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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU for thinking who TF does she think she is?

1000 replies

CFornot123 · 26/06/2026 19:57

Aibu for thinking this is overstepping the fcking mark

Long story so will try to condense and keep to relevant details.

Been with ‘D’H for 13 years (married 6). We have 2 DCs aged 4 and 3. He’s 38, I’m 31. He has been bestfriends with a woman, let’s call her Jane, for 25 years (since they were teens) and there’s never been any romantic history between them.

In general she’s not really my kind of person. She’s quite blunt and a bit rude, uses racist language (I’m Asian) like it’s a casual word and tbh is a bit of a bully. However, knowing she means a lot to my husband, at the start of our relationship I made A LOT of effort to be friends with her and she was even one of my bridesmaids when we got married (the theory being that if she’d have been a guy, she’d have been a groomsman so wanted her to feel involved in the wedding as she Hs best friend). We were on maternity leave at the same time, both had baby girls at the same time (she’s married) etc. but around this same time (so 5 years ago) she stopped engaging with me, started ignoring messages, every plan I made with her she cancelled and then we weren’t invited to her daughters first birthday. Throughout all of this she maintained contact with my husband and they met up regularly for coffee. I raised concerns with H at the time and he brushed it off as “it’s just what Jane does, she’s a bit flaky, don’t take it personally”.

I’ve not spoken to her now for about 4 years, bar the odd hello if she happens to be at a family/friends event (a lot of shared mutual friends/large friendship groups). But she frequently meets up with H for drinks, dinner, brunch, they have regular video calls.

H and I have been going through a lot recently (we relocated from California after spending two years there for his job, I quit my corporate legal career to basically follow him around the world for his high paying role and have moved 10 times in the last 10 years) due to stress with house moves, redundancy and, me trying to figure out what career to do around the kids following a career in law (I’m a high achiever, degree from Oxbridge) and taking a back step. He works very long hours, lots of traveling as we moved to be closer to family as the girls are starting school soon so I said no more following him.

He met up with Jane last Saturday (they’d both been invited to their mutual friends wedding - I wasn’t) and when he came home on Sunday, he asked me to “make some time in my calendar to meet with him on Friday afternoon” (like I’m a business associate…). He told me today that he “discussed me at length with Jane” and THEY had decided that WE don’t communicate in our marriage enough. SHE also, in her expert opinion as a mental health nurse, diagnosed me with a borderline personality disorder based on everything she’s heard and seen from my husband over the last 13 years and that he should gently suggest I go to the GP. For context, like (so it seems) every other woman in their 30s I’m undergoing an ADHD assessment (VERY different to BPD).

So my AIBU - wtf has DH been saying to her about me that has led her to diagnose me with BPD after not speaking to me for 5 years? And who TF does she think she is?

We had no falling out, no cross words were said, I simply stopped making an effort with her and suggesting meeting up because she never made an effort with me and somehow that’s my fault and she hates me enough to say I have BPD?

Frustratingly H said she’s sent him to information to read up on about it.

So far I’ve not reacted or responded to H. I told him that I needed some time to process the conversation we’d just had and I’d discuss it with him when I felt ready

OP posts:
menopausalfart · 28/06/2026 17:55

@HazelMember Easy to see when you have hindsight. We all make exceptions for the people in our lives.

Rosesandthorns66 · 28/06/2026 17:59

@Wagyue
Well done to the lady who showed courage and showed the door to the lying partner.
He would have always been a liar.
Getting rid of them, is better than being a doormat.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:01

menopausalfart · 28/06/2026 17:55

@HazelMember Easy to see when you have hindsight. We all make exceptions for the people in our lives.

She made an exception for racist Jane because she was in OP's life?

Does exceptions mean you choose a racist as your bridesmaid?

Squidward2026 · 28/06/2026 18:08

MyBrightPeer · 26/06/2026 20:01

You don’t have a Jane problem. You have a husband problem. He’s out of order.

I agree and actually I'm feeling Alfred Hitchcock level gaslighting vibes from your DH.

menopausalfart · 28/06/2026 18:15

@HazelMember People are very complex when it comes to our emotions. The OP hasn't explained why she made an exception, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:27

menopausalfart · 28/06/2026 18:15

@HazelMember People are very complex when it comes to our emotions. The OP hasn't explained why she made an exception, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.

