Cheating was once perceived as a viciously deviant act that was frowned upon by society – even an illegal act in some countries that lead to the death penalty. But now cheating has become something that our society has accepted into the social folkways that are a part of our lives. We all have been cheated on, and we will all cheat – whether emotionally, financially or physically. Unless you live under a rock, you have heard yesterday’s revelation that Kristen Stewart cheated on her boyfriend, Robert Pattinson, with the married director of her new movie, Rupert Sanders. Rupert even has two children with his wife. To make things even awkward, the devil in the red dress even decided to issue a public apology to Rob, explaining how she is sorry for breaking his heart. Unconditional love and loyalty used to be unspoken truths within relationships; everyone knew that marriage was the last bastion of hope from licentious behavior and broken promises. But currently, this has become a reality of the past, as men and women are tempted by behavior that has them running to the hills of desire. Scandals and cheating have become a part of life. Because our society idolizes celebrities – who are the worst possible idols to have – we all see and read about them cheating without shame, which tells society that these acts are okay. Hey, as long as you’re having fun, YOLO, right? If the most successful people are doing it, so can we. Adultery used to be shameful. While it was committed, open infidelity was scorned by society with the worst punishment. But now, men cheat because they think it is their duty to do so. This is a perverse heroism, a reverse twist of the chivalric tales told since the mid century. Where fighting for your one true love used to be the traits of the best men, now cheating and having the most women is seen as heroic. The reason men cheat is often due to insecurity, or, if they have been cheated on, they see it as their right for vengeance to cheat on their girlfriend or wife. But both of these reasons have little to do with true love. They do, however, have everything to do with confused emotions. If you are insecure, or feel scorned by a cheating girlfriend, then cheating yourself will probably not solve the problem. You are really only doing it to fill a void – which probably explains why the majority of men who cheat sleep with women less attractive than their current wife or girlfriend. Women cheat as well and for various reasons. The biggest reason we have come across is that women feel as if they have been controlled by a man for too long, so cheating, for them, is a right of passage towards liberation. They cheat as if it bestows upon them some vague form of sexual freedom that they envy in their male counterparts. But men do not cheat because they are free – we have just mentioned that it is usually due to insecurity or spitefulness. So if a woman cheats, she is only falling victim to the same viscous, self-destructive behavior as a man. Nonetheless, cheating exists and happens frequently – often like a domino effect that spreads faster than any disease. Studies suggest that if someone is cheated on, they are 75% more likely to cheat on their next partner out of distrust, or on their current partner if they decide to stay with them. As you can see, this domino affect is something that will spread fast as we can rest assure that Rob will be cheating on Kristen just to get back at her. It might seem a childish form of retribution, but it’s a reality when we all seek justification for unfair treatment. The grass is always greener on the other side, as the saying goes. We love to live on the edge and break the rules. People have a fear of being controlled. Whenever they feel their loved one is being too controlling, that is when they decide to cheat. This is akin to the reasoning capabilities of a prepubescent child: if you keep telling the child that they cannot do a certain thing, it is more than likely that they will rebel and do it anyway just because you tried to control them. Yes, being cheated on does hurt; the feeling is like your heart just fell into your stomach. But it happens all too often nowadays, despite our conscious telling us the act is wrong. If you were to walk up to any person, the chances of them saying they have been cheated on at least once in their life are extremely high. This simple fact has left many scared to engage into a relationship again because of the fear of being cheated on. Opportunity and temptation are things that are hard for anyone to turn a blind eye to when the consequences are nonexistent. In the 21st century, our minds have always been trained to believe that we always get what we want. So if we ever see someone we are attracted to, even if we have someone in our life, it;s likely that we will succumb to desire and cheat. Thus is the thinking of many. Adultery has become a way of life, rather than a shunned act. Men applaud cheating by other men because it is a sign of male superiority – a male dominance that ensures their alpha status. If the domino effect of cheating continues, society should be fear a pernicious reality worse than the spread of communism in third world countries: loyalty and trust in a relationship will be gone forever.

With relationships being things of the past, more and more people are looking for the new channel of interaction between men and women that doesn’t include countless headaches, fights, heartbreak, and expensive gifts every February 14th. What many are turning to is casual sex. Casual sex is something that has always been a dream of just the male gender, but now, casual sex has become something that women want as well. Sex has become something that is more of a sport and there just for pleasure rather than for two people who are in love with each other. Casual sex is, of course, the concept of having sex with someone with absolutely no strings attached; it is strictly for the pure enjoyment of both of the parties involved. Sounds like the greatest concept ever right? Only one tiny problem and no, it is not the increasingly high chance of catching herpes. Rather, it is the fact that this amazing concept of just having causal sex doesn’t work. It never has and it never will. But the fact that it doesn’t work won’t stop anyone from trying, as this has been going on since the beginning of time, but, as we all know, the shelf life you have with a casual sex partner is shorter than the lifespan of those terrible blackberry phones.

Here are the five reasons casual sex just doesn’t work:

1. Jealously

Women are naturally jealous and will always be. And when men get jealous, it’s more of a vengeance type of jealousy, whereas women are more hateful. These two different types of jealousies mixed together don’t mix at all. Whatever side of the equation you are on, if you ever see your casual sex partner flirting or even going on dates with someone else, you are naturally going to get jealous and feel like something of yours is being taken. Even though you two aren’t “together,” there is still a sense of entitlement that is far more than there should be if you’re just having casual sex.

2. Feelings

This leads into the next issue of casual sex: feelings. Feelings suck and take up way too much thought-space in our heads. The good news here is that feelings are usually one sided in the beginning stages. Females are more likely to develop feelings than men are because women are not accustomed to having casual sex. Problem is, when she does eventually develop feelings, she is going to want more than just sex. She is going to want to feel like she has more value than just a regular booty call here and there. And that is when things get complicated. If the guy develops feelings and she doesn’t, it’s even worse because than he just becomes desperate when this was meant to be casual. It is almost impossible for girls to continue having casual sex with guys without catching any emotions. There is just something in their mind that tells them they should develop some type of feeling for guys who are inside of them. It must be all the Disney propaganda that told them Prince Charming is out there.

3. Women hate it

Sure, they might do it because they just got out of a really bad relationship or they don’t really feel like having a boyfriend but still want the same amazing feeling of sex, but deep down inside they hate it. They don’t really want their sacred experience to be cheapened and they don’t ever want to feel like they’re being used. Everything will feel great for them while having sex, but afterwards, there is just no chance that they feel good about themselves knowing they just got used. Women hate it even though it is proven that women enjoy sex way more than men do – just another reason why women are so weird. How can anyone say they were used when they had more of the fun?

4. Short shelf life

The shelf life of casual sex is short, really short. You’ll be lucky enough to get it to the month point before she starts saying she doesn’t want to be used for sex anymore or that she wants more from you. That is the point where things get complicated because you know the golden rule: you can’t turn a booty call into a housewife. The worst part is when you slowly start seeing the casual sex relationship fade away and you just try to get that last bang in there.

5. Excitement dies down

It’s like getting new sneakers — it’s only fun to have for a week and then it’s kind of something that just drags on and becomes increasingly boring. Sure, casual sex is fun and all, but the first week is really where all the excitement is because you just find it amazing that you can have sex on demand. But then the casual sex gets boring and, of course, you’ll want to venture onto a new girl.