| I think it is sweet. |
No, it is not direct. He is making comments, leaving hints... that is not directly talking. |
You assume she is the one that needs improvement. I am sure if he was better at it, it would be more than "decent". |
Ummm because it's controlling? |
I am pretty sure that making hints, leaving lingerie out, etc is not being straight up. Talking is straight up, what he is doing is literally telling her she is not being sexy enough, without saying she is not being sexy enough. It would be like her saying... wow 15 in a 30 would be nice, leaving books on how to give a good massage on his side of the bed. It's indirect communications, which is passive. |
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When we were dating, my now DH told me that he loved the fact that I wore “fancy” underwear. You better believe I have continued to wear pretty, lacy undergarments for the past 20 years!
I really don’t understand why OP can’t bend a little for the sake of her marriage. |
+1 Pretty obviously passive aggressive to me. I can't even imagine my DH or I leaving out clothes we expect the other to wear because we don't approve of what we generally wear. There's a particular piece of clothing my DH used to wear that I couldn't stand, and I told him that I didn't like it and why. Hinting that he should buy other clothes or leaving something out on the bed would have been the definition of passive aggressive! If OP isn't sexy enough for her DH and he's tempted to stray or whatever then that's on him, he shouldn't have married her expecting to be able to change her. The ONLY thing that could change things is if she WAS always wearing a certain style of clothing and then changed recently. But even then, he should just be direct - she used to wear this, he really liked it, now she doesn't, is there a reason why because he really misses it for whatever reason. And it should of course be her choice. |
| I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he were more direct, it would come across as mean, which he doesn't want to do. |
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Op here - Lots of food for thought here and I truly appreciate the comments! I actually think it is both passive aggressive AND trying not to be mean, if that makes sense. I don’t think he wants to hurt my feelings. Do we have an absolutely phenomenally fulfilling sex life? No. We also both work full-time and have young kids etc. etc. I would say our sex life is better than that of 75% of my friends’ obviously not knowing all the details.
My thought process in posting this was really to try to figure out what it is about at that bothers me. I think the guy who posted earlier sort of hit the nail on the head. It’s something I was going to do anyway... I feel like he is in some way telling me that our current sex life is not enough.. I did makes me feel cheap and controlled, like something you would do to a hooker. I think a good solution is probably for me to get some stuff that I feel sexy in that could spice things up, but also for me to tell him directly that I do not like him beating around the bush (no pun intended, bwahaha) when it comes to this stuff. |
| A year from now, OP will be back here wondering why her husband lost interest in her and retreated into porn and masturbation. Sad! |
DCUM Rule #1 -- any problem with the sex life in any marriage is always entirely the man's fault. |
| I think it is being indirect. He's uncomfortable straight to saying he'd like to see you in sexy lingerie. But you know what he wants. Why not accommodate his desire? It isn't difficult, demeaning, or expensive. |
Your husband must be thrilled by your unfortunate tendency to retreat into stupid, vicious cliches when you are challenged. |
Exactly. My H will be shopping, take a picture of something and say "I think you would look pretty in this, do you like it, i'll buy it".. I will say... sure love it or no... the straps are weird, or it looks too tight, or I look terrible in pale yellow. See... that is not passive. |
or all the woman's fault. |