Is It Cheating? Tweeters Offer Their Exceptions To Cheating

Is it ever OK to cheat?

On Tuesday, the Twitterverse offered up situations in which it would be OK to stray from a relationship, using the audacious, slightly obnoxious hash tag #ItsNotCheatingIf.

Click through to see what they had to say, then tell us: What doesn't count as cheating?

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• BloodNinja

• @QueenAsa

• ĴΛßƱ MΛƇĿ♡ĪИ

• will THE thrill

• Jus PhumEe

• Jabs

• Miss Mosoma♥

• Mfenebey'banga

• Lebogang Senye

• lindokuhle mngoma

• BloodNinja

• The Don™

• Mbali Nonto Kweyama

• will THE thrill

• B² Squared

• Patty Nkosingiphile

Comments

[Claire Redfern]

01:15 PM on 09/25/2012

I have found most will go out on the partner if they feel they are not getting what they need in the home. Cheating is to me, the full out connection. It goes beyond talk. All talk and flirt. We I would guess 99% of the time have no intent of going any where with it, and everyone knows it. that is men and women both. you have to define this for your and your relationship what you call this between the two... no two partners are the same.

[SkinTight]

08:01 AM on 09/04/2012

It's not cheating ...

... if you can say, type, text or do it with your S/O, right next to you.

[Red Beans]

07:55 AM on 09/04/2012

“It’s absolutely unfair for women to say that guys only want one thing: sex. We also want food.”
― Jarod Kintz

[Menka330]

02:56 PM on 09/02/2012

Any empathetic human being with a functioning moral compass automatically knows what is cheating, sexual or otherwise. If either of the partner wants to lawyer the semantics, the relationship is doomed already.

[commissar1969]

08:54 PM on 09/03/2012

You know so precious little about the world, Menka. Not everyone was born into your cultural milieu. What activities give us a "bad conscience" is directly related to the environment in which we were raised. Do you think a (conservative) Mormon or Muslim has a "bad conscience" about polygamy? Of course not. It is part of their culture. Your attempt to universalize "any empathetic human being" is pathetic.

[Menka330]

02:47 AM on 09/04/2012

Every empathetic human being knows what will hurt his partner. For example, the conservative Muslim man who is married to a conservative Muslim woman knows that while they may both accept that polygamy is alright in their culture, but they have their own boundaries. It should be quite evident to anyone who reads my post that I am talking about cheating in a RELATIONSHIP. I repeat that every one who is in a exclusive loving relationship like marriage knows their partner, and thus, also knows what will or will not be considered cheating for THEM. If they don't, it shows a distinct lack of empathy toward the person whom you call your life partner. Nobody is arguing that a cosmopolitan man in NYC should know what a wife in Qatar considers cheating. Your argument is preposterous and your reasoning is ridiculous. It takes empathy to know what you promised your partner and their expectations from you. So yes, anyone with some consideration for their partner knows what is considered cheating in their relationship. And people still cheat, mainly because they put their own short term pleasure above considerations arising from empathy. This is also the reason people cannot accept it when their partner does the same thing to them. So why not put oneself in the partner's position, and treat them as you would like to be treated yourself. My idea is not revolutionary; it is in fact called the golden rule. Look it up.

[maria1989]

01:34 AM on 09/01/2012

i hate men that cheat

[Spartan112]

03:08 PM on 09/07/2012

I hate that women cheat.

[Box500]

05:42 PM on 08/31/2012

It's not cheating if you'e not stupid enough to be in an exclusive relationship

[Maverickpower]

12:45 AM on 09/01/2012

And your surfing the web all night with your "heart" in your hand , right Bob ?

[Lisa Rose Barr]

03:38 PM on 08/31/2012

I'm an editor of a Mom blog called GIRLilla Warfare.geared toward suburban Moms ... thousands of women and men read this racy, R-rated site -- and let me tell you, my friends .. A Cheat is a Cheat is a Cheat -- there is NO shortcut ... once the trust is broken on either side ...a good rationalization is not going to cut it. You can be wasted, you can be in Vegas, you can reconnect with your eighth grade crush on Facebook ... you can twist your cheat any which way but loose ... cuz once you cross to the dark side -- there's no way back to Kansas, baby ... xoox Lisa

[theelfhimself]

01:39 PM on 08/31/2012

I'm glad that (I think) these posts are meant to be humorous, because IT IS ALWAYS CHEATING! There are no excuses. And why is it that sex has become a sort of "test" to see if a couple is compatible? Sex used to be the Grand Finale! It's really too bad that things are the way they are ... we'd have a lot less AIDS, "unwanted" babies, and screwed up people going to shrinks.

[SoapboxKing]

04:07 PM on 08/31/2012

'Sex used to be the Grand Finale!" no. never. not as a society.

"we'd have a lot less AIDS, "unwanted" babies," Sex Education would long ways towards reducing both, which is why it makes sense that our country is actually reducing funding for sex education and limiting access to it as well.

[Willie12345]

09:09 AM on 08/31/2012

It's not cheating if she's a White House Intern !!

[DevilDogOz]

06:49 AM on 08/31/2012

I think this is pretty easy to answer; if it's something you have no problem sharing with your spouse or significant other and they are okay with it then you have your answer. However, if this is something where you believe they don't need to know? You have a problem, Houston.....

[kjgriff]

02:43 PM on 08/31/2012

Excellent answer, DevilDogOz!! EXCELLENT!!

[SoapboxKing]

04:09 PM on 08/31/2012

to be a little bit more detailed, it is information that should be shared in advance of the actual act. If neither have an issue, then you have your answer.

[1reasonedtruth]

01:56 AM on 08/31/2012

Flirting is OK.
Cheating is cheating.
Just ask Hillary.

[jdallinder]

01:37 AM on 08/31/2012

It's not cheating if he shaves his armpits.

[HONEST1981]

01:15 AM on 08/31/2012

The definition of cheating in todays society is so far out of space, thats why im single and always will be!!!! I don't want to be commited to no one ever again in life!!! I've been burned too many times!!! Its a doggy dogg world!!!!!! Im doing me!!!!!

[knerd]

01:10 AM on 08/31/2012

What doesn't count as cheating?
So "straying from a relationship" is NOT cheating?
Really?

[Primarch1]

09:51 AM on 08/31/2012

Sadly this is the new "normal". I'm so confused.

[SoapboxKing]

04:11 PM on 08/31/2012

Nothing new going on here that did not go on a thousand years ago.

[moonflowerjewelry]

12:34 AM on 08/31/2012

Many of these seemed facetious, and they were accordingly kind of cute. But, seriously, cheating or not, it's a matter of personal integrity IF you have made your partner believe that you are "a couple". Integrity, no matter the political or socio-economic identity of the humans involved, is in VERY short supply. It seems that our culture celebrates deceit and dishonor, and that is sad and pathetic. Not really something to be so glibly proud of.