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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU? - dating guy for 2 months, he wants sex, I say no!

482 replies

Missrhodes · 13/02/2021 22:17

I have recently started dating a guy of 2 months, whom I do really like however I find him very disingenuous. He started of super keen, we went on a few dates and which went great but I noticed that he would bring up sex every so often. I am someone who has slept with men quite quickly in the past which hasn’t really worked out for me, so this time I have decided to take my time. Since going into lockdown we haven’t spent a lot of time together which I have voiced is a concern for me and I put it down to us not yet sleeping together which makes me question how genuine his interest in me is. He tries to convince me that things are in my head, and sex won’t change anything, now he’s told me he doesn’t want me to stay the night as it’s difficult as we aren’t sleeping together but he fails to realise that we haven’t had sex because I feel he puts in little to no effort and simply doesn’t deserve it. I am 30 and I’m looking for something long term and serious, which he claims he is too, but when sex is at the forefront of many conversations how am I to believe this. AIBU?

OP posts:
BeakyWinder · 14/02/2021 11:05

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

Personally, I wouldn't go into a celibate relationship, knowing I had to pass certain tests to get to a physical relationship, but there must be men out there who will. Good luck

Even if the "certain test" was "gain trust"?

I find it very convenient that he can only progress a relationship once he's had sex. Funny that Hmm

Well, yeah. For me "trust" takes at least 18 months - 2 years to build up. To me trust comes through building a loving relationship over time, and that includes a physical relationship. But everyone has different emotional attachments to sex and that's fine. I don't link sex to trust in an absolute way, others might!
notprofessionallyoffended · 14/02/2021 11:05

Honestly, @Missrhodes, the more you post, the more I think you should break up with him.

I think you don't want to sleep with someone until you're sure they're not going to bin you off immediately afterwards. You can't guarantee the future, but you want to go into things with good odds. I don't think your approach is a bad one. I have a similar attitude when it comes to sex - I don't expect a marriage proposal, but I don't sleep with men unless I think we have a possible long-term future together.

Something about him makes you think he's not going to respect you after sex. You haven't fully articulated it, but equally, you are holding back from sleeping with him. I think that's the relevant bit.

Always trust your instinct. Us women are so perceptive, which is what gives us this warning signal - it's based on the words men say, their tone, their body language - lots of things you may not have consciously seen and therefore cannot describe in this thread. When we make bad decisions, it's usually because we've ignored our gut.

Your gut is saying not to sleep with him. Of course, he's trying to talk you into sleeping with him. But I think your gut knows that this is not the sort of match you are comfortable with.

You met him at university, so you sort of know who he is. And yet, that's not enough for you to trust him. There's something holding you back, maybe stories you haven't told us, but maybe just his body language, which might have shown some kind of insincerity.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone pressure you into doing something you don't feel you should. There's usually a pretty good reason why you didn't want to in the first place.

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:06

@BibbityBobbety

Oh OP you're trying to make a bad thing work here. He's been upfront from the start he wants sex and needs it before he commits to you as a gf (which is fair enough btw - sex is an important determinant of relationship compatibility). You, however, want someone who's more into you and you share an emotional connection with before you have sex, which is also perfectly reasonable.

However, if he was the right person, the emotional connection and sex would just happen with no effort or nagging from either of you. With the right guy, from day 1, you feel at ease and comfortable and understand his intentions without all this analysing. And he would get someone who just had sex with him of her own accord, without him asking for it. You're trying to force the wrong guy to be Mr Right by getting him to tick boxes like spending time, getting you a V day card etc. He could do all those things, and you'd still never feel at ease because you know you're not really clicking. Sure, you're attracted to him and enjoy his company, but you have an instinct he isn't that into you and you're not on the same wavelength. Given his comments on masturbation so early on - you know he's not the sort who'll woo you into bed with romance.

So stop wasting your precious years on forcing something that has never been right. And find a man who shares the same opinion of dating and courtship rules that you do.

Very sensible and balanced post.

thecatsthecats · 14/02/2021 11:06

@LouJ85

To clarify to everyone - not having to deserve or earn something before you get it means you're entitled to it.

I suppose some of us just fundamentally don't view sexual relationships in this way. I might view my career more in this way - e.g. I get financially rewarded because I hard work - this is deserved and therefore I'm entitled to it. I don't view anything within a relationship in this way. I just view it as two people on an equal plane who are reciprocating affection, and are either into each other equally, or are not. If not, it's a non starter - that's fine. Plenty more fish etc. If on the same page, great. It's the concept of having to "earn" anything within a new relationship that I'm struggling with. Something is either there between two people and it evolves organically, or it doesn't.

Yes, to put it crudely, sometimes watching sexy scenes on TV puts us in the mood.

