Marie Claire published an interesting essay this month, in which author Celia Barbour delves into the pros and cons of a “European” marriage. For those of you who have never heard the term (I hadn’t), a European Marriage is a marriage in which partners are, if not encouraged, then at the very least, allowed, to have quiet affairs. Or, as Barbour puts it, “a relationship in which discreet, tasteful philandering doesn’t threaten the central bond.”

Related: 9 Supposedly Legitimate Reasons We Cheat

Tasteful philandering? Excuse me while I clutch my puritan pearls, but that hardly seems possible.

But the essay does explore an interesting concept. Is there a way to make cheating into less of a dealbreaker? Does it have to be a dealbreaker, at all?

[Marie Claire: Lesson's from a Husband's Affair]

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