img @ angryharry

Up until recently, the idea of marital infidelity was almost solely a husband issue — women were seen as the poor victims, making dinner, holding the baby, and crying while her husband galavanted about with his secretary, a neighbor, or even his wife’s friend. However, as women are now out of the house as much (if not more) than men, and are no longer held to some Virgin Mary standard, cheating by wives is far more prevalent.

I don’t know the science on it, but I’m pretty sure, based on the basic map of the male brain, that guys generally cheat because they listened to the wrong head’s signals, if you know what I mean. That might have come out in a harsh, anti-male-sentiment type way, but I mean it in the most genuine of ways: a lapse in judgement, clouded by alcohol or an overly acting burst of testosterone and POOF your dude’s in bed with some fairly average looking chick he met in a dark bar. And while I’m not saying women have a more legitimate reason to cheat, I’m pretty sure we have enough scientific evidence to say that women’s emotions tend to rule over their sexual impulses.

Why do women cheat? An article on ModernGhana sums up to the top six (pretty self-explanatory) reasons:

1. Familiarity has bred indifference

2. You’re leading parallel lives

3. The passion has fizzled

4. The fantasy has fizzled

5. Your ego needs a boost

6. It’s payback time

Furthermore, the article says that 55% of women and 60% of men are likely to cheat… pretty high for both sexes, don’t you think?

Would you cheat if you knew you couldn’t get caught? Do you think your partner has cheated? Let us know what you think!

img @ divinecaroline

Being in a long term relationship can be taxing. Although your S.O. is supposed to be your numero uno companion, you often find yourself wondering when you can get a chance to spend some time with friends, or more importantly, alone. However, not all relationships have to be like this. Instead of falling into the usual traps, you can take the road less traveled (Robert Frost reference) and keep your relationship as fresh as the day you took it out of the box (toy reference).

Here are a few of DatePro’s fail safe freshness tips.

1) Call, don’t text

Cell phones have made it possible to be in contact with each other 24 hours a day, which is great… but also terrible. When you text each other while at work or school, while driving to meet them (don’t do that here in CA, it’s illegal), and before you go to bed, you lose appreciation for what it means to hear from them. Put the phone down, and call when you really want to talk. It’ll make those times that much more special.

2) Surprise, surprise

Presents and tangible gifts are awesome, but thoughtful surprises are a million times better. A nice dinner, ready when they show up, a bottle of their favorite wine left on their doorstep, or flowers sent to work, are a small, inexpensive ways to show them  (now that you aren’t texting 100 times a day) that you care.

3) Sex it up!

Do it! Keep it exciting. Do it different ways, different places, at spontaneous times… If your sex life becomes dull, it’s only a matter of time before your love life goes in the same direction. Sex can be the most exciting part of your relationship — if you just have an open mind!

Remember, if things are stale, you can make significant changes to fix the problems. However, it’s not always fixable. It may be time to move on!

img @ picapp

Emotional baggage is something nearly every person in the world carries — if you have a moment in your past that you are not so keen on discussing but affects your choices day to day, you definitely have emotional baggage. Whether it comes from family issues, bad experiences with friends, or past relationships, any type of issue that prompts you to act in a way that you consider unlike yourself, will very likely affect your next relationship.

So if you find yourself entering a new relationship and know you have emotional baggage weighing you down, it’s time to figure out a way to drop your baggage and move through life more freely.

If you type in “how to get rid of baggage” on Google, though, you’ll come up with a million books written by self help gurus who claim that they have the key to teaching you how to free yourself of emotional baggage. The truth is, the only way to get rid of baggage is to look inside yourself and become aware of the fact that although you’ll never get rid of memories, letting them hold you down instead of build you up and make you a better person is giving into the power of negativity.

Thinking positively, learning from your mistakes, and trusting in your own emotional power to overcome baggage is the only path to freedom. So don’t listen to those who say they have a quick fix, and remember — only you can free yourself from baggage!

img @ rachelbar.com

Watching daytime court room television, you’d think that no couple in the world ever discusses financial responsibility before they get into a committed, single budget relationship. While most people realize that it’s important to discuss money and its place in the relationship, there are more specific details about financial issues that should be laid out on the table and fully decided before ever sharing a bank account- here are a few of them that are often ignored.

