My bf and I were watching a talk show yesterday in which the topic was cheating. It led us to talk about the reasons why men cheat. My bf said he feels the number one reason men cheat is because his partner does not nurture him enough. I asked what he meant by ‘nurture,’ and he said: when a woman takes care of her man, does things for him, boosts his ego, etc. In the same sentence, he said that men are not looking for a mother figure. When I asked, “Doesn’t a mother do all of those things?”, he just stared at me.

So my question is, what do men really want in a relationship?

I’ve heard numerous men say that they lost interest, or pulled away from, their partner because their partner became boring, or too mother-like. But at the same time, they expected their partner to do the things for them that made them mother-like. I’m lost on this one. Which is it that you want… an equal partner, or a mother?

I did a little googling yesterday on this subject and the majority of men said this is what they want from their partner:

Loving
Supportive
Affectionate/Attentive
Take care of them
Do things for them – cook, clean, laundry, run errands, etc
Raise their children
Independent – have a job
Self-sufficient
Understanding
Sexy – take care of herself & always look good
Non-controlling – not telling them what to do
Allow them to hang out with their guy friends
To let them be The Man

Well, the list went on and on. It made me tired just reading it. It also made me a little irritated. A LOT is expected of women in a relationship and it makes it seem like a relationship can never be 50/50 if the woman is doing everything. Am I wrong?

To all of you men who are reading this, is this accurate? Is this what you want?

I’ll give you a little bit of honesty regarding this mother thing. We don’t want to be, act like, look like, or even resemble a mother to you. No matter what we do for you.