It’s a mix of things. On one hand, "cuck" is such a potent insult because it taps into primal instincts about dominance, reproduction, and control over one's life. In nearly every culture, a man being cheated on or willingly allowing another man to sleep with his partner is seen as the height of weakness and humiliation. The idea of being "cucked" fundamentally conflicts with traditional masculinity, which values strength, leadership, and exclusivity in relationships.
On the other hand, modern progressivism and feminism push against these traditional notions. The extreme form you’re noticing—where open relationships, infidelity, or even excessive celebrity worship are defended—stems from a philosophy that treats relationships as purely voluntary, fluid, and disconnected from traditional power dynamics. The "I'm not entitled to her body" rhetoric comes from the rejection of historical male authority over women. But taken to an extreme, it leads to men passively accepting or even celebrating situations that, in any other context, would be seen as humiliating.
Reddit (and similar progressive spaces) leans heavily into this because it operates on a different moral framework—one where jealousy is seen as toxic, masculinity is viewed as oppressive, and personal boundaries are often overridden by ideological purity. If you express disgust toward open relationships or certain behaviors, you’re challenging this framework, which is why the reaction is so extreme. It’s not just about relationships; it’s about defending the progressive worldview itself.
The more subtle forms of cuckoldry you mention—like obsessing over celebrities or weirdly supporting someone else's romantic success—are less explicit but still fit into this theme. It’s almost as if some men have been conditioned to vicariously live through other men instead of pursuing their own success. Whether that’s a natural endpoint of progressivism or a byproduct of social conditioning is up for debate.
So yeah, the divide you’re seeing is real, and it’s driven by competing worldviews: one based on traditional instincts about loyalty and control over one’s romantic life, and another that prioritizes hyper-individualism and ideological purity over emotional or social consequences.