Jamie Fraser and Clare Beauchamp are the ones who "earned" our respective sex drives on more than one occasion.

During the month, there are times my sex drive requires little to no provocation. At others, something has to flip the switch, or it would be a minor miracle for me to get in the mood. If I am pissed off with someone else, I feel more bonded to my husband.

And often we have a mishit where one wants it and the other doesn't and we back off with no affront to our intimacy or feelings of having "earned" it.

You can't neatly pathologise a libido.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 14/02/2021 11:07

I don't link sex to trust in an absolute way, others might!

But surely you wouldn't have sex without someone you didn't trust?

It's Not just about trusting them to be safe and respect your boundaries - but trusting them to care enough about you to want to give you good sex.

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:08

But everyone has different emotional attachments to sex and that's fine. I don't link sex to trust in an absolute way, others might!

Me neither. And I think that's where the difference of views is coming in. Of course no one is saying OP should "let him have free reign of her body". We all just view sex and its connection with emotional intimacy and trust in different ways. And that's ok.

ChristmasFluff · 14/02/2021 11:11

You keep saying you want to feel valued in a relationship, yet you persist in dating a man who doesn't value you, who made his agenda plain when he sent the masturbation text.

Boundaries are what you set for yourself, not something you use to lecture and prescribe others in an attempt to change them. This is what ends up in pointless angsty relationships like you have with this man - at only 2 months in!

Being boundaried is recognising that however much you may like this man, he does not value you in the way you say you want. You then enforce your boundary by ending the relationship.

BeakyWinder · 14/02/2021 11:13

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

I don't link sex to trust in an absolute way, others might!

But surely you wouldn't have sex without someone you didn't trust?

It's Not just about trusting them to be safe and respect your boundaries - but trusting them to care enough about you to want to give you good sex.

I think our definitions of trust are different so we aren't looking at it the same way. If nobody had sex until they loved and trusted someone, one night stands would not be a thing Smile
LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:15

It's Not just about trusting them to be safe and respect your boundaries - but trusting them to care enough about you to want to give you good sex.

Not everyone equates being cared about with "good sex", though. Like @BeakyWinder says, one night stands wouldn't be a thing if everyone viewed it in this way.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 14/02/2021 11:20

If a man doesn't give a jot for you, don't be surprised if you have wank sock sex (you know the kind where he basically uses your vagina to masturbate). If that's your thing, fine, but don't tell people who want better that they have weird thresholds/are controlling/strange/etc

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 14/02/2021 11:21

Personally I respect the OP for actively working to avoid the wank sock sex - which is clearly all he wants

Lightningcrops · 14/02/2021 11:21

If nobody had sex until they loved and trusted someone, one night stands would not be a thing smile

But from what OP has said, that is what they are trying to stop happening. Sex making it into more of a casual relationship if the foundations of the relationship aren't strong. Of course that's not always the case, but I see the logic in that approach.

thecatsthecats · 14/02/2021 11:21

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

I don't link sex to trust in an absolute way, others might!

But surely you wouldn't have sex without someone you didn't trust?

It's Not just about trusting them to be safe and respect your boundaries - but trusting them to care enough about you to want to give you good sex.

Some people are able to have sex with someone who they don't trust because trust isn't a neat little box either.

Social compatibility
Sexual compatibility
Trust
Future goal compatibility
Financially similar behaviour

All can follow different time scales, or have different interdependencies on each other.

I think a lot of the relationship threads on AIBU come from people who've set too much store by SOMETHING on the list without paying due regard to the others (often financial compatibility or future goals).

Fundamentally, I wouldn't regret having sex with someone because it turned out that I wasn't compatible with them for other reasons on that list. So long as I wanted the sex in the first place and it went well, what's the problem? Having sex doesn't spoil you!

Successful dating is about working those things out together, but there's no right order, and it's fine to have a short relationship with no eye to the long term based purely on one or two things.

(There was a guy I knew at uni - hot and fun, but man he was dumb. If I hadn't been with my husband then that would have been a hell of a night.)

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:23

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

If a man doesn't give a jot for you, don't be surprised if you have wank sock sex (you know the kind where he basically uses your vagina to masturbate). If that's your thing, fine, but don't tell people who want better that they have weird thresholds/are controlling/strange/etc

Well. I'll assume that's not directed at me since I haven't said any of those things of the OP.

AStudyinPink · 14/02/2021 11:24

However, if he was the right person, the emotional connection and sex would just happen with no effort or nagging from either of you. With the right guy, from day 1, you feel at ease and comfortable and understand his intentions without all this analysing.

