[Jabbly]

I think there is merit in the view that if your partner thinks something is cheating then you should respect their feelings and not do it. Besides, if your morals don't align at least most of the time what hope does your relationship have? I certainly wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with someoneone who thinks it's acceptable to kiss someone else!

That being said, this can be taken too far. For example a person disaproving of their partner having friends of the opposite sex is just ridiculous! IMO not letting them look either is silly. My BF has a healthy interest in attractive women and he doesn't hide it. He openly admires them in my presence which doesn't bother me at all. I'd be worried if he didn't admire the likes of Jessica Alba!

As for my definition of cheating, I believe any physical activity between two people that is unnecessarily ... friendly ... could be considered cheating, taking into consideration the normal way the people involved interact with other people. Obviously there are varying degrees of betrayal and you have to judge each situation on it's own merits.

Emotional cheating is a lot harder to identify and define. I'd be a hell of a lot more hurt by this kind of thing than if my partner had a one night stand or something. Of course the physical aspect can stem from emotional betrayal in which case it would be as bad or even worse.

And not lying about the fact that you're sleeping with someone else or whatever it is you're doing doesn't make your actions any less cheating!