It should be noted that I do not condone lying or cheating. I promote healthy dialogue, and share with my readers my own open relationship through some of its ups and downs. And with that in mind here are a few things that I feel many have missed while sharpening those pitchforks and throwing harsh words at the long list of individuals being outed through the Ashley Madison Hack. I will attempt to share a few case studies that I earnestly hope come with critical thinking and reflection as the reality is people are committing suicide over this outing of privacy.
Case Study #1 – A husband and wife found each other through a shared kink, sex with strangers. As both are high earning members of society they do their best to keep this kink between themselves and the discreet partners that they have. They each have a paid account whereby they are able to fulfill their fantasies with full disclosure to the partners they find and more importantly to maintain the spice that fuels their own relationship. As a result of this hack, their privacy has now been invaded and they both risk losing their careers. They made a choice to marry, provide support for each others kink, and do so in the privacy of their own lives. Their choice to have accounts did not affect their careers, enhanced their own relationship and now they face the scrutiny of their peers and strangers.
Case Study #2 – A man is in a sexless marriage with a woman who is raising their beautiful daughter. He grew up in a broken home, and made a vow not to ever divorce on account of the childhood he had. The man has wants and needs. Through this website he has been able to fill a physical need with woman who are in similar situations. He has been a member of the site for over 7 years and not once has it had any negative effect on the family. There is no emotional connections being made, just simple physical acts that allow him to raise his daughter and maintain his marriage. All that is now at an end. He is losing his wife, and custody of his daughter. She will now be raised in a broken home. Case Study #3 – This powerful article which is a first hand account of why a woman signed up for Ashley Madison https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/08/24/email-ashley-madison-user/.
I am not naive that there are thousands upon thousands of users that are lying and cheating to their partners on this site, after all, the tagline, “have an affair” is in plain site. I simply am putting these few examples out there to acknowledge that not all users all “evil”. Nor are the families who now are being forced to make decisions based on societal influences. He who is without sin, and all the jazz. Do not support internet terrorism.
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