Stop Me When I Start Lying: Beating VS. Cheating

My mind was blown ("mind boggled" as Ray J's dumb ass would say) by a conversation I had with a female friend of mine recently. We were having a usual discussion about how Tiger Wood's personal life wasn't my business and the only people he owed an apology to for living foul were his wife, family and close friends. I have a slightly pessimistic opinion on how monogamous people are in relationships where one person spends more than half the year on the road (athletes, traveling salesmen, etc.). Combine that with the fact that I knew nothing about Tiger personally before and I'm not exactly surprised at what has been exposed and the shock value wore off to me long before the media. I told the lady that I would have been more surprised if he was a woman beater, pedophile, cross dresser or some type of criminal or weirdo. She told me that she believes that in marriage, it's easier to get over a guy beating his wife than that man cheating on his wife.......................WHAT????? Alright, I'm a guy, and my mother is the type who would throw boiling water on a man in his sleep if he was stupid enough to lay a hand on her so maybe my view is different than hers. But I still don't understand that logic. In my dealings with women, I often try to think about things as far as "what would I do if this happened to a sister if I had one?" If I had a sister and her husband cheated on her (assuming she's been a good wife), I'm going to be telling her to leave him immediately cuz she doesn't need to leave herself in a situation to be hurt like that. However,it wouldn't surprise me if they got separated for a while, took some time apart to do their own things and eventually they wanted to get back together. I'd tell her that he has to earn that trust back and all, but overall I could let the past be the past and move on. If the husband was beating my sister - whether she's bein a good wife or not - WE GOT PROBLEMS. I'm not a hot head, but I would take a page from Sonny from the Godfather, I'm fuckin this dude's shit up. And I'll tell him "If she ever comes through my door with a black eye again, I'll kill you." Don't think I'm condoning cheating at all, it's a violation of the sanctity of the relationship and I'm in no way denying that. But it's gotten to the point where cheating, on both sides, is so widespread that it's no more shocking than just disappointing. It's estimated that 50% of married people have cheated, and studies show that those aren't the same 50% that are divorced either, there's a significant amount of overlap. No one seems to look at cheaters differently unless they have legal implications or theatric value. BUT BEATING???Look at Ike Turner's reputation more than a quarter century after him and Tina divorced. Everyone forgot that he was a rock & roll pioneer and just remember him as a the guy beating Anna Mae. Hell, look how fast Chris Brown's career has all but disappeared, and we know that Rihanna probably provoked a lot of that cuz she is crazy and violent herself. Didn't stop his name from becoming the new verb for woman beating. "Shut up before I Chris Brown ur ass." This dude had to get on camera practically begging for his fans back. People don't end up doing interviews with Larry King or Barbara Walters over cheating. Hell, Swizz Beatz and Dwyane Wade both left their wives for celebrity women in the past year or two and have been flaunting their newer richer chicks all over the place, no one has called them or their wives for any interviews about their affairs turned new relationships. By definition, Gabrielle Union and Alicia Keys are home wreckers; very, very fine home wreckers, but home wreckers nonetheless. Hasn't seemed to hurt their careers at all. Just like it hasn't hurt several male and female public figures who have been caught cheating. Stop Me When I Start Lying...