Ok folks, at what cost must an individual or a society push the boundaries of morality in the name of sexual liberation and freedom?
Mo’nique, Born Monique Angela Hicks (December 11, 1967), is an American comedian and actress who first gained fame for her role as Nikki Parker in the TV series The Parkers.
Mo’Nique believes that honesty is the key to a healthy relationship, even if that honesty means admitting you have sexual feelings for someone other than your spouse.
Honesty. That’s it. When I hear men say ‘I don’t tell my wife everything, you crazy?’ and I hear women say ‘I ain’t telling my husband that, you crazy?’ So you mean you trust somebody else other than the person you lay with every night, you slept with, you cried with, you make love to?” she said in an interview with True Exclusives. “So I think those long lasting things is simply honesty and communication. It’s got to be your best friend. You’re laying with this person every night. If you can’t tell that person how you feel, then you’re in a bad way.
Mo’nique, who during a 2008 Essence magazine interview, revealed that she was sexually abused by her brother Gerald from ages 7–11. She went on to explain how she thinks women and men should give their spouses a “pass to cheat:”
“The person that you stood up and you said ‘for better, for worse, sickness and in health, richer or poorer’ you took those vows in front of the universe. If you don’t live by them, then maybe you shouldn’t have taken them. And when you say ‘a pass to cheat’—see, when you’re with your best friend and you say to your best friend: ‘I’m having these feelings about this person, sexually, and I want to share it with you.’ When you’re best friends, you can have those open and honest conversations. Often times, people cheat because of something they’re not getting. But when you have open and honest dialogue, and you say we’re just human beings. And all these people on the face of the earth, do you think my eyes won’t ever say ‘he’s fine’ or ‘she’s attractive’?”
She then continued, “Now, if you want to go further with it, let’s be honest enough to have those conversations. What is it about that person that you find that you want to sleep with? Because they may give you something that I’m simply not willing to do. And if that’s the case, how can I be mad? Because I’m not going to do it. Should I deprive you of not having it? That’s when the relationship is real real.”
She concluded by saying that the idea of cheating being “the end” of a relationship was a Western idea and that it was part of a culture of ownership in relationships.
“We’ve been taught to have ownership, and that’s the Western way to do it. I’m not sure where you originate from, but I originate from this place called Africa and what I know about African kings—tell me one of them who just had one wife. Do you know any of them? I don’t. That’s where I originate from. So when we came here, we adopted other people’s ways, and that’s called ownership. There was a time when I was owned before. I don’t want to be owned anymore.”
