Anonymous wrote:
As someone in an open marriage, I will try to explain. I have more than 20 years of history with my husband, raised/raising children with him. We have mutual friends, we love each other's families. I am happy to grow old with him. He and I were slightly sexually incompatible before marriage, and that gulf widened over the years. He simply isn't comfortable giving me what I crave sexually, and neither of us want the marriage to end. I have sex with one other person; I'm not "constantly out on the prowl."
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
What is the benefit of an open marriage vs just divorcing? I guess I don't see why anyone would agree to have an open marriage. What other aspects of the marriage are they so tied to that they would want their partner to be constantly out on the prowl?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
What is the benefit of an open marriage vs just divorcing? I guess I don't see why anyone would agree to have an open marriage. What other aspects of the marriage are they so tied to that they would want their partner to be constantly out on the prowl?
Anonymous wrote:NP here
As someone who's wife will "lay back and think of England" because she had low libido before taking meds and now it's just not there at all. it's worse than no sex at all, I get nothing out of it other than a release I can just as easily get from my hand plus all the guilt of having her do something she doesn't want to do.
I just wish she understood that saying sorry and I know it's a problem and I'm working on it again and again is just lemon juice on a paper cut.... I believed it the first time I heard it and the second maybe the third but by the 10th time It's just words she says to make herself feel better and nothing more.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
No one is saying anyone should use sex as a carrot. What they are saying is that women should be able to listen to THEIR OWN SEXUAL DESIRES including the desire not to have sex. That that urge is totally valid, and totally important. Particularly in situations where someone has hurt the woman- of course she's not going to want to sleep with them.
God. Just once I would love that when people talk about sex it was not centered around the male perspective
It's actually sexist for you to assume that believing sex is an important part of marriage is the "male perspective." If my husband stopped having sex with me and expressed to me that he has no desire to have sex with me, that would be a problem. If he was unwilling to try to resolve that problem, I'd want a divorce.
There is nothing "male-centric" about the position that a sexless marriage is a problem, especially if one spouse still has desire and the other does not. Something has to give. I would never advise a woman to have sex if she doesn't want to. I would never advise a man to have sex if he doesn't want to. But if you don't see a resolution, then you should split or reach some sort of an agreement about an open marriage. No spouse should force another spouse to live indefinitely without sex. That's just as controlling and manipulative as telling a spouse you're not going to have sex with him/her, but she/he is not allowed to pursue their sexual desire outside of the marriage.
I saw the thread about the woman forcing herself to have sex with her husband, and it was horrible. At that point, get a divorce or give your spouse permission to have an affair.
If someone has hurt the woman so badly that she doesn't want to sleep with them, then they really shouldn't stay together.
No, it's sexist if you to subsume that the traditionally male libido (I.e. Wanting sex frequently and often) is healthier or more valid than the average female libido (which drastically tends to be less often). It's also sexist of you to assume when I tell a woman to respect her feelings towards sex and her own natural drive, that you assume I am advocating "punishing men". Check yourself and your perspective. Seriously.
+1
Why is the default continuous sex?
Anonymous wrote:
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
What is the benefit of an open marriage vs just divorcing? I guess I don't see why anyone would agree to have an open marriage. What other aspects of the marriage are they so tied to that they would want their partner to be constantly out on the prowl?
Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
Anonymous wrote:NP here
As someone who's wife will "lay back and think of England" because she had low libido before taking meds and now it's just not there at all. it's worse than no sex at all, I get nothing out of it other than a release I can just as easily get from my hand plus all the guilt of having her do something she doesn't want to do.
I just wish she understood that saying sorry and I know it's a problem and I'm working on it again and again is just lemon juice on a paper cut.... I believed it the first time I heard it and the second maybe the third but by the 10th time It's just words she says to make herself feel better and nothing more.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But if you are married, and you want to stay married, don't you need to do this? Whether it's moral or not, patriarchy or not, if you don't put out for your DH he won't be around for long. Will he?