She accepted racist Jane into her life and now everything has gone pear shaped she is banging on that she is racist.

It is not complex to actively choose a racist to be your bridemaid.

BeardySchnauzer · 28/06/2026 18:29

She may not have shown her racism until after they married

Calmdownfolks · 28/06/2026 18:30

Wagyue · 28/06/2026 16:50

The whole not passing on a wedding invitation is surprisingly not that rare for a certain type of man.

A couple of years ago this happened to a friend of mine's younger sister.

Her partner who had moved in with her, (she has a gorgeous house in a great location) went off on a long weekend, boys only, no partners invited wedding in Italy.....or so she was told.

She didn't actually mind until after he was gone and she got a text from another partner who couldn't go because of having to work.

Turns out she was invited but he lied, decided he wanted a boys weekend.
Silly man.
The lie pissed her off, and embarrassed her.

She cleared her home of every trace of him and her brother delivered his stuff to a storage place.

She text him early the day of the wedding telling him where his stuff was, one month paid, and not to contact her again, they were done....and blocked him on everything.

She ruined the wedding for him apparently!
Apparently she had caught him out in a few white lies and was just done.
She didn't want drama, she wanted him out of her house.

She never wanted children so she thankfully didn't feel the waste of time some women in their late 30's might feel.

A year later she met a lovely man and has never looked better.

The Ex was and continues to be devastated....not least because he had to find accommodation in a far less nice neighbourhood.
It was all just a mix up apparently.
Nope, he was just a liar.

She didn't necessarily think it was to cheat, he just found lying easier.

Wagyue - Wow, fantastic story. Hats off to the Lady. Wish I'd had someone like her as a mentor when I was younger.

menopausalfart · 28/06/2026 18:30

@HazelMember What you or I may have done is irrelevant. The OP is asking where she goes from here. As I said, we don't know everything, only what the OP wishes to share.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:32

BeardySchnauzer · 28/06/2026 18:29

She may not have shown her racism until after they married

She knew early on. She knew her DH was close friends with a racist.

Yes, she is white British, uses the N word in a very casual way. When I questioned early on, I got told that she uses it in an ironic way like rappers do in songs and she doesn’t mean offense by it.

AgeingGreycefully · 28/06/2026 18:33

I’m actually starting to wonder what he would say if you made him choose, you or Jane? He’s totally out of order! I’d love to hear what her husband thinks and what his reaction would be if the tables were turned.

BeardySchnauzer · 28/06/2026 18:34

Oh I missed that

OP was very young when they met and I suspect he’s been manipulative for a while.

Livpool · 28/06/2026 18:47

Leave! I hardly ever say this but LTB, you are a third wheel in your own marriage. She obviously loves the power he gives her over you both. Only thing you can do it leave, it won’t ever get any better.

Notonthestairs · 28/06/2026 18:51

I think its strange to persistently blame the Op for being a victim of Jane's racism, rather than criticising Jane for being racist.

It should be obvious to most readers that the Op complained about the racism and was shut down (by her husband or Jane presumably). Given what else has been posted the imbalance of the OP's relationship with her husband has been key from the start.

StraightTalkingTina · 28/06/2026 18:55

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:27

She accepted racist Jane into her life and now everything has gone pear shaped she is banging on that she is racist.

It is not complex to actively choose a racist to be your bridemaid.

She hasn’t ‘banged on’ about her being racist at all.

Its very easy for those who aren’t victims of racism to tell those who are, how to behave.

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 18:57

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:01

She made an exception for racist Jane because she was in OP's life?

Does exceptions mean you choose a racist as your bridesmaid?

Oh ffs let it go Hazel.

The OP already explained that she wasn’t keen on Jane’s casual racism (which, tbh, is a form that while uncouth, isn’t quite the same as flat-out racist discrimination) but she was trying to get on with someone who was important to her husband.

This is actually an incredibly common situation, although the offending trait isn’t always racism. Many people have one or more unlikeable characteristics but that one characteristic doesn’t define them as a person. People put up with a bit of bad because of the entire package.

