Infidelity in marriage

It is no secret that infidelity in marriages has fast become a common occurrence in modern society, it is interesting to consider then, why it happens. Why do more and more people enter into marriage with each other and then make the decision to break the most important vow? 'to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.' There doesn't appear to be any simple answer, as many people claim to still be in love with their partner, and admit to making a stupid decision, while others have no explanation for their actions.

However, as a nation we appear to becoming obsessed with celebrities and the media circus which surrounds them. We admire footballers, actors, actresses, musicians etc. and evidently we look up to these figures for inspiration, morals and most of all many even view them as role models. But are we becoming that obsessed that we agree with everything that they do? Just because they are in the public eye, does this mean they can do no wrong?

Many years ago, it would have been considered one of the worst acts for a man to cheat on his wife and vice versa, but as society continues to grow and become less prejudiced, are we pushing our values and morals further away? There appears to be more and more daily occurrences of infidelity amongst famous figures, as reported by the media, and just because the average person isn't documented each day, doesn't mean it isn't existing between married couples throughout Britain.

Therefore, is infidelity becoming more socially acceptable? In 2004 it was reported that David Beckham had an affair with Rebecca Loos. Although he never commented on the allegations, it appeared that Loos had all the facts and made it pretty clear that Beckham had cheated on wife Victoria. However after the dust settled it became apparent that this would not cause the end of the footballers marriage and they remain married to this day. The issue then becomes Victoria choosing not to see his apparent infidelity as a problem, therefore sending out the message that this sort of behaviour in a marriage is acceptable. On the other hand why did Rebecca Loos feel the need to reveal the affair to the media? In respect of Victoria? Or for a quick fix of cash?

More recently Ashley Cole has been involved in a scandal which suggests that he has had an affair for the second time behind wife Cheryl Cole's back, the first time being in 2008 in which Mrs Cole took the same route as Victoria Beckham. However this time it appears that a divorce is on the horizon, but why the sudden change of heart? Perhaps because Cheryl has developed a legion of fans, with many youngsters looking up to her as a role model and if she had decided to take him back for a second time, her career may have suffered a huge blow and she may have been dethroned as 'the nations sweetheart'.

What is interesting are the statistics for infidelity occurring in relationships, and the figures show very little difference between men and women;

Percentage of men who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they've had: 57%

Percentage of women who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they've had: 54%

What is more fascinating still is the Percentage of marriages that last after an affair has been admitted to or discovered, with the value of 31%. Furthering my belief that infidelity is becoming more common and deemed more acceptable.

http://www.infidelityfacts.com/infidelity-statistics.html

There appears to be no obvious reasoning as to why infidelity occurs in marriage, and as the above statistics prove, it is a very common occurrence in modern society. However if one thing is certain, it is that it doesn't appear to be on the decline.