Know your partner’s financial personality

Just as you often learn too late in the relationship that your significant other has a bad temper or is too impulsive, small financial personality quirks can ruin a relationship as well. While your thriftiness vs. their extravagance could eventually even out, it could be the death of the relationship if you’re sharing a budget. The last thing you want is the person you love blowing your rent money on a non-necessary, non-refundable purchase.

Create a budget worksheet…

… and be honest with it. One huge fail in making budgets (alone or as a couple) is only listing your bare necessities, and not taking into account entertainment and impulsive tangible purchases (expensive clothes, a night on the town, etc) that might happen. While you may leave these out while making your own personal budget, if you’re sharing the expenses, you have to account for two- so be sure to plan ahead for your indulgences.

Figure out how to share expenses

According to the author of Life or Debt, Stacy Johnson, you can live as a couple with either a single combined account, or have completely separate accounts- each can create a healthy, happy, financially secure relationship. He suggests that married couples combine their income to work together for a financial security, and a couple living together with no immediate plans of marriage are better off contributing to an expense account and then using their separate accounts for their own purchases.

As you can see, financial responsibility as a couple can either be successful (by using the tips above) or a complete failure which lands you on a daytime TV courtroom show. Make sure to be thorough and honest when creating a shared budget, and you’ll be happier in the end : ).

Read more couples’ budget advice at the Frisky

img @ socialgirl

You know how you may see a guy pass by and think, “eh, he’s kinda cute,” but the second he grabs the hand of another woman, he instantly becomes ten times more attractive? You might think it’s just you, but based on a recent study at Oklahoma State University, we all do it! According to the study, when women were shown a photo of a man who was single, they said they’d date him about 54% of the time. However, when the women were told that the guy was taken, they wanted to date him a whopping 90% of the time!

So what’s up, are we all evil you-know-whats on a mission to Man Steal? Not so, according to the research. The study seems to suggest that the instinct to be drawn to men already in a relationship goes back to caveman days, when women only sought out men for protection and provision- so seeing a man with another woman triggers your brain into believing that they are the type of man who could do both of those things.

[on the opposite end- men don't have a preference for women who are taken, instead they gravitate towards physical aspects like hip to waist ratio, that imply sexual fertility... figures]

So yes, we women are technically drawn to men in relationships, but it’s both a carnal and romantic reaction… not at all a jealous, competitive, or spiteful one. Just whatever you do, don’t act on your desires to swoop on a taken man, and instead, find one who will be perfect for you!

Read more at Cosmo.com

img @ chicagonow

In the typical Hollywood dating world (which I’m not sure mirrors real life), guys are always afraid to commit, cause they’re afraid of growing up, or wanna play the field, or like to smoke pot, or something. In real life, though, there are a million reasons why men don’t want to settle down as soon as women, and many of them are perfectly reasonable.

1) He’s Got Other Priorities

When work, school, and family are demanding, the last thing on a guy’s mind is going to be adding another facet to their stressful lives. Understanding this fact and coming to terms with it will show you’re both caring and forgiving, two traits which may show him that you aren’t more stress, in fact you want to lessen the stress.

2) He’s Got Baggage/Afraid of Intimacy

The last thing you want to do is push a guy with baggage into a relationship he’s not ready for. Talking with him about his issues and how you can work them out might sound like something you need to do, when in fact men would usually rather work it out on their own.

3) He’s afraid it won’t work out

Just as you fear that the relationship won’t last forever, so is he. However, while you squash your nerves assuming it’s just a natural feeling, he treats it as a genuine problem that could potentially come back to haunt him. So in all honesty, his fear of commitment is sort of 100% justified.

img @ 123life

Although many of DatePro’s articles discuss the difficulties of making long-term relationships work, there are of course, the few strong-willed people who are able to make it work. And while it’s difficult, relationships that stand the test of time (and distance) often come out the other end stronger than ever. Here are a few of the best ways to keep your LDR strong.

1. Be honest

With yourself, and your mate. If you really think you can be faithful and make it work, then go for it. It could be a good chance to experience living a single life without going out and trying to hook up with people. However, if being honest with yourself means you might stray, then a long distance relationship isn’t for you, and that is no strike on your character.

2. Be giving

Remember stamps? Those little paper things you stick on envelopes? Use them. Send small gifts, care packages, letters, anything to remind your mate that you’re thinking of them, and aren’t perusing the pages of AdultFriendFinder looking for someone else.

