Is looking at other women wrong?
I did a search for related subject on this forum and came up with a few. Most of which were about "strippers" or "looking at porn". My twist of the question is a more "clean" approach, if you will.
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All:
First of all, this is my first post on these forums - so HI, I'm Sean. :-) I'm 24 years old, been married (for 3 years) and I'm now divorced. I've been divorced for almost a full year now (separated for even longer). I am dating a girl (19, but extremely mature for her age) ... and have been with her for nearly 1.5yrs now. We're in a serious, comitted, loyal relationship. We've never cheated on eachother and have gone through a lot of tough times together.
With that being said, she is CONSTANTLY trying to shelter me by keeping me at home or refusing to go out with me because every time we go out together she "notices me looking at other women". If I see a young female close to my age that I find attractive, I might take a look for a few seconds -- and maybe even say to myself "I like that about her" or "I dont like this about her" ... but I do not stare and I do not lust. I'm even holding my girlfriend's hand as this occurs. She seems to think I'm being disrespectful (and I can see her view), but I've tried over and over again to reassure her that "I'm just a guy. It is in our nature. I'm not being lustful. I am loyal to you." But that just doesn't seem to cut it for her.
I think a big difference in my case is the fact that (1) she is so young ... being 19 --and even though she is mature, she lacks relationship experience. (2) That I have been married and even my wife was more tolerant of things like that.
I have got to the point where I am sincerely considering leaving her over this because it is so incredibly frustrating. She's a wonderful girl and it hurts to even THINK about leaving her, but I cannot (and refuse to) be with someone that plays a parental role and scolds me for being a member of the animal family.
I'd like to get some opinions and advice/suggestions from some of the more "moral" (in my opinion) members of this forum. The reason I say that is because I noticed there are quite a few people that think looking at porn, going to strip clubs, talking to other women online, etc are OK in a relationship when all signs point to "NO" (per many years of marital counseling). I am not trying to be disrespectful to those people, so please do not take it the wrong way --- I am simply hoping for comments from more conservative people.
Thank you all for your time!
Best,
Sean