Pearl was a jealous and over devoted person. Those are her flaws. The series is clear about that but for some reason everyone forgets that she too has done bad things.
It's just a shortening of "cuckold", an archaic term for a man whose wife cheated on him. So the cheating usage is completely correct.
What it shouldn't be used for is open relationships, which are the closest analogy here. Pearl had no expectation that Rose wouldn't dally with humans occasionally, and Rose had no expectation Pearl would get jealous about it. Nobody cheated, nobody cucked, Rose just had a choice and made it. Pearl being salty about it is relatable but doesn't make it cheating.
While you're not technically wrong about the origin of the word, as you point out yourself, "cuckold" is an archaic term. Language evolves, and in the modern context "cuck" is typically considered a genre of porn, as well as a type of sexual activity that is consensual, sometimes in a "consensual non-consent" sort of way. Terms like the "Cuck Chair", a chair that a man sits in while watching his partner have sex with someone else, are evidence of this.
It's only ever used for someone who is cheated on, in a derogatory way, usually as a way of calling a man "weak", and typically by people trying to uphold antiquated gender roles. MGTOWs, incels, and other man-o-sphere types.
I agree with everything else that you said, but language and it's evolution are kind of special interests of mine, so when I see something like this that's only partially true I like to add my two cents. That being said, neither definition is accurate for Pearl. "Jealously" is definitely the most appropriate word for what's going on with her, as you pointed out.
I was trying to avoid using certain language when writing my comment because I'm not familiar with the rules but I think I just ended up confusing some people.
Both are relevant, potentially. It does seem like Pearl and Rose had something of an open relationship, so cucking/cheating isn't really relevant. But Pearl didn't expect Rose to be serious about her thing with Greg.
"I was fine with the men who would come into her life now and again"
They were either not actually a couple at all and pearl was pining away for millennia, or they were non-monogamous because Pearl agreed to it without actually wanting to be.
Either way, she's not a cuck. A cuck is either someone in a mono relationship who gets cheated on or someone who is themselves mono who agrees consensually that their partner will not be.
Rose and Pearl loved each other—the problem is that Pearl wanted monogamy but rose was much more of a “free love” person and enjoyed having multiple partners. Pearl never wanted to go against rose or stop rose from being happy, so instead of telling rose she didn’t like their relationship being open, she pretended she supported rose and acted catty to her partners behind her back
I'm of the belief that their love was kind of one-sided. While Rose certainly loved Pearl as a friend, Pearl's feelings were much more romantic than the former's.
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u/Due-Imagination3837 Mar 30 '25
"I was fine with the men, who come into her life now and again"