3. Sex is still an option

While phone sex is often uncomfortable and awkward for some people, the internet has opened tons of ways to communicate sexually with your partner. From Skype to text messaging to Google chat, there is no reason not to keep the spiciness alive.

4. Be trusting

If you always assume your mate is cheating on you, then why shouldn’t they? Trust is one of the most important facets of a relationship, even when it’s long distance, so don’t stress yourself out. It’ll only make things worse.

5. Don’t succumb to temptation

Don’t assume you have to take yourself out of any situation that might tempt you to cheat, because all you’re saying is that you can’t be trusted. Instead, learn to deal with it. You can still talk to attractive members of the opposite sex, but let them know from the get go that you’re in a committed relationship.

read more tips at Glamour

img @ technorati

If there is one feeling universally shared by women about their boyfriends, it’s that they wish they’d be a little more perceptive. To their feelings, their needs, their desires. In general, this wish goes unappeased. Guys are simple creatures, and your stand-offishness and small glares will go unnoticed until you finally explode in one of those “ARGGGG HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED I HAVE BEEN ANGRY WITH YOU FOR THREE DAYS?!?!?!”

To which they will usually reply, “No, I figured you were perioding or whatever.”

Never fear, though, ladies, science has found a way. Scientists have recently discovered that a spray, made up of the hormone oxytocin, can give recipients deeper feelings of empathy and emotion.

In the experiment, a placebo group and a group given a dose of the oxytocin nasal spray were shown various photos, like “crying child, a girl hugging her cat, and a grieving man.” Scientists noted that the participants given the dosage of oxytocin were exceptionally more empathetic to the photos.

Have we finally found a way to make men more emotional?! Well, I suppose drugging your boyfriend every time you want to share your problems with your mother might be a bit extreme, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? J/K.

Sidenote: the spray also seemed to enhance learning skills, but we can just ignore that for now .

img @ activerain

There are some things we all like to keep private, from past relationships to family issues… just things we’d rather not talk about, even with someone we love. That’s okay, because certain things that aren’t anyone’s business but your own.  However, there are other things, that although uncomfortable to talk about, must be approached honestly if you ever want your relationship to work, and here are three.

1. You do/don’t want kids

Whether or not you want children in your life is a big deal for some people. And although discussing the subject is often awkward, as one party might think it’s moving too fast, it could be a dealbreaker for other people. So mentioning, casually, that you’re very much intending to have children (or not), is extremely important.

2. You’re not satisfied in bed

The fake orgasm is something almost 100% of women have had, and although you may think of it as “not a big deal,” men are very offended by it. Be open about your satisfaction and men will be more than happy to oblige. Similarly, gents, if your lady isn’t being as adventurous in bed, she’d appreciate hearing what you want!

3. You’re unhappy

If you’re feeling down, whether it be because of your significant other or not, they would want to know. Keeping feelings to yourself is just bottling them in, which will inevitably lead to an outburst. Being honest about your feelings, no matter how crazy you might think they are, is important to keeping your relationship healthy and happy.

img @ hotdateideas.com

Every relationships has its slumps, times when things get boring, you’ve lost interest, maybe your sex life is dwindling… the answer isn’t always to break up. Sometimes, all you need is a little kick start to get things going again. Here are a few of DatePro’s favorite ways to rekindle a romance.

1) Road Trip

Spending time together in close quarters forces you to talk and remember why you fell for each other in the first place. You can experience things with only each other, without distractions like work and other responsibilities. Or, it’ll make you realize you hate each other and need to break up.

2) Spa day

Nothing spawn warm fuzzy feelings like a massage, and many spas offer couples packages where you can be massaged and pampered with each other. It’ll be impossible to not get in the mood.

3) Picnic

Spending time in nature, sipping wine and eating snack can be a a real aphrodisiac. Plus, it’s a cheap, creative way to spend time together.

4) Drive in Movie

Check out the recent horror flick at your local drive in. The old school feel of it, along with the scary movie, will make you feel like teenagers! Now make out like it!

5) Live Music

Checking out a band that you both like is a great way to remember why you two are great together. A similar taste in music is a great place to start a relationship, and at the same time, a great place to rekindle it.