Some time in the fall, my friends and I were having a conversation about infidelity in relationships. While we all agreed that there are a lot of things to consider depending on individual circumstances, we disagreed on what to do if your partner cheated with a close girl friend of yours. Who would you be more mad at, or hurt by?
In light of the recent Jordyn Woods/Tristan Thompson scandal, such complications have been hard to ignore. Long story short, Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods are, or were, best friends for as long as we’ve known Kylie Jenner as a prominent figure in popular culture. Kylie’s fame stems from her being a member of the Kardashian family. She and her sisters are perhaps recognized mostly from their hit reality show, where it becomes clear after only one episode how deep loyalty lies for these sisters. Jordyn, being Kylie’s partner in crime, became close to the other Kardashian sisters as well. So, when news came out that Jordyn allegedly hooked up with Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend and baby daddy Tristan Thompson, it was apparent that things would get messy very quickly.
There are too many big names involved in the situation (including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith who have practically been Jordyn’s family since birth) for it to be clear who is telling the truth. While I’m not interested in what truly happened because I’m not sure we’ll ever really know, I am interested in the many parallels between their scandal and ones not unlikely to occur here at Penn.
While Khloe and Tristan have a baby together, I’m mostly referencing hookups and new relationships. When it comes to friends that are like family, there is a level of intimacy that one typically will not reach with their romantic partner right away. Too often have I heard friends mention someone they’re in a relationship with as if it is only a matter of time before the other person does something stupid and ruins the whole thing. In my experience, a lot of college girls view relationships as ticking time bombs. Even if they are in love and see their relationship as lasting, if their SO were to do something wrong (read: cheating), it rarely is completely unexpected. In contrast to the lack of controversy surrounding Tristan who has proven himself as an unfaithful partner to Khloe, the conversation is overwhelmingly centered around Jordyn’s actions and disloyalties.
Kylie and Jordyn were best friends and “roommates,” i.e. if you want to call living in the guest house of Kylie’s multi-million dollar mansion analogous to sharing a quad room. In a Red Table Talk interview with Jada Pinkett Smith, it was also revealed that all of this commotion was over a little goodbye kiss between Tristan and Jordyn at the door (or at least, that’s what Jordyn says). If this is true, then clearly the problem is less about the severity of the act itself and more about the principle of girl code.
In a world where people come and go, the sole constant – the people who stick around for the gushing, the complaining, and the likely heartbreak that follows time and time again – are our friends. This is why it can hurt on a deeper level when friends betray your trust. While girls may enter relationships thinking of the worst possible outcome, girls go into friendships unsuspecting of a falling out. In my experience, any friend I open up to is someone I expect to be around for a very long time.
While serious romantic relationships require trust, a best friend carries a different weight and responsibility. People say blood is thicker than water and friends are the “blood” you choose; when you believe you’ve chosen wisely yet are betrayed, what you grieve is not just the loss of friends, but also the loss of family.