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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Disrespected by Husband & his friend jokes about an assault that happened to me.

134 replies

PaperClips007 · 16/04/2024 15:45

Not sure if the title gives weight to the hurt I am feeling at the moment.

It's a long one but background is needed.

My husband is the type of chap who wants to be liked by everyone, loves being the centre of attention, is sometimes the village idiot not in a malicious way. He wants to be the comedian of the group and doesn't understand that his actions and his words can have real time consequences.

He's also a bit of a chameleon, by that I mean he mirrors other people.

For example, I know if he's been speaking to a certain friend as he starts speaking like this friend with a cockney accent. Another of his friends has a big booming voice, again he mimics this. Not intentionally or knowingly, maybe it's some kind of protection that if I'm like you, you will like me.

I dunno!

With that said, he's a good kind man and doesn't set out to cause upset.
He's not an alpha by any standards and hates confrontation, and this is part of the pain and upset I am feeling these last few days.

I on the other hand trade highly on showing respect to others and will not standby and listen to anyone being disrespected whether it's said in a jokey fashion or with malicious intent. I will stand up for myself and my own ground when it's called.

A few years ago, a friend of H made a comment about did I like H new beard.
I said yes, he response "you must have a shaved pussy then" laughed then grabbed me by my waist and swung me around. I went absolutely bat shit crazy, my husband said nothing!

The above caused a load of arguments, H said he won't stop being this friend.
I honestly couldn't understand why he would make excuses "Oh that's just the way he is, he's a bit smutty".
In my world there is no excuse, totally out of order, it's creepy as fuck and rapey.
I said this man is a wrongun and after a few heated arguments, H relented, had a word with this man and I was sent a long written apology that I neither read or accepted.

Turns out this man, even though married had been stalking and harassing a female neighbor, throwing bricks at her young teenage daughters window. Set fire to her garden and served 6 months inside for this behavior.

I said then, that H really needs to revalue the company he keeps, that he has a few questionable so called friends and this chap isn't the only friend whose beyond awful.

Another friend of H with his wife, went into a tirade about another mans wife calling her a Fing C, how much he hated her, it was just awful especially as this was the 1st time I had met them. I didn't want to stay any longer in their company so I made an excuse so we could leave. Then the next thing I know, we are invited to this lady's house. And here's this man, eating the food she cooked, sitting at he table she shares with her family, he and his wife even stayed the night. Like WTAF. The woman who was hosting believes this couple to be really good friends of hers.

I said to H, clearly enough for this man and his wife to hear, his past behavior is really out of order and he needs to pull him up about it. He response was to make a joke and say "that's just him, he always speaks like that". I called a cab, I was so angry. Again, another argument about how it's not cool, he's not cool and these so called friends are a reflection of him.

Pffffffffffffffffffffffff

A few weeks ago, the Saturday before mothering Sunday to be exact. H went to the football, was in the company of a few football people he previously said he didn't like and got blindly drunk.

He was disgusting, I've never seen drunk anything like this before and neither do I want to again. As I tried to get him onto the couch, he fell off, nearly smashing his head against a glass table. As I bent to help him up H grabbed my breast and bit it.

I have no words to how I felt and was deeply upset.

In the morning, he had no recollection, was incredibly remorseful when I told him what he done. He was read the riot act by me, I had hoped he understood he sexually assaulted me.
I told him once again he needs to revalue the company he is keeping as the why did he hang out with this group, he doesn't even like and why did he drink so much, he had no answers.

Anyhow, it's only now I am beginning to reconcile what he did as it still haunts me.

This last weekend, we hired a house & went away with 4 other couples.
All the boys where in the games room, and for some reason he told them all about that weekend, what a prick he had been and how he bit my breast. That his only saving grace was my Mother was coming up and that gave him some respite.

I have No idea! why he thought this was a good time to share such a story, or why he thought it was share worthy. I would have hoped that he would have been so remorseful and too embarrassed to ever say this out loud. I just don't honestly get it.

A couple of hours later we are all having a laugh, I have no idea this conversation took place. Until one of the chaps turns to my husband, laughing and say's "have another bite of the tit" and makes a biting gesture with his mouth.

I hit the roof and went mental, absolutely mental at the disrespect and another rapey comment.

My husband said nothing, not even a mate, wtf don't speak to my wife like that.
He said, it all happened so quickly he froze and didn't know what to do.
That he was shocked at how angry I had become.

Anyhow, people soon scurried off, I've hit the roof. The offender tried to apologies, and I said I don't do apologies and I don't do forgiveness for such behavior.

The following morning, I got up to leave it was early, H wanted to leave with me and told me to keep quite as others where asleep.
Who the fuck, says that to someone whose raging, so I made it my business very loudly and very clearly to let everyone whose to freighted to come out of their rooms known exactly what I was feeling and thinking. That's he's a prick, he's mates a prick, that he assaulted me that night, that's if he's going to talk about then he should use the correct words, that I did not consent for him to tell his mates, he's friend thought if was acceptable to make a rapey joke about it. That I deserve better.

Fast forward to today, H is feeling incredibly sorry for himself, sleeping in the spare room, wall of silence etc. I've told him how I feel, that's he's not the man I thought he was and if he really cared as much as he says he does. He would never have shown such disrespect or let his friend speak about me and in front of me in such a way.

Whilst my anger is now sub-siding from what it was and sadness is now sweeping in. I don't think I can get past this.

He's sworn he will get it sorted, speak to his friend and will make it up, win my trust back, blah blah blah. But I just don't think this is possible as I'm not sure how he can correct his actions and believe his words said must of been in a tone that allowed his friend to think his comment was permissible.

I will add we are both in our early 50's, so no excuse for being a young man who doesn't know better. This is both our second marriages, we've been together for 9 years, my first husband was abusive in both words and fists, the stress of this marriage left me in hospital with a serious illness.

Maybe because of my past I'm more sensitive as well as more aware of the actions of some men and therfor more on my guard.

But I just don't see how how I can navigate the above. Prior to this, we had been in a really good place, our relationships was very loving and couldn't have been better.

He swears he didn't tell the story to make a joke out of it, that he didn't think it would cause me so much upset.

There is obviously a pattern here, and AIBU for not personally not wanting to wait around for a next time?

Thanks for readying, I know it's a bit long winded x

OP posts:
Downunderduchess · 16/04/2024 23:01

He is a weakling. Would rather make excuses for his dubious friends than be a decent adult. A very unattractive trait in a human being. He’s in his fifties, doubtful he will ever change or truly understand.

Thelnebriati · 16/04/2024 23:08

Good men don't have shitty mates.

Pallisers · 16/04/2024 23:22

Biting your breast is terrible but I can imagine being drunk and not realising how intrusive that is or thinking it's funny.

Is this for real? Is there anything else you can imagine not realising how "intrusive" it is because you are drunk? -- choking maybe or swinging a fist at a jaw in jest?

If you really can imagine this, then you should stop drinking.

EC22 · 16/04/2024 23:29

You seem totally incompatible.

ItDoesntHaveToBeDave · 16/04/2024 23:36

@PaperClips007 Coming back anytime soon to respond?

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 16/04/2024 23:45

Good grief ! you are both in your 50's - I was expecting this to be a man in his early 20's.

how on earth have you put up with him for 9 years ?

krustykittens · 17/04/2024 01:31

I echo what PPs have said. Your H hangs out with scumbags because he is a scumbag. He is just not brave enough to as obvious as his mates, so he is a pathetic scumbag. I am so sorry, this must be awful to be going through after your first marriage. But you are right to not want to stick around, he is not going to get any better.

HollyKnight · 17/04/2024 02:18

In the words of your husband, that is just the way he is. So you need to take your own advice and revalue the company you keep. Don't wait for him to change.

WappityWabbit · 17/04/2024 08:33

coastalhawk · 16/04/2024 22:04

I don't feel as anti your DH as others do. Biting your breast is terrible but I can imagine being drunk and not realising how intrusive that is or thinking it's funny. he sounds a bit weak but as bad as the others - I don't think so. Good for you it sounds like you've got a spine. However I would really think and talk this through, personally for me a lot would depend on what he does now. Your feelings of being disrespected matter but take your time to think and feel through what's best for you

OMG! I’m so sorry that you genuinely appear to believe that being drunk is a valid excuse for appalling behaviour.

Who has convinced you of this nonsense?

Yes, people do stupid things when they’re drunk BUT you surely understand that a sober person becomes culpuble for their subsequent actions at the point when they actively choose to carry on drinking and going from mildly tipsy to full on drunk, don’t you?

Blondiebeachbabe · 17/04/2024 09:44

What jumps out at me when I read this, is that you sound like a very angry person, and very confrontational. I'm amazed that you're 52, as this reads as though you are in your 20's.

Picking out a few bits:

A few years ago, a friend of H made a comment about did I like H new beard.
I said yes, he response "you must have a shaved pussy then" laughed then grabbed me by my waist and swung me around. I went absolutely bat shit crazy, my husband said nothing!

Its distasteful, but to go batshit crazy seems a total over reaction. Also, this happened years ago.....why are you still going on about it now? Also, you are suggesting that this man is a rapist. I mean, that's quite a stretch. He sent you a long letter of apology, which you refused to read. Why?

Another friend of H with his wife, went into a tirade about another mans wife calling her a Fing C, how much he hated her, it was just awful especially as this was the 1st time I had met them. I didn't want to stay any longer in their company so I made an excuse so we could leave

Again, a huge over reaction. It's literally none of your business what has gone on between these couples. It's not your or your husbands business to "pull him up on it". And to get up and leave seems ridiculous.

He was disgusting, I've never seen drunk anything like this before and neither do I want to again

Grown adults are allowed to get drunk. You are not his mother.

As I tried to get him onto the couch, he fell off, nearly smashing his head against a glass table. As I bent to help him up H grabbed my breast and bit it

Clearly terrible, but what was going on here? Was this some drunken attempt at trying to start sex, or was it a deliberate bite to cause you harm? Why didn't you talk about this at the time? Why do you link this to the company he keeps? You say it still haunts you and that you consider it to be sexual assault. Why haven't you left him then?

A couple of hours later we are all having a laugh, I have no idea this conversation took place. Until one of the chaps turns to my husband, laughing and say's "have another bite of the tit" and makes a biting gesture with his mouth

If you had moved past this and it had been consigned to a drunken attempt at seduction that went wrong, then a joke about it wouldn't bother me. But again you have hit the roof and "went mental". What do the other people do when you are screaming?

The offender tried to apologies, and I said I don't do apologies and I don't do forgiveness for such behavior

Again, very confrontational.

The following morning, I got up to leave it was early, H wanted to leave with me and told me to keep quite as others where asleep. Who the fuck, says that to someone whose raging, so I made it my business very loudly and very clearly to let everyone whose to freighted to come out of their rooms known exactly what I was feeling and thinking

So you were screaming at the crack of dawn, waking up the whole house and daring people to come out of their rooms to face you? This sounds absolutely deranged.

Summing up, I think that your DH sounds like a jack the lad, and whilst some women would be ok with this, you clearly are not. I don't think you are suited at all. I also think that you are carrying a lot of rage, which on occasion seems disproportionate to the "crime". If you're unhappy about something, it should be sorted at the time, and then you move on. It's ridiculous to be still harping on about things that happened years ago.

What seeps out from your post, is that you don't like your DH at all. If anything I think you hate him. So start looking at divorce. I don't think you are going to move past anything that's happened (which is your right), so just call time.

canyouletthedogoutplease · 17/04/2024 09:54

EC22 · 16/04/2024 23:29

You seem totally incompatible.

This is nothing to do with incompatibility, and everything to do with the fact that while she feels that she is married to a good kind man, his repeated behaviour tells her otherwise.

Take the focus off his vile friends, because he is one of them, he is no better, and in fact he is much worse. Report the bite to the police, this is assault. Tell him that you have woken up from whatever spell you were under and the relationship is over.

Get yourself a front door that he is not behind OP.

catherinemeg · 17/04/2024 09:57

Sounds like my ex husband. I excused his behaviour for years then woke up one day took my kids and left. Best day ever in my entire life.

Oneofthesurvivors · 17/04/2024 09:59

So you were screaming at the crack of dawn, waking up the whole house and daring people to come out of their rooms to face you? This sounds absolutely deranged.

It's entirely appropriate to become deranged if you have been sexually assaulted by someone you love who then went on to joke with his friends about it.
Women are actually allowed to get "hysterical" over the atrocious behaviour of men.

canyouletthedogoutplease · 17/04/2024 10:00

@Blondiebeachbabe

Don't make this OP's misdirected rage issue. Google internalised misogyny. Even the phrase "jack the lad" is problematic. I think that trying to explain away the bite as a seduction technique is laughable, considering he couldn't even stand up.

Like you say, we all have standards, but if OP's are higher than this, then good for her.

WoodBurningStov · 17/04/2024 10:02

It sounds like you come at the bottom of a very large pile of people where your dh is concerned. I'm not surprised you're angry at him, I think after his numerous incidents I'd be seriously considering my future with him. He clearly has no respect for you.

For those saying you're angry, I think you are simply standing up for yourself and putting in place healthy boundaries. As women we are predisposed to keep quiet and let things go. Often women described as aggressive or angry are actually just standing up for themselves - I say well done op

LightSpeeds · 17/04/2024 10:03

He's weak and disrespectful and, despite any entreaties for him to stop, it sounds like you simply cannot trust him, and he's not going to learn from anything (other than you leaving).

The fact that he's a 'people-pleaser' means his boundaries aren't in the right place.

