An international affair

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:00:00 +0000

It's not that Americans cheat any less than the French -- in fact they cheat a bit more -- it's just that when Americans do cheat on their spouses they feel so damn guilty about it, it's a wonder they ever had the affair at all. To Americans, "it's not the cheating, it's the lying." And couples who don't break up over infidelity often turn to therapy and support groups, which, ironically, frequently encourage cheating spouses to reveal every last detail about their illicit relationships to regain the trust that was lost when their pants came off in the first place.

The 30-year-old virgins

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:32:00 +0000

When Amanda was 26 years old she found herself in a familiar but awkward situation: She was still a virgin and the guy she had been dating for three months didn't know it. She wasn't ready to sleep with him yet, but she was close, real close. One night they were at his house, making out on the couch, when he asked her, "When's the last time you had sex?" The question was blunt and unexpected. She didn't know how to answer, and she didn't really want to. "One year? Two years?" She didn't respond. "Don't tell me you're a virgin?" he blurted as he abruptly pulled away. "No offense, but most people do that in high school," he told her. He acted like a victim, she says four years later, telling her that none of his friends would ever sleep with a virgin, that he'd already slept with two and would never do it again. About a week later they went to the movies together, and afterward, he walked her to the car. She leaned in to kiss him and he backed away, "like I was some disgusting object."

Salon.com > Yael Kohen

An international affair

The 30-year-old virgins