Juvenile Reasons Men Cheat

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There’s no good reason to cheat. It’s not like some “bad” things people do that are necessary evils. Cheating is just simply…bad. Whether someone is a habitual cheater who even likes to cheat because the fear of getting caught is part of the excitement, or someone cheats just once, because he’s in a complicated situation like an unhappy marriage with children, it all falls under the same category: it’s wrong. Some may try to give all of the excuses in the world as to why they cheated but, ultimately, nothing makes it okay. The right choice is always not to cheat. Nobody can honestly tell you that cheating was a good idea, or the ethical thing to do. That being said, men will come up with some pretty ridiculous reasons as to why they stray. They don’t always say these verbatim, but the idea is there. Here are juvenile but real reasons men cheat.

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The kids get all the attention

It’s common for men to cheat on their wives at the absolute worst time to do so: just when little kids come into the picture. Men can be used to getting all of their partner’s attention, and once that goes to the children, they look for attention elsewhere. Essentially, they punish their partners for giving them offspring and for being devoted mothers.

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Her work gets all the attention

It can also be difficult for small-minded men to have a partner who dedicates a lot of time and attention to her career. Whether they admit it or not, some men’s misogyny comes out when they have a career-oriented partner, and in a way they feel their partner isn’t fulfilling her role as a woman by paying more attention to work than her partner.

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She’s smarter

How often do we see men in their forties or fifties involved with women in their twenties? We can try to entertain their claims that “She’s mature for her age!” but we all know what’s going on there: they like to feel like the wise one. They like to have someone look up to them—nay, idolize them. When their partners of their own age are smarter than they are, men can turn to dating women they perceive to have inferior intellects so they can feel better.

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She’s more successful

It is usually important to a man to be able to provide for his partner—even if she can provide for herself. It’s one of the reasons so many men don’t want to get married until they feel they’re stable in their careers. But for some men, that old, deep-seated, caveman need to be the provider is so powerful that it verges on misogyny, and they actually feel threatened by women who are more successful than they are. And when the fragile ego of a man feels threatened, well, he may just look for someone less successful so he can feel big again.

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There hasn’t been enough sex

Life gets busy. If there are children, finding the time to have sex (not to mention the energy) can be very difficult. This is another way men can feel neglected when kids are around—the wife is too tired or busy to have sex. Of course, men who cheat for this reason usually just aren’t being very involved fathers. If they were, they too would be too tired or busy to have sex.

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Their egos aren’t being stroked

There is that delicate ego of the man again. Some men will cheat simply because their partners don’t tell them enough how sexy they are, how strong they are, how impressive they are, and the list goes on. So they cheat. Lord forbid a woman get so busy she forgets to praise her man every hour on the hour.

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They can’t sexualize the mother of their kids

It’s very unfortunate, but some men have this complex around the mother of their children. They can’t see the mother of their kids as sexual. She is, in their minds, nurturing and saintly. They feel wrong having sex with her, so they cheat. But that is part of some true psychological trouble that should be pursued in therapy.

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They need to feel young again

It’s called a cliché because it happens all of the time and, yuck, it is so cliché: men having a mid life crisis and cheating with a younger woman to feel better. You know what women do during a mid life crisis? Laugh with friends about it and move on.

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He felt threatened by another man

Even if a woman doesn’t cheat on her partner, if there is another man circling around—like a flirtatious coworker or an ex who is trying to creep back in—her partner may cheat on her. The very possibility that his partner may cheat on him drives him to cheat.

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Their partner’s appearance changed

“She put on weight” or “She changed her hair color.” Imagine if women stopped sleeping with their partners for putting on a little beer belly or losing hair—something they pretty much all do eventually.

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If it’s paid for it “isn’t technically cheating”

Then there are the truly grotesque men who say it isn’t cheating because they paid for the sex. It would be interesting to see how they responded to their female partners using the same excuse, and hiring a male sex worker. Something tells me the excuse wouldn’t hold water then.

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“She came onto me”

Ha! This one is just too pathetic. Some men claim they couldn’t stop it from happening because the woman came onto them. Imagine if women felt the need to sleep with every man who came onto them. My my. The streets would be a very lude place.

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They couldn’t handle the breakup

As immature and sad as it is, some men cheat because they want to end the relationship they’re in, but just don’t have the guts to do so. If you are the other woman in this scenario, just know this man may never leave his partner for you.

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They wanted a lifeboat

As for the relationship addicts, some men won’t leave a relationship until they have another one lined up because, you know, women are like apartments. Some men cheat because they want to establish something with a new partner, before leaving the current one.

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“We never said we were exclusive”

Then there are men who lean on the ridiculous excuse that they never “Said we were exclusive.” Alright but, you’ve spent most nights together for the last four months, have met each other’s family, and are considering moving in together. But, sure, use this pathetic excuse. See if it makes you feel any better, fellas.