A cuckold is the husband or boyfriend of a person who has sex with other people. In a modern fetish context, a cuckold is a man who takes pleasure from his partner having sex with other people. The term cuckold is often shortened to cuck.
Traditionally, a cuckold was a married man with an adulterous wife. However, the term now describes any man in a committed relationship who enjoys his partner having sex with other people. Cuckolds may have any sexual identity. The partners of cuckolds and the people they have sex with may be of any gender or sexuality. The term cuckold is the masculine equivalent of cuckquean. Another related term, cuckcake, refers to the woman that the husband is consensually having sex with.
Where does this term come from?
The fetish term comes from the cuckoo, a bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. The other birds then unwittingly raise the cuckoo’s offspring, despite having no biological connection to them. Originally, the term cuckold described a man duped by his adulterous wife. However, most modern-day cuckolds are willing participants in their partner’s non-monogamy. They may organize dates for their partner or watch them have sex with other people.
Why are people into cuckolding?
Cuckolding often involves mental humiliation, which is part of its appeal. The cuckold left out of their partner's sexual encounters may feel humiliated and frustrated. Knowing another person brings your partner pleasure can be degrading. Cuckolds may feel emasculated as they think their partner needs someone else to bring them sexual pleasure. They may also feel jealous of the person having sex with their partner. While these negative feelings may be damaging for some people, experiencing them can be arousing for those who enjoy this fetish. Some cuckolds also feel compersion, or a sense of pleasure that their partner is experiencing pleasure, in response to cuckolding. Submissive men may feel good because they are giving up their place in the bedroom to someone else.
Competition is another aspect of the cuckolding fetish. Some research has found that men desire their wives and girlfriends more if they've just had sex with another man as it allows the sperm to compete.
While they are all forms of non-monogamy, cuckolding is different from swinging and threesomes. That’s because the cuckold does not participate in the sex act. They may observe it, but they do not touch their partner during their sexual encounters.