a wonderful thing! But sometimes we don’t know when to turn it off…like when a male friend calls us at 2 am to talk every single night or a male friend asks us to be the plus one to a wedding. If you’re making yourself so available to a male friend that you’re less available to your man, you’re a surrogate girlfriend to that friend.
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Why it’s cheating
Wouldn’t you feel cheated on if your partner bailed on a weekend together with you to be some other woman’s plus one? Wouldn’t you feel cheated on if your guy got out of bed at 2 am to console another woman at some bar? Mmmhmm.
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Hobby husbands
Women can feel like their hobbies bore their man, or that he’d just rather spend his free time another way. They can make the mistake of never inviting their partner into the world they’re really passionate about—whether that be the world of painting or poetry or hiking under the stars. But they need to share it with somebody, so they take a hobby husband. He’s basically a work husband, but at their place of hobby.
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Why it’s cheating
Your hobby is much more than just a hobby. It is a representation of you. It’s where you’re most yourself, most alive, most passionate and move loving. And you’re sharing that with another man.
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Straight banging
What? You thought women didn’t do that? Oh yeah—they do that too. Sometimes women think with their vaginas (and alcohol). Sometimes it’s not that complicated.
