A friend asked me yesterday “How often are affairs nonsexual? I’ve dated men who had wives and girlfriends. Most of these relationships were not sexual, mostly because I wasn’t interested in sex at the time”.
Interesting, I thought to myself. I responded sarcastically to her “I’m sure the wives and girlfriends of the men you didn’t have sex with would appreciate your lack of interest in hitting the sack with their men”. After all, you didn’t sleep with them, right? This nonsexual relationship is what experts refer to as an emotional affair.
Some people define an affair as “a relationship between a person and someone other than their spouse or lover that has an impact on the level of intimacy, emotional distance and overall dynamic balance in the relationship or marriage.” Even though there’s no sex, the relationship can be just as devastating as sexual infidelity.
Unfortunately, the rate of recurrence of emotional affairs of this kind is hard to accurately quantify because few people confess, even anonymously, to an affair of any kind. And thanks to the convenience of technology and the overabundance of social networking sites that keep everyone so connected, people get to do all sorts of things secretly, without actually seeing the person they are doing these things with physically.
“It was just a hug,” “he/she’s just a friend”. Meanwhile you are whatsapping with him/her at midnight while your partner is fast asleep.
Some may say that an emotional affair doesn’t come with the pesky risks of sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. But isn’t it just like a sexual affair? After all, it does contain deception, secrecy and most importantly, a breach of trust.
So, dear GhanaCelebrities.Com readers, what’s your take on this issue? Do you think that because there was no sex, it can’t be classified as cheating? We would love to hear your opinions…
I would classify it as cheating yeah cause emotional cheating is much more difficult to recognise and identify even for the person committing it, much less the one observing. With the rise of the internet’s popularity, emotional cheating has become much easier all those things can lead to cybers*x, whatsapping texting etc Now let me ask you this question GC Writer. Does there need to be s*x to be infidelity. Better yet, can one be unfaithful by withholding affection, friendship, conversation, time, dreams etc?
Emotional cheating is harder to breakaway from than physical cheating. Some people don’t have any problem sleeping with someone and walking away, but the same people can find it very difficult to walk away from someone that they have not slept with, but are so emotionally attached to. In fact, in my opinion emotional cheating is dangerous because emotions are hard to control and that can lead to anything….