1345Marine (original poster member #71646) posted at 10:50 AM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
So I'm finally healed enough that infidelity related shows don't upset me, and I was watching this show Love and Death about an affair. At some point the man in the affair made the comment to his ap that he was being a better husband because he was happier in the affair. And at some point my stbxww made that same comment about her affair, talking about how she in part justified it because she was so much happier with the ap in her life and therefore she was a better mother and wife. So this comment kind of struck me in the show. It kind of sounds analogous to if I were to give my wife high doses of sleeping pills slipped into her drink or something. I could think to myself, "well, I'm a better husband and father when she's asleep and not bitching about whatever, and plus, she could use the rest anyway..." Of course it's damaging her long term health and I could slip up and use too high a dose and kill her (similar to some STDS), but damnit the whole family just seems to be better off when I'm happy and she's not complaining about things. Yeah, she'd probably be devastated and feel betrayed if she found out I was secretly poisoning her behind her back, but it just makes me so much happier. And when she does get up, groggy but refreshed, I'm able to be so much nicer to her after a full day of not having to interact with her "in one of her moods..."
I struggle to wrap my mind around how anyone ever comes to the place of justifying their affair by sincerely believing it's somehow in everyone's best interest and not just them being a selfish, cake eating egomaniac.
BackfromtheStorm ( member #86900) posted at 12:50 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
A lot of shows are made by low self worth external validation junkies who are all in into cheating and they bring it up into mainstream media and culture as something "positive " so it can be normalized and others don’t look at them as nauseating little people who they truly are.
Is the BS (as in Bull…) a wayward tells their BS to justify, just with a higher production value.
Message is clear: cheating is natural, you’re just stupid you take it so seriously.
As a famous philosopher said: fk it
[This message edited by BackfromtheStorm at 12:51 PM, Thursday, January 29th]
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WoodThrush2 ( member #85057) posted at 12:52 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Unfortunately, you will have that kind of disgusting logic floated for things like that, but it is all based on a corrupt and crumbling foundation.
She was not being a better wife...in fact a more disgusting one. Being able to have no prick of conscience, smiling like on top of the world, all while destroying the lives of the ones she supposedly loved the most.
Reminds me of an exposed situation discussed in the Bible where some people back in Christ's time totally missed the mark regarding God's grace saying...."Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" The answer of course strongly opposed ..."God forbid!!!"
So no, one should not embrace an affair because it "seemingly" produces some short term positive effect. Time will show lasting and real devastation.
Do good....✌️
The1stWife ( Guide #58832) posted at 3:36 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
My two cents, cheaters will tell themselves whatever they need to in order to justify the affair.
During my H’s last affair I was the enemy. We didn’t argue or fight much until the affair reared its ugly head. He then resented me, hated me, wanted nothing to do with me, mocked me etc.(you get the picture).
Why? In his mind I was standing in his way of being with the OW. She was going to leave him if he didn’t D me — but yet he did nothing about it. He said he wanted a D but took no steps in 6 months to initiate it.
The cheater in done way has to make the BS the "bad guy" in order to not feel guilt or shame or anything.
Typical cheater behavior BTW.
Survived two affairs and brink of Divorce. Happily reconciled. 12 years out from Dday. Reconciliation takes two committed people to be successful.
grubs ( member #77165) posted at 4:12 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
And at some point my stbxww made that same comment about her affair, talking about how she in part justified it because she was so much happier with the ap in her life and therefore she was a better mother and wife.
That she needed to do something so destructive to her family to be happy is the issue. If she felt that way after the carnage was clear is basically her saying she deserved to cause that pain to her family and friends because she it made her happy. The alternative would be to lean in and find happiness inside her family instead of seeking it in other men. In the end happiness is more an attitude more than results of external factors.
[This message edited by grubs at 4:13 PM, Thursday, January 29th]
InkHulk ( member #80400) posted at 4:28 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
To me, infidelity has ripped open my eyes to see that people will abandon the basic assumed virtues and not even flinch. Honesty, loyalty, respect for life, the unspoken foundation for our relating to other people are meaningless to a terrifyingly large number of people. They can retro-justify it with these bullshit stories. But ultimately it’s just a complete failure of character combined with a refusal to look inward to even so much as acknowledge it.
I think you and I fought so hard, in part, in order to not have to look at this. How could our supposedly God fearing wives be this? There must be some mistake. But there was no mistake other than our conception of who they were. And for me now it’s changed how I see people in general, for better or worse.
People are more important than the relationships they are in.
WB1340 ( member #85086) posted at 4:51 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
I have no doubt my wife was happier in a way during her affair because she had the best of both worlds. From 7:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. she could laugh, flirt, sext, throw innuendo back and forth with her AP because it was fun and exciting and made her feel younger and still attractive (he is 9 years younger).
From 3:00 p.m. till 7:00 a.m. she reassumed her role as wife/mother and had the Safety and Security that I, her steady dependable reliable trustworthy hard working (boring) husband of 20 years, provided.
In fact, I do not recall any real conflict between us during the several months she was carrying on with him. But of course this arrangement can never last forever and the WS's are too selfish and caught up in themselves to even think about or care about the fallout when the affair is discovered.
It took me a long time to stop getting upset when a movie or TV show or song based on infidelity came on the TV or radio. It just took a while for me to accept that I can either not get upset and be happy or get upset and be miserable but it was my choice
Movies love to romanticize the poor housewife whose husband works too much even though she enjoys the fruits of his labor so she just HAS to succumb to the charms of that younger handsome pool boy or whatever the cliche AP is.
People today are just for the most part selfish and they give little to no thought about the consequences of their selfish actions. Girlfriends support the cheating wife by telling her your husband doesn't appreciate you or you deserve better or this guy could be your true soulmate or whatever BS
D-day April 4th 2024. WW was sexting with a married male coworker. Started R a week later, still ongoing...
Formerpeopleperson ( member #85478) posted at 5:02 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
I used to be a people person, but then people ruined it.
It’s never too late to live happily ever after
Unhinged ( member #47977) posted at 5:20 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
This is some dumb shit peddled by Ester Perel, an infidelity apologist.
Hollywood writers have absolutely no fucking clue about infidelity. Pisses me off something fierce.
Married 2005
D-Day April, 2015
Divorced May, 2022
"The Universe is not short on wake-up calls. We're just quick to hit the snooze button." -Brene Brown
OhItsYou ( member #84125) posted at 5:42 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Doesn’t surprise me at all. People in Hollywood have this really strange combination of huge ego but very low self esteem.
BackfromtheStorm ( member #86900) posted at 9:26 PM on Thursday, January 29th, 2026
This is some dumb shit peddled by Ester Perel, an infidelity apologist.
Hollywood writers have absolutely no fucking clue about infidelity. Pisses me off something fierce.
Considering the amount of cheating going on with celebrities, they have a good idea, it's kind of a badge of honor
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