He should. It's funny how men will go for long periods of time. It getting laid but when they are married they feel they are owed it constantly or hey are being denied something![]()
They are being denied something. Sex is part of the marital contract. If it is denied to him, the contract is broken and he is free to get it elsewhere.
How long before the contract is considered "broken"? Three days? A week? A month? A year?
You need to work that out for yourself. If you never talk about it, then it isn't fair to consider the contract broken. Three days seems excessively short. But if you can expect to have a reasonable conversation three days after not having had sex and say, but I need it baby! and your partner is unwilling to give it to you at that point, by all means, tell him/her the contract is broken. But I think you need to have the conversation. I'd be willing to say 6 to 12 months is reasonable. But, again, you can't do it unilaterally.
NP-I would say that the contract is broken when it is raised as an issue and not acted upon. IE when one partner says "sex is important to me" and the other says "cool" its not to me so there. It isn't about the amount of time, its about on partner sharing something that hurts and the other not working on ways to remove the hurt. That is when the contract is broken in my opinion.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Actually, I think encouraging women to use sex as some sort of carrot is just as sexist and misogynist as telling women to put up and shut up.
My view is this: Sex is a part of marriage. If you are upset with your spouse and don't want to have sex, then you need to figure out how to resolve that. If it can't be resolved and if you don't foresee ever wanting to have sex with your spouse, then you should divorce or agree to an open marriage. This goes for men and women.
It's manipulative to use sex as some sort of punishment or reward.
No, no one should feel forced to have sex. But if you don't want to have sex with your spouse, you shouldn't be married to him/her. If you are staying married for the kids or for some economic reason, then you should at the least allow for an open marriage.
No one is saying anyone should use sex as a carrot. What they are saying is that women should be able to listen to THEIR OWN SEXUAL DESIRES including the desire not to have sex. That that urge is totally valid, and totally important. Particularly in situations where someone has hurt the woman- of course she's not going to want to sleep with them.
God. Just once I would love that when people talk about sex it was not centered around the male perspective
It's actually sexist for you to assume that believing sex is an important part of marriage is the "male perspective." If my husband stopped having sex with me and expressed to me that he has no desire to have sex with me, that would be a problem. If he was unwilling to try to resolve that problem, I'd want a divorce.
There is nothing "male-centric" about the position that a sexless marriage is a problem, especially if one spouse still has desire and the other does not. Something has to give. I would never advise a woman to have sex if she doesn't want to. I would never advise a man to have sex if he doesn't want to. But if you don't see a resolution, then you should split or reach some sort of an agreement about an open marriage. No spouse should force another spouse to live indefinitely without sex. That's just as controlling and manipulative as telling a spouse you're not going to have sex with him/her, but she/he is not allowed to pursue their sexual desire outside of the marriage.
I saw the thread about the woman forcing herself to have sex with her husband, and it was horrible. At that point, get a divorce or give your spouse permission to have an affair.
If someone has hurt the woman so badly that she doesn't want to sleep with them, then they really shouldn't stay together.
No, it's sexist if you to subsume that the traditionally male libido (I.e. Wanting sex frequently and often) is healthier or more valid than the average female libido (which drastically tends to be less often). It's also sexist of you to assume when I tell a woman to respect her feelings towards sex and her own natural drive, that you assume I am advocating "punishing men". Check yourself and your perspective. Seriously.
+1
Why is the default continuous sex?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But if you are married, and you want to stay married, don't you need to do this? Whether it's moral or not, patriarchy or not, if you don't put out for your DH he won't be around for long. Will he?
He should. It's funny how men will go for long periods of time. It getting laid but when they are married they feel they are owed it constantly or hey are being denied something![]()
They are being denied something. Sex is part of the marital contract. If it is denied to him, the contract is broken and he is free to get it elsewhere.
How long before the contract is considered "broken"? Three days? A week? A month? A year?