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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Help! Shocked and Hurt

104 replies

UpDownAndAround · 06/12/2010 17:11

I have name changed for this post.

DP and I have been together for six years. I found this e-mail open on his computer while he went out to run a few errands. It was a "reminder" from a friend of his who he is always hanging around. I'm afraid I've been a total sucker for this horrible behavior. I am a very self confident person and never was bothered by him being a bit flirty with other women or having women friends but now I feel betrayed that there was some sort of code. How would you react to this or respond? Should I tell him I found this horrid list? It sounds cruel and awful. We have had a v. good relationship until the last few months - now I think he is getting ready for the last "rule." This is heartbreaking to me!

Here is what the e-mail said:

II. Make her jealous
Flirt with other women in front of her. Do not dissuade other women from flirting with you. Women will never admit this but jealousy excites them. The thought of you turning on another woman will arouse her sexually. No girl wants a man that no other woman wants. The partner who harnesses the gale storm of jealousy controls the direction of the relationship.

III. You shall make your mission, not your woman, your priority
Forget all those romantic cliches of the leading man proclaiming his undying love for the woman who completes him. Despite whatever protestations to the contrary, women do not want to be ?The One? or the center of a man?s existence. They in fact want to subordinate themselves to a worthy man?s life purpose, to help him achieve that purpose with their feminine support, and to follow the path he lays out. You must respect a woman?s integrity and not lie to her that she is ?your everything?. She is not your everything, and if she is, she will soon not be anymore.

IV. Don?t play by her rules
If you allow a woman to make the rules she will resent you with a seething contempt even a rapist cannot inspire. The strongest woman and the most strident feminist wants to be led by, and to submit to, a more powerful man. Polarity is the core of a healthy loving relationship. She does not want the prerogative to walk all over you with her capricious demands and mercurial moods. Her emotions are a hurricane, her soul a saboteur. Think of yourself as a bulwark against her tempest. When she grasps for a pillar to steady herself against the whipping winds or yearns for an authority figure to foil her worst instincts, it is you who has to be there? strong, solid, unshakeable and immovable.

V. Adhere to the golden ratio
Give your woman 2/3 of everything she gives you. For every three calls or texts, give her two back. Three declarations of love earn two in return. Three gifts; two nights out. Give her two displays of affection and stop until she has answered with three more. When she speaks, you reply with fewer words. When she emotes, you emote less. The idea behind the golden ratio is twofold ? it establishes your greater value by making her chase you, and it demonstrates that you have the self-restraint to avoid getting swept up in her personal dramas. Refraining from reciprocating everything she does for you in equal measure instills in her the proper attitude of belief in your higher status. In her deepest loins it is what she truly wants.

VI. Keep her guessing
True to their inscrutable natures, women ask questions they don?t really want direct answers to. Woe be the man who plays it straight ? his fate is the suffering of the beta. Evade, tease, obfuscate. She thrives when she has to imagine what you?re thinking about her, and withers when she knows exactly how you feel. A woman may want financial and family security, but she does not want passion security. In the same manner, when she has displeased you, punish swiftly, but when she has done you right, reward slowly. Reward her good behavior intermittently and unpredictably and she will never tire of working hard to please you.

VII. Always keep two in the kitty
Never allow yourself to be a ?kept man?. A man with options is a man without need. It builds confidence and encourages boldness with women if there is another woman, a safety net, to catch you in case you slip and risk a breakup, divorce, or a lost prospect, leading to loneliness and a grinding dry spell. A woman knows once she has slept with a man she has abdicated a measure of her power; when she has fallen in love with him she has surrendered nearly all of it. But love is ephemeral and with time she may rediscover her power and threaten to leave you. It is her final trump card. Withdrawing all her love and all her body in an instant will rend your soul if you are faced with contemplating the empty abyss alone. Knowing there is another you can turn to for affection will fortify your will and satisfy your manhood.

VIII. Say you?re sorry only when absolutely necessary
Do not say you?re sorry for every wrong thing you do. It is a posture of submission that no man should reflexively adopt, no matter how alpha he is. Apologizing increases the demand for more apologies. She will come to expect your contrition, like a cat expects its meal at a set time each day. And then your value will lower in her eyes. Instead, if you have done something wrong, you should acknowledge your guilt in a glancing way without resorting to the actual words ?I?m sorry.? Pull the Bill Clinton maneuver and say ?Mistakes were made? or tell her you ?feel bad? about what you did. You are granted two freebie ?I?m sorry"s for the life of your relationship; use them wisely.

IX. Connect with her emotions
Set yourself apart from other men and connect with a woman?s emotional landscape. Her mind is an alien world that requires deft navigation to reach your rendezvous. Frolic in the surf of emotions rather than the arid desert of logic. Be playful. Employ all your senses. Describe in lush detail scenarios to set her heart afire. Give your feelings freedom to roam. ROAM. Yes, that is a good word. You?re not on a linear path with her. You are ROAMING all over, taking her on an adventure. In this world, there is no need to finish thoughts or draw conclusions. There is only need to EXPERIENCE. You?re grabbing her hand and running with her down an infinite, labyrinthine alleyway with no end, laughing and letting your fingers glide on the cobblestone walls along the way.

