How would you feel if your boyfriend or husband had a virtual girlfriend? I don’t mean what if he had a relationship with someone, as in a real person; I’m talking about a digitally animated girlfriend “brought to life” through Nintendo DS. There’s a new, popular dating sims (or dating simulation) video game on the market called Love Plus and, according to Boing Boing, an article posted on a Japanese tech site in September reported that several women had complained that their family lives were disrupted by their husbands’ addiction to the game. Boing Boing spoke with one San Francisco couple, Koh and Yurie, who say that Koh’s one-week addiction to his virtual girlfriend on Love Plus was “gross,” but basically harmless.

Despite valiant human rights work on behalf of Angelina Jolie to make “the other woman” not look like a big ol’ skank, the truth is most people still think “the other woman” is ... well, a big ol’ skank. And guess what, ladies?! There’s this awesome double standard where people shrug their shoulders at Mr. Married But Couldn’t Keep His Pants Zipped and say, “Boys will be boys,” while they give you the stink-eye, you home-wreckin’ ho! So you have your work cut out for you!  Unfortunately, instead of hopping a cheap-o flight out of town to wash that man right out of her hair, some “other women” go a little bonkers when the man doesn’t ditch his wife.

Oh, man. The drama of Steve Philips is kind of like David Letterman on crack, plus a stalker. Phillips, an ESPN baseball analyst and former general manager of the Mets, is a married man and father of four. Still, he schtupped a 22-year-old production assistant named Brooke Hundley at least three times over the summer. He apparently felt “meh” about her, but Hundley was under the impression they were meant to be together. And so she went CUH-RAZY with jealousy trying to expose the affair to Phillips’ wife.

After being in an 11-year relationship with someone I met when we were 18, a mix of drugs and bad attitudes finally came to a head this past January and we ended things.  About four months ago I met a really great guy. He is successful and stable — pretty much everything my ex wasn’t.  We have a great time together and spend almost every minute we aren’t working together. Unfortunately, there isn’t that “chemistry” I had with my ex. And my ex has suddenly decided to barge back into my life. After our last phone conversation, well I wouldn’t really call it a conversation, more like him cursing me out for emotionally abandoning him and moving on with my life (gotta love the drug addict), he’s now saying he’s now completely reformed and wants to give me everything he wasn’t able to before when he was so screwed up. Like an idiot I continue to answer his phone calls and have even seen him on two different occasions.  My question is, is it still considered cheating if it is with your ex who you were with for 11 years? I am not emotionally attached to my ex anymore but that chemistry or “fire” that has always been there attracts me and causes me to do things I normally would never do in my right mind. I have told him (my ex) how horrible I feel about what I have done to my new guy but he assures me that it is okay because to him, these are “special circumstances”.  Do you agree with that?  Or is cheating, cheating regardless? — Dazed and Confused

As many times as I’ve tried to recall the evening, I don’t remember the first time I met Marc*, although he seems to remember it well. He claims we met in a hot tub at a party that my then-boyfriend was throwing. Apparently, he thought I was “hot,” but I only had eyes for my BF Rick*, who was a friend of Marc’s. That was six years ago.

Marc and I saw each other again many times over the years. He was a peripheral part of my circle of friends—one of those people that pop up in your world every once in a while. The first time I actually do remember meeting Marc was at a get-together at a downtown NYC bar. It was a few months after the hot tub night. Rick and I were still madly in love. Marc showed up at the bar alone. I was wearing a short skirt – it was a humid summer night.

One of the country’s largest feminist groups, National Organization for Women, has weighed in on the revelations that “Late Show” host David Letterman slept with several of his interns and assistants. In a statement released on Tuesday, NOW said:

“The latest Letterman controversy sheds new light on the widespread objectification of women in the workplace. Most women can attest to the fact that many workplaces are plagued with inappropriate behavior by men in power. As ‘the boss,’ he is responsible for setting the tone for his entire workplace — and he did that with sex. In any work environment, this places all employees — including employees who happen to be women—in an awkward, confusing and demoralizing situation. The National Organization for Women calls on CBS to recognize that Letterman’s behavior creates a toxic environment and to take action immediately to rectify this situation. With just two women on CBS’ board of directors, we’re not holding our breath.”

Usually, I agree with NOW’s pro-women’s rights stance on lots of subjects—for what it’s worth, I was president of the NOW chapter at my college. But I only have one thing to say about the stink they’re making about Letterman’s employee-diddling:

Bitch, please.

Post-failed engagement, I’m not sure how into the idea of marriage I am. I think it’s great for other people and maybe I’ll really want to get married eventually, but for now, I don’t really see it as the end-all, be-all of my romantic future. That said, I’m all about commitment and monogamy, just without a legal document decreeing it so. But according to a conversation on “The View” this morning, this kind of commitment—the wedding band-less kind—is not as serious. The gals were talking about David Letterman of course, and Whoopi kept exclaiming that during the time that Letterman was schtooping his staff, he may have been with Regina Lasko for nearly 20 years, but he hadn’t married her yet. And based on all the clatter Whoopi has heard around the Hot Topics table over the years, that made his cheating not as bad. I think that’s ridiculous.

Jess Duttry, a 19-year-old in Ohio, cheated on her fiancé and when she came clean about it, he instantly broke it off and demanded the ring back. But Jess wasn’t about to let him go that easily. Over the weekend, she stood in a supermarket parking lot, wearing a signboard sandwiched around her that read on the front, “I cheated. Honk if I deserve a second chance.” On the back it said: “I honestly love him.” (This sounds familiar.) While this move gets an “A” for effort and a “C” for creativity, I’m kinda guessing her dude couldn’t have been too happy to have her indiscretion announced to the entire town outside the local Stop N’ Shop. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to get a significant other to take you back when you hardcore messed up? Did it work? [AOL News]

A dishy new book proposal by a former aide says former Senator John Edwards wasn’t merely cheating on his long-suffering wife Elizabeth Edwards. According to Andrew Young, the senator promised Rielle Hunter he’d marry her after Elizabeth died from cancer in a rooftop ceremony in NYC with the Dave Matthews Band playing.