This ‘right guy’ nonsense is crazy. No, we don’t all feel ‘from day 1’ some magic comfort in and trust in someone else’s intentions. These are strangers we’re talking about. Our inhibitions are a defensive strategy, not something to persuade others to ignore. Trust develops based on someone’s actions over time. By all means ignore your own qualms, but leave other people alone.

Frostino · 14/02/2021 11:25

I dont understand why you've made this post op. You dont need to ask strangers on the internet for validation when it comes to what you do with your body in your own relationship. You are never unreasonable for not wanting sex, no matter what the reason is. If it's a no it's a no, end off. However what baffles me is why you're sticking around in a relationship with someone that is already proving to be more effort than he is worth only 2 months in?? The guy has made it clear what he wants off you and holding yourself back in the hope that he will change isnt going to work.

Matter of fact is he should of naturally put all this effort in from the get go. Reserving sex until he does so isnt the answer here. And even if he does, he could temporarily fix up until he gets what he wants and then revert back to his old ways. You make it known it's very important that the person you are with makes you feel valued. And this is a basic necessity for a partner in my eyes too. But this guy isnt giving you that, so what are you going to do about it?

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 14/02/2021 11:29

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

I actually wish more people would see sex as something a partner deserves to have. I think it's a great concept personally 🤷‍♀️
It's a bullshit concept. Or at least easily misrepresented and adapted to suit men's needs and whinging. That's why you get all these "nice" guys whinging that women just won't have sex with them. They do x,y,z , all the nice things . They deserve sex and attention, but the tick bitches go for "the bad guys" and the "nice" guys finish last(often by themselves Grin).

I had sex because I wanted to with whom I wanted to in whichever way I wanted to, including men I wouldn't want a relationship with.

BertramLacey · 14/02/2021 11:29

So what do you call something that you get without earning, deserving or putting any effort into?

I don't view anything as either a right or something you earn. It's a very, very odd, binary way of viewing anything. Why is it either an entitlement or earned? It's such an odd way to view the world I can't get my head around it at all.

My OH doesn't 'earn' sex with me, nor is he entitled to it. It's something we both enjoy and want. It's not like I tot up how many episodes of my favourite TV show he's watched and how much ironing he's done before I'll have sex with him. And neither of us is entitled to the other's body. If we both want sex, then it is freely given. It is freely given or it doesn't happen at all.

SimonJT · 14/02/2021 11:29

If nobody had sex until they loved and trusted someone, one night stands would not be a thing smile

Why is that a problem for those of us who don’t want to have one? I have never had a one night stand, zero desire to do anything like that.

If people are into one night stands thats fine, those people telling others to ignore their boundaries and encouraging them to do something they don’t wish to is however problematic.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 14/02/2021 11:29

No it at you @LouJ85 a general post especially to those who've given OP a hard time

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:29

Oh and by the way, I find it pretty small minded, insulting and downright unintelligent to decry other women's views as MRA just because they don't agree with yours.

Agreed.

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:30

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

No it at you *@LouJ85* a general post especially to those who've given OP a hard time

Not at me? Sorry I couldn't understand your post.

Lady089 · 14/02/2021 11:31

Everyone is different to when they’re ready to want sex within a new relationship, personally by the third date I would be willing to be sexual with someone, as I would also want to make sure we had sexual chemistry in the first place, other people may want to wait longer and that’s also ok, we all have our preferences.

LouJ85 · 14/02/2021 11:33

@SimonJT

If nobody had sex until they loved and trusted someone, one night stands would not be a thing smile

Why is that a problem for those of us who don’t want to have one? I have never had a one night stand, zero desire to do anything like that.

If people are into one night stands thats fine, those people telling others to ignore their boundaries and encouraging them to do something they don’t wish to is however problematic.

No one has said it's a "problem" if you're not into one night stands. Not has anyone said the OP should ignore her own boundaries.

The comment re one night stands was in response to a PP who asked "do you not need trust and to be cared for to have sex?" The answer is that, no, not all women do need this because not all women are the same, and we don't all make sex contingent upon trust. People have different emotional relationships to sex. And that's ok.

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 14/02/2021 11:34

@SimonJT

If nobody had sex until they loved and trusted someone, one night stands would not be a thing smile

Why is that a problem for those of us who don’t want to have one? I have never had a one night stand, zero desire to do anything like that.

If people are into one night stands thats fine, those people telling others to ignore their boundaries and encouraging them to do something they don’t wish to is however problematic.

This with bells on

I had loads of ONS when I was younger. I've been single for 2 years since splitting with ExH, not interested in starting anything with anyone as of yet but if I did I would implicitly waited til I trusted him and felt he genuinely cared for me. IME the ONS were totally shit mostly because the guys couldn't have given two shits about me or wether I was having a good time. I once met a bloke who said he had ONS because "it was better than going home for a wank". I think women really underestimate just how many men have this mentality