So just a weird question.

[sarcasm]

If two friends, a straight or bi or pan male and a straight or bi or pan female, cuddle, thats not cheating is it?

[Allison]

cheating = be sexually unfaithful.
or
deceive or trick.

[SJO]

@sarcasm well, that's subjective on what's ur definition of cheating..LOL

[sarcasm]

@Allison what if your relationship isn't sexual? 🤔

[sarcasm]

@SJo ahahahhaha true ig

[Allison]

@sarcasm u can make an argument but ur gf/bf might just be mad & prefer u not
Also you didn't preface the statement by saying you had a significant other so on its own, it's not cheating no matter what.

[Matt_Aranha]

@sarcasm I'd say not, but then my background includes the theatrical and pagan communities both of which are very tactile and huggy. I see why some people would consider it cheating but so long as my partner wasn't hiding anything and there were no agendas I wouldn't have an issue with it.

I read a great article recently about how it is primarily straight western male culture which has this aversion to platonic cuddling. You look to the Russian ballet schools and to the guys there it is perfectly normal for them to huddle together for warmth - and these are huge, hulking beasts of masculine energy. Or how in many far eastern cultures school ages males are growing up just as comfortable hugging and sitting on each other's laps as their counterparts.

The article went on to hypothesise that this aversion is directly responsible for two of western man's most toxic traits - i) the misassociation between sex and affection, along with the inability to express affection through alternate means, and ii) possessive jealousness over a partner's tactility with others, especially other males but even other female friends. Because they have been so touch-starved through their lives that once they get a partner in their life who they can touch, they don't know how normal touch should be and cannot process it.