Urgent memo to Senator Edwards: Making romantic plans for after your wife’s death = tacky! [New York Times]

I once told my mother about a girl I had a crush on. At the time, I think I was about 16, and I had so much acne that if I fell asleep at a library, when I woke up, a blind guy would be trying to read my face. 

“Just go for her,” my mother said.

“It’s not that simple,” I said, while filling out my order form for 25 crates of Noxzema. “She’s got a boyfriend.”

Some new studies suggest men cheat up to five percent more than women, but apparently ladies are “bigger liars” about it. Hmm ... bigger liars or just better at not getting caught? According to some recent studies, women are having more affairs than ever—around 15 percent, while the figure is closer to 20 percent for men—but they behave very differently from men when they cheat. Dr. David Holmes, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, says: “The biggest difference is that women are much better at keeping their affairs secret. If you look at the studies into paternity, even conservative figures show that between eight and 15 per cent of children haven’t been fathered by the man who thinks he’s the biological parent.”

Apparently unaware of the many ways this could backfire terribly, Wikler Moran-Mora, pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Reform in Tampa, FL, faked his own kidnapping so he could two-time his wife. According to police, Moran-Mora texted his wife last Tuesday evening to say he had been kidnapped, but that she should not worry because he was working to get released. But when police tracked down Moran-Mora’s location via his cell phone, they discovered “negotiating with kidnappers” actually meant “boning another woman.” The pastor has been charged with filing a false police report—and coming up with a really bad alibi. [ABC Action News]

But Moran-Mora actually isn’t the first genius who got caught being a liar, liar, pants on fire. A trip down memory lane, after the jump:

Related stories:

Why didn’t we think of this? Apparently, this guy’s wife busted him sending nudie photos to someone else via text message. As punishment, she made him stand on a heavily trafficked corner in their hometown while wearing this sign. Brilliant. [Self Preservation]

#Itsnotcheating is a trending topic that’s been all the rage on Twitter. The glimpse into the human psyche’s thoughts on infidelity that it provides is terrifying! As in “It’s not cheating if it happens in Cancun!” terrifying.

After the jump, check out Twitter’s list of mucho slippery ways to cheat that some peeps shockingly think are a-OK. We’re hoping some of these are jokes!

Things like this happen when you least expect them. There you are on a Saturday morning, doing laundry and listening to your boyfriend sing, “Girls, Girls, Girls” in the shower for the millionth time when you catch a whiff of a perfume that is definitely not yours on his favorite t-shirt. You crane your neck to catch the strains of, “I’m such a good, good boy / I just need a new toy,” and wonder, could he be cheating?

If you confront your man, and your suspicions are confirmed, will you join the ranks of Hillary Clinton and Tammy Faye Baker to stand by your man? Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once said, “I do not think there are any men who are faithful to their wives.” Well, John F. Kennedy certainly wasn’t, but do all men have the cheating bug in them? Is a relationship, once soiled with adultery, gone for good? Read more ...

“Recently my boyfriend/ex-boyfriend has been going through some financially hard times. He still has his job but some other really difficult things have happened to him that would make anyone want to run and hide. He decided to face these problems head-on but it’s been incredibly stressful, and just recently I found out he had cheated on me. The last two months of our two years together had been the hardest and it was like he was no longer the man I fell in love with. Now that I have confronted him he said that he would do everything in his power to turn things around, get his life together, and then try and win me back

What I want to know is can you ever get over being cheated on?  I know it’s very easy to say kick him to the curb, there are more fish in the sea, but I truly want to know if anyone has made a relationship work after someone has not been faithful.”

See my reply after the jump.

Being cheated on sucks. The insecurity, the anger, the effort it takes to burn down his house ... it’s all the pits. And while we wouldn’t wish that on anyone, one English woman found a way to lessen the sting a bit, by demanding diamonds from her spouse every time it happened.

Elizabeth Charlton was married to her husband for 26 years. During that time, she gathered more than half a million dollars of “I’m Sorry” jewelry. From big ‘ol diamond necklaces to brooches, rings and bracelets, the girl accessorized her embarrassment well. So well, in fact, that a selection of 43 pieces just sold for a collective 300,000 British pounds at auction. Would you trade your husband’s infidelity for boatloads of bitchin’ jewelry? [Daily Mail]

A cheating Guatemalan woman faked her own kidnapping in Barcelona, so she could keep cheating with her Spanish lover. Ay carumba! Mark Sanford, are you taking notes? A woman in Spain texted her hubby in Guatemala that she’d been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and held against her will with other kidnappees. In truth, the two-timer was boning a guy she met online. Her worried hubby alerted the Embassy of Spain in Guatemala, who called cops in Spain. Police found her in Barcelona, where she claimed she’d escaped her captors. However, when a medical examination found she had no injuries befitting a rape or kidnapping, the woman admitted the whole charade. And she did it all for a little nookie on the side. [Barcelona Reporter, Euro Weekly]

You don’t have to be Jennifer Aniston to think the four women who Krazy-Glued a cheater’s penis to his stomach were way harsh and beyond psycho.

But in our less scrupulous/mature moments, many of us want to punish our ex, especially if he was a cheater. Ladies, let’s keep it legal (and Krazy Glue-free), OK? Refer to our list after the jump for some ideas: