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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to tell brother we didn't like his girlfriend

177 replies

wishuponascar · 04/09/2024 11:31

My brother has recently introduced his girlfriend to us (his siblings). We come from a culture where introduction to family = marriage. I'd like to very quickly explain the culture as it is very different to dating in English culture. Essentially boy and girl meet and date without mentioning anything to their parents until they are ready to get married. Telling parents is pretty much the same seriousness as getting engaged to be married.

I understood that his girlfriend was feeling very nervous about meeting his siblings so I wanted to do my best to make her feel relaxed and welcome to the family. I (and my sister) met her for dinner with my brother and we were both taken aback by how rude she was. I feel a bit sad as before the dinner I wanted to just make sure she felt welcome and relaxed, and have been speaking to my parents to make sure they don't say anything to make my brother or her feel uncomfortable and make the process to getting married as easy as possible for them. But it really feels like the person my brother described versus the girl we met are worlds apart.

ANYWAY, before the dinner was organised and over the last few months my brother seems to have been a bit stressed eg. His girlfriend was pushing for him to tell his mum and she wanted to tell hers, but he would say he wasn't ready to. Eventually she told her mum and made him tell his and I suppose things really escalated (ie. Meeting siblings) quite quickly from there. For context they are both 25 and have been dating for 8 months. Usually marriage happens within a year of telling parents.

I really do feel like he's being pushed along on this as after he told me parents he asked me why there is now so much wedding chat (my parents are looking into how much they can spend and the girlfriend is suggesting different dates for them to get married). He has also been doing the very wrong thing of keeping his options open. Where my parents hadn't known about her up until recently, they would try and introduce him to single girls and he would be open to seeing their photos etc. This is another thing that makes me feel like he just isn't that committed to this girl. (Me and my sister did also tell him that it wasn't ok for him to be considering other people whilst his girlfriend was feeling like they were exclusive).

It is usually at this stage also that these types of relationships either work or don't as meeting families can be a deciding factor for the couple. Eg. the couple may feel like they don't fit in with either's family etc.

My sister and I are feeling a bit sad about what she is like, do we tell him? Or should it be something we never mention? Especially given I feel like his heart isn't that in it to begin with? Ultimately, if he does go through and get married, it's something we really don't want him to know as we want to keep the relationship as nice and peaceful as possible. However, she really is not anything like he's described to us and I just have a bad feeling about it all and in my heart if he is confused about it and being pushed into it, if he knows how she came across to us, perhaps he might end it?

OP posts:
TheShellBeach · 08/09/2024 21:46

Findinganewme · 08/09/2024 20:44

You don’t say why she was rude.

you also don’t say why you don’t like her?

you only met the girlfriend once, right? Is that enough to decide upon whether she matches the description, by your brother.

i also get the sense that you want to play the welcomed/ maternal lead. Maybe the girlfriend has more confidence or independence than his palatable for you, or your family.

from what you do say, sounds like your brother is more the problem, in terms of not being faithful to his girlfriend. He should not be getting married, if he wants to ‘keep his options open’.

If you tell your brother that you don’t like her, and they decide to marry anyway, then your words will stick and create a rift. Nobody wants to spend time with someone who doesn’t like them.

If you want to be involved, then I would say it’s wise to focus on your brother, over the girlfriend and cultural rules. 1) does he want to get married at 25? 2) does he want to marry his girlfriend?

If you read the OP's posts, you'll see that she has actually said in what way the girlfriend was rude.
It's mentioned in more than one of her posts.

Desenia86 · 09/09/2024 14:25

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/09/2024 13:41

Not sure why advising someone not to eat fried food if they’ve said they want to lose weight is rude. She was correct.

the rest sounds like general conversation. Not saying thank you when you gave her flowers was the only thing I’d consider rude.

Are you on the spectrum ? Or are you simply emotionally stunt ? Maybe you suffer from
narcissistic personality disorder .
NOBODY in their right mind would criticise good choices / style choices and life choices first time they meet them and especially if it’s such an emotionally charged situation like meeting for the first time the relatives of your fiancée ( that clearly doesn’t even like her that much) . You really really miss social cues don’t you ?

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