Surviving Infidelity: Norman Mailer's Widow Speaks Out

wowOwow:

My heart aches for Sandra and for Elin. It's almost as bad as discovering your father is a child molester. The person you thought you knew the best in the world turns out to be a stranger.

Read the whole story: wowOwow

Comments

[lungfish]

01:03 PM on 04/10/2010

Men are as accountable for their straying as women are. Cheaters and liars can be found in both genders. Surviving the fallout of trusting someone who doesn't deserve it takes attention to one's own personal boundaries and self esteem.
If someone can get between you, then you need to reassess why you are involved. Then you need to make a decision and live by it.
Infidelities destroyed my trust in women, or more accurately, they destroyed my trust in myself and my ability to identify a trustworthy person. Eventually I gave up on romantic relationships because I kept encountering women who didn't tell the truth and had limited moral and ethical constraints. I don't believe all women are like this but I do believe that I can't tell one from another without a lot of investment in time and observation....most of the time the subject isn't worth the effort.

So, to survive infidelity is easy - don't kill yourself - but to thrive afterwords is not so easy...

[NoSillyName]

08:51 PM on 04/10/2010

Of course, not all women are like that!

[Badger84]

10:36 PM on 04/11/2010

Good insight. I gave up because I was tired of jumping through an endless succession of hoops, with no reciprocal action, only to find it wasn't worth the effort. At the very least, you can retain some sense of self.

[KellyRyan]

04:43 PM on 04/09/2010

I feel somewhat ambivalent about your situation. The comment most men will cheat if given an opportunity is, I believe, a mis-statement. Men can and do feel flattered by attention, but the majority honor a commitment and stats bear this out.

Unfortunately, you chose to be Mr. Mailer,'s 6th wife. Given his reputation and celebrity status, what else could you expect.

[NoSillyName]

08:53 PM on 04/10/2010

We only hear about the ones who screw around and the accolades that follow from so many other men who wish they had the "luck" of a TW, NM, or JJ.

[gardengranny]

01:42 PM on 04/11/2010

Let me add that women can and do feel flattered by attention, as well, and even more when their husbands take them for granted.

If everyone, male or female, cheated when given the opportunity, there would be lots of infidelity.

But, your observation, Kelly is on the mark - many men do not cheat.

[courtb]

06:37 PM on 04/11/2010

But haven't you heard the statistics? There are a lot of infidelities. A large number of men and women have admitted to cheating in relationships in surveys.