It seems incredible that women can be forgiving towards an errant husband. “In my opinion, the only reasons one must consider for leaving or separating from one’s husband is insanity, addiction, and domestic violence,” said one of the two girls. “So, infidelity does not fall in that basket.” I have spoken to several of my friends who chose to forgive their wayward husbands and here are a few stories.
Forgiving A Cheating Husband – 5 Women Say Why They Did That
Many women say, “I will forgive my husband for cheating,” and they actually end up doing that. Dealing with betrayal in a relationship can be really hard but there are some women who accept the situation and work on surviving the cheating that has happened. We spoke to five women who tell us why they decided on forgiving a cheating husband and staying on in the relationship.
1. True unconditional love is difficult to fathom
Anna was under the Stockholm syndrome where the victim falls under the spell of the tyrant. When it came to beauty, there was no one to compare with Anna’s wholesome and complete personality. She was my paternal grandmother, married to an arrogant and wealthy zamindar. In those days taking other women into your harem was not unheard of but ours was a staunchly disciplined orthodox Christian family. No one dared to confront him, and he strutted his prowess like a peacock. He cheated on her multiple times and he was unapologetic about that. His absolute power would drive him to beat her mercilessly and before the age of 30, she had lost all her teeth and had had several miscarriages. Her two children would cower in terrified agony seeing this brutal assault on their mother. Anna would quietly bear with his abuses and even cook for his latest mistress. I once asked her when she was in her seventies, as to why she kept returning to her horrible husband. Her eyes got dreamy and she said, I just loved him so much.
2. Social constraints and lifestyle compromises
Women tend to nurture their partners and children, and they come before anything else. Rani was a well-educated and elegant woman married to a handsome Vice President of a well-known global Fortune 500 company. Money was in abundance as he hailed from a billionaire family and he chose to work only to keep himself suitably occupied, as the family business did not interest him. Not only was he blessed with good looks and wealth; he also ran marathons and was extremely fit. As if these traits weren’t enough he was also gifted with a superbly subtle sense of humor. Rani was supremely happy but as soon as she got pregnant with her first baby, she discovered the worm in the apple. He would sleep with his secretaries, then get them married off with a handsome gift of money and gold jewellery. This cheating mortally wounded Rani. After a lot of to and fro conversations and bitter fights, she decided to stay. “I forgave my cheating husband,” she said. Her in-laws were mortified that she dared to speak about it. They believed that she should have turned a blind eye to the whole thing. After all, she and her kids were being looked after sumptuously. When I asked why she did not leave him, she said, “Well I had to be practical, I could never have afforded the lifestyle my kids have now, and I thought that would be unfair to them. Forgiving a cheating husband was not easy but I had to think of the children.”
3. Let’s sweep it under the carpet
Women always like to keep the peace and swallow the hurt – let’s not rock the boat is the meme. Sonali was a regular woman of the world, but her man meant the world to her. When her first baby girl was born her attention was riveted on her. She wanted to quit her job and be a stay-at-home mom. Her husband would not hear of it – he said he needed her salary too to make ends meet. Sonali confided her anguish to her mother-in-law, who chided her for allowing such a young girl into the family. You can’t leave the fish unattended when you have a cat at home! Sonali put her foot down and sent off her cousin back to her native place, where she was soon married off and had a baby girl, who, it turns out, is a spitting image of Sonali’s husband. Sonali says, “Well it’s all in the family, and my hubby is a good provider, a kind-hearted soul, great with the children and I would rather have a known devil than go looking for another Mr Perfect. I forgave to save my marriage.”
4. Society and approval before righteous anger
Tradition, family, religion, society and one’s own conditioning to what’s right and wrong, keeps even the most tortured woman in the habit of forgiving a cheating husband. Sushma belonged to a traditional Jain family and was married off at 16, and even now at 31, she looks gorgeous. Then, it was an arranged marriage and she had no say, except to say yes. Right from the word “Go”, he was the epitome of the bully, verbally abusive and openly indulging in booze, gambling and inevitably into women. By the way, even ugly men get laid if they have easy money. Her beauty was a source of great insecurity and suspicion and when he left to look after his garment shops – he would lock up his young bride in the house. She put up with all of it all due to the intense pressure to comply; from her very traditional parents and in-laws. Even today – as her daughter has begun to work and she could easily split from this rogue of a husband, she refuses, because it is against the tradition. “I forgave my husband for cheating on me and abusing me but I nurse the hurt every moment of the day,” said Sushma. Also, divorce would mean she wouldn’t acquire her husband’s inheritance for her daughter. Marriage proposals will be a near impossibility for her daughter if she was divorced. She’d rather hang on to a broken relationship, while her husband absconds with his latest catch somewhere in Hawaii.
5. Career women chose to forgive too
When your priorities align with your significant other, then his infidelities seem trivial. You would rather stick with an imperfect spouse, end up forgiving a cheating husband than cast a new net. After repeated failed relationships Christy found Aatif, who like her was a computer geek and was just as experienced in the nuances of lovemaking as she was. Also with the combined 6-figure salaries, they enjoyed the perks of holidaying in Maldives, Singapore, Dubai and Europe. Though she was aware that he had a long-term relationship with an older woman, Christy was blind-sided by Aatif’s charms. Like all women in their late thirties, all the nesting instincts come up and requests for a commitment for marriage began popping up. Aatif was a confirmed polyamorous man and he had never hidden that fact from Christy. Yet she was aghast when the older woman called her at her place of work and accosted her, about stealing her man. All hell broke loose. To be fair, the older woman only wanted to share Aatif’s time and energy, as her kids were quite attached to him. Christy couldn’t quite accept the way the dice had fallen and declared that it was all over. However, the need for sex is a huge motivator to forgive the errant lover. She figured that at 39 she would be hard put to begin the pursuit for a man who is not only a good lover but also intellectually her equal. So despite knowing everything Christy married Aatif. The last one is actually the twist in the tale that we narrated from five women. Forgiving a cheating husband and saving the marriage is one thing but accepting the ways of a cheating lover and getting married to them is another thing. When it’s a question of love and marriage, people end up doing all kinds of things to forgive their spouse and save their marriage.