TheCatOnTheBedIsAllMineAllMine · 17/04/2024 10:04

What a dreadful misogynistic tosser and a shocking judge of character. No room for twats like that in my life

NeedToChangeName · 17/04/2024 10:07

Farahfawsett · 16/04/2024 16:00

Why do you keep blaming your H's friends for being a "bad influence" when he violently sexually assaulted you in your own home, when none of his friends were there to "impress" with his actions and then he bragged about it to another group of men?

Your H is the problem here, not the company he keeps.

Why are you staying with him? He seems to be getting worse.

But the biggest question is, why are you blaming other people for things a grown man (your H) has chosen to do?

@Farahfawsett I agree with this. Lots of deflecting going on here

NeedToChangeName · 17/04/2024 10:08

he's a good kind man and doesn't set out to cause upset

@PaperClips007 I beg to differ

pinkyredrose · 17/04/2024 10:08

Your husband sounds like a fucking idiot. He's so desperate to be liked that he's wiling to disrespect you in front of his neanderthal mates.

I think you can tell a lot about someone by the company they keep.

Do you want to be with a man who respects you and puts you first? Because you're actually married to a scared little boy willing to go along with abhorrent behaviour to make his dickhead mates like him.

Fargo79 · 17/04/2024 10:15

I was absolutely shocked when you said you were all in your 50's. I had assumed I was reading about a group of people half that age at most.

Being very blunt, I'm not sure what you really want or why all the hand-wringing. He is who he is. It couldn't be clearer that he's a vile, misogynistic, abusive, pathetic little weakling who despises women and would jump off a cliff if his chavvy mates told him to. There are literally zero redeeming features, if it were even possible to have features that redeemed this kind of behaviour. Which it isn't. He's not a "people pleaser". He wants to go along with his friends, otherwise he would find new ones.

You need to forget about all the Jeremy Kyle style dramatics and shouting and causing a big scene waking everyone up, and actually think about what you want. If you stay with him, it's more of the same. It's another X years of being disrespected, joked about, grabbed at, assaulted, going to parties and holidays with his awful mates, drunken conflicts and shouting matches. That's all he's offering. There's nothing else if you stay with him. Is that the life you want?

NeedToChangeName · 17/04/2024 10:16

Pallisers · 16/04/2024 22:36

He bit your breast. And then thought it was a good story to entertain his mates with. And clearly told it in such a way that his scumbag friend felt ok about the awful "joke" he made.

lose him.

@Pallisers nailed it

Blondiebeachbabe · 17/04/2024 10:16

Oneofthesurvivors · 17/04/2024 09:59

So you were screaming at the crack of dawn, waking up the whole house and daring people to come out of their rooms to face you? This sounds absolutely deranged.

It's entirely appropriate to become deranged if you have been sexually assaulted by someone you love who then went on to joke with his friends about it.
Women are actually allowed to get "hysterical" over the atrocious behaviour of men.

Yes, its entirely appropriate to become deranged if you have been sexually assaulted.

But this incident was ages ago, and presumably Op and her DH have talked about it after he sobered up, and they have moved on. Op doesn't say how they have moved on, one can only assume that its been written off as a fumbled attempt at seduction when he was drunk. Because if Op thought it was a deliberate and malicious assault they wouldn't still be together.

Op went crazy on the night, after the joke was made. Then the night carried on and later they all went to bed.

The next morning, Op says she got up very early and (presumably pacing up and down the landing) "I made it my business very loudly and very clearly to let everyone whose to frightened to come out of their rooms known exactly what I was feeling and thinking"

This just sounds unhinged to me. If she was angry about the "joke", it would be better to just get a taxi home. To go to bed, and then get up at the crack of dawn and start screaming for people to come out of their rooms, just sounds like deranged behaviour and exceptionally confrontational.

I don't think either of them look good. And all of this at 52!

NCembarassed · 17/04/2024 10:18

I feel horrible having read your account, so imagine you feel 10x worse.

I usually give people too many chances and end up walked over. Thing is, he knows exactly how you feel about this and keeps doing it.

It sounds like it's escalating. You will feel sad, this isn't the relationship you thought you had, and he's not the person you believed.

FictionalCharacter · 17/04/2024 10:30

BabySnarkDoDoo · 16/04/2024 15:48

This is a genuine LTB situation. The reason he doesn't want to stop being friends with horrible and abusive people is because he is one himself. I'm sorry for the way he's treated you, you deserve much better.

Edited

This. Please get away from him. He’s dangerous and he’s likely to hurt you again. Even if he doesn’t physically hurt you again, he’ll continue treating you like dirt.
It’s absolutely tragic that you’ve been treated so badly for so long that you think the problem might be you, for being “too sensitive”.
He is not a good kind man.

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