There is a growing discussion among women about a new type of cheating, with many sharing how it has affected their personal relationships.
Traditionally, cheating is defined as engaging in inappropriate communication or having physical encounters with someone other than your partner in a monogamous relationship. However, the concept of infidelity now seems to include additional complexities.
One woman recently ended her relationship with her boyfriend upon discovering his involvement in this new form of cheating. She equated it to classic infidelity, a sentiment that resonates with many other women.
The question arises: what exactly is this new form of cheating?
In Australia, 20-year-old Maddi Miller discovered that her ex-boyfriend had subscribed to a popular porn star’s OnlyFans account.
Despite being an OnlyFans creator herself and earning approximately $19,272 monthly from the platform, Maddi shared with news.com.au that she has clear boundaries when it comes to her partner consuming such content from others.
“Trust is so important, which is why I had to end it with an ex after I caught him looking at naked photos of other women while in bed with me,” Maddi explained.
“If my ex had maybe asked to watch some content together, or he had expressed that he was curious, then we could have had a conversation about it. But the fact that he was deliberately looking at porn created by people I knew was not okay.”
She expressed that it was a significant breach of trust: “I wouldn’t be asking his mates for nudes. It’s the same thing. It’s betrayal.”
Discovering the deceit only made it worse. “I only found out because saw it on his phone one night over his shoulder. He tried to cover it up, and said his mate sent him a link that he opened it without knowing what it was.”
“But once I investigated further, I could see in his emails that he had subscribed to multiple women that I knew. The timestamps on the emails showed that he had been laying in bed next to me while he did it.”
Reflecting on her situation, she said, “Being young and having financial independence is great but it often attracts men who don’t have the best intentions. And like this circumstance, they think it’s okay to push boundaries that we’ve set in place.”
“Like it’s owed to them because I do OnlyFans. But it’s a job for me. It doesn’t mean he can go and do whatever he wants.”
This situation aligns with recent research in Australia, where findings show that many people consider subscribing to OnlyFans to be unfaithful in a relationship.
In a survey involving 54,000 Australians, 50 percent confirmed that it was ‘definitely’ cheating.
An additional 42 percent said it ‘depends on the type of interactions’ with the creator, particularly if there were personal messages involved.
On the flip side, only 8 percent of respondents believe that engaging with OnlyFans is a ‘normal’ aspect of a relationship.
There is a notable difference between men and women regarding opinions on the site.
The majority of women, about 61.3 percent, perceive a partner’s subscription to OnlyFans as cheating. In contrast, 46.1 percent of men think it depends on the interaction.
This topic has sparked a divide, with some asserting that only physical cheating counts, while others argue against acknowledging emotional cheating.
On social media, the debate continues. One Twitter user commented, “I think sexting another Women/Men/NB on OnlyFans (or anywhere else) while in a monogamous marriage is CHEATING!”
Another person added, “Look but don’t touch.”
A Reddit user added to the discussion: “If he interacts with her, that is personal and it’s cheating. It’s a slight but important distinction from pictures of videos.”