My ex FIL was both casually racist and misogynist. Did I refuse to deal with him from the word go? No, he was my ex’s dad, I’m not going to just cut him out. Did I question his behavior to him, like the OP did? Yes, and got brushed off. Did dealing with these traits become more wearing over the years as my relationship with my ex - the reason for my preparedness to be tolerant in the first place - broke down? Yes, and I became less willing to be around my FIL, another thing that caused arguments with my ex.

Relationships are complicated and people often make choices that years later they come to regret. There’s absolutely no fucking point in you harping on about why OP asked Jane to be a bridesmaid. At the time she thought it was the right thing to do despite the fact that she didn’t love everything about Jane. Now, in light of the breakdown in relationship with her ex and Jane, she can be open that she’s never been comfortable with Jane’s “edgy” but actually racist humour.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 18:58

Notonthestairs · 28/06/2026 18:51

I think its strange to persistently blame the Op for being a victim of Jane's racism, rather than criticising Jane for being racist.

It should be obvious to most readers that the Op complained about the racism and was shut down (by her husband or Jane presumably). Given what else has been posted the imbalance of the OP's relationship with her husband has been key from the start.

I am not blaming OP for being a victim of Jane's racism.

OP cannot control Jane's racism but she didn't have to be friendly with and have her as one of her bridesmaids.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:00

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 18:57

Oh ffs let it go Hazel.

The OP already explained that she wasn’t keen on Jane’s casual racism (which, tbh, is a form that while uncouth, isn’t quite the same as flat-out racist discrimination) but she was trying to get on with someone who was important to her husband.

This is actually an incredibly common situation, although the offending trait isn’t always racism. Many people have one or more unlikeable characteristics but that one characteristic doesn’t define them as a person. People put up with a bit of bad because of the entire package.

My ex FIL was both casually racist and misogynist. Did I refuse to deal with him from the word go? No, he was my ex’s dad, I’m not going to just cut him out. Did I question his behavior to him, like the OP did? Yes, and got brushed off. Did dealing with these traits become more wearing over the years as my relationship with my ex - the reason for my preparedness to be tolerant in the first place - broke down? Yes, and I became less willing to be around my FIL, another thing that caused arguments with my ex.

Relationships are complicated and people often make choices that years later they come to regret. There’s absolutely no fucking point in you harping on about why OP asked Jane to be a bridesmaid. At the time she thought it was the right thing to do despite the fact that she didn’t love everything about Jane. Now, in light of the breakdown in relationship with her ex and Jane, she can be open that she’s never been comfortable with Jane’s “edgy” but actually racist humour.

FIL is a bit different to DH's friend.

She chose racist Jane to be her bridesmaid and was friends with her for years. That is on her.

user67584329 · 28/06/2026 19:02

Not sure if OP's coming back, but I'd still be curious to hear about the ups and downs of her legal career.

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 19:04

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:00

FIL is a bit different to DH's friend.

She chose racist Jane to be her bridesmaid and was friends with her for years. That is on her.

Why are you fixated on this? Do you think OP can change it? What does “on her” even mean in this context? That OP sort of deserves what she gets because Jane has a grating habit of talking like a rapper? I think she’s been pretty clear that she regrets trying to be friends with her husband’s bestie.

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:10

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 19:04

Why are you fixated on this? Do you think OP can change it? What does “on her” even mean in this context? That OP sort of deserves what she gets because Jane has a grating habit of talking like a rapper? I think she’s been pretty clear that she regrets trying to be friends with her husband’s bestie.

I am not expecting the OP to change it 🙄

FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 28/06/2026 19:10

OP, your marriage is over.

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 19:25

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:10

I am not expecting the OP to change it 🙄

So why are you fixated on it and repeating yourself over and over?

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:38

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 19:25

So why are you fixated on it and repeating yourself over and over?

Ignore my posts if they bother you. Why are you so fixated on them?

CamillaMcCauley · 28/06/2026 19:51

HazelMember · 28/06/2026 19:38

Ignore my posts if they bother you. Why are you so fixated on them?

Because its annoying in a long thread to read the same thing repeated over and over to new people, making the thread far longer than it needs to be.

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