X. Ignore her beauty
The man who trains his mind to subdue the reward centers of his brain when reflecting upon a beautiful female face will magically transform his interactions with women. His apprehension and self-consciousness will melt away, paving the path for more honest and self-possessed interactions with the objects of his desire. This is one reason why the greatest lotharios drown in more love than they can handle ? through positive experiences with so many beautiful women they lose their awe of beauty and, in turn, their powerlessness under its spell. It will help you acquire the right frame of mind to stop using the words hot, cute, gorgeous, or beautiful to describe girls who turn you on. Instead, say to yourself ?she?s interesting? or ?she might be worth getting to know?. Never compliment a girl on her looks, especially not a girl you aren?t fucking. Turn off that part of your brain that wants to put them on pedestals. Further advanced training to reach this state of unawed Zen transcendence is to sleep with many MANY attractive women (try to avoid sleeping with a lot of ugly women if you don?t want to regress). Soon, a Jedi lover you will be.

XI. Be irrationally self-confident
No matter what your station in life, stride through the world without apology or excuse. It does not matter if objectively you are not the best man a woman can get; what matters is that you think and act like you are. Women have a dog?s instinct for uncovering weakness in men; don?t make it easy for them. Self-confidence, warranted or not, triggers submissive emotional responses in women. Irrational self-confidence will get you more pussy than rational defeatism.

XII. Maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses
In the betterment of ourselves as men we attract women into our orbit. To accomplish this gravitational pull as painlessly and efficiently as possible, you must identify your natural talents and shortcomings and parcel your efforts accordingly. If you are a gifted jokester, don?t waste time and energy trying to raise your status in philosophical debate. If you write well but dance poorly, don?t kill yourself trying to expand your manly influence on the dance floor. Your goal should be to attract women effortlessly, so play to your strengths no matter what they are; there is a groupie for every male endeavor. Except World of Warcraft.

XIII. Err on the side of too much boldness, rather than too little
Touching a woman inappropriately on the first date will get you further with her than not touching her at all. Don?t let a woman?s faux indignation at your boldness sway you; they secretly love it when a man aggressively pursues what he wants and makes his sexual intentions known. You don?t have to be an asshole, but if you have no choice, being an inconsiderate asshole beats being a polite beta, every time.

XV. Maintain your state control
You are an oak tree. You will not be manipulated by crying, yelling, lying, head games, sexual withdrawal, jealousy ploys, pity plays, shit tests, hot/cold/hot/cold, disappearing acts, or guilt trips. She will rain and thunder all around you and you will shelter her until her storm passes. She will not drag you into her chaos or uproot you. When you have mastery over yourself, you will have mastery over her.

XVI. Never be afraid to lose her
You must not fear. Fear is the love-killer. Fear is the ego-triumph that brings abject loneliness. You will face your fear. You will permit it to pass over and through you. And when your ego-fear is gone you will turn and face your lover, and only your heart will remain. You will walk away from her when she has violated your integrity, and you will let her walk when her heart is closed to you. She who can destroy you, controls you. Don?t give her that power over yourself. Love yourself before you love her.

OP posts:
spidookly · 07/12/2010 07:43

Yes Mrs the e-mail is that bad. Any man who needs to abuse women to feel confident about himself is not a man you want to have anything to do with.

I'm with Any and Stuffing though, deal with the actual real problem you have and don't be diverted down this road.

And FGS don't give him any lectures about what rubbish the e-mail is. If he's the kind of nobber who buys into that shit it will just convince him even more that it's right. Hold your whisht on the e-mail and see if it casts any interesting light on his shitty behaviour.

Because if I saw this e-mail on DH's computer I wouldn't even have to wonder whether he hated women. You're only wondering about this because you have problems and doubts anyway.

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 07/12/2010 08:19

If I saw this email in DH's box I would just think "which stupid person is sending that around ?"

It wouldn't even occur to me that he had even read it, never mind was subscribing to its ideals

There lies your problem, I think

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 08:40

ChippingIn - DH seems to behave like quite a few of the points and I find it very hard and upsetting to read it in black and white. And no, of course he wasn't originally like that! But I tend to take the blame as he has continually told me he does not like me.Sad

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 08:41

And he tells me it is just because he doesn't like me.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 08:47

Eg - never say sorry, make sure she feels her looks have gone, never be afraid to lose her, maintain your control of your emotions, keep her guessing/insecure, your rules, put yourself first always (don't make partner feel important), massively self-confident.....

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 08:48

I am sorry but I don't think it's bullshit.

ConstanceFelicity · 07/12/2010 08:49

Is it from that book, The Rules?

spidookly · 07/12/2010 09:08

believe - that is emotional abuse.

Did you know that?

You must not accept the blame for that. At all.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 09:19

Op - I am not equating my relationship with yours. You say you and your dh have had a good relationship and it is just the last few months.maybe you are purely just feeling a bit vulnerable as you are pregnant, and that is just a pregnancy related feeling and need a bit of tlc from your dh. Why do you say just the last few months have been different?

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 09:46

Grace - just read the website - plus the additional suggestions to add to the list. So familiar with the stuff eg. find out about her/details etc. but don't let her know anything about you. When I first started by relationship, whenever I asked DH about anything in his past, he would just say 'oh, that's a long story'. He has never liked to give straight answers to any questions, likes to keep you uncertain, unsure, but when I first used to hear - that's a long story, I used to just accept it and think, ok, he doesn't want to bore me, but I did end up getting frustrated as I wanted to get to know him and I was genuinely interested in him as I was in love with him. (sorry to hijack).

OP, I am glad you decided to just talk to him, and I hope you clear this up and can look forward to your baby's arrival, without feeling worried at all about your relationship.

I wouldn't think much, though, of his mate who sent this to him. But I know I am probably over-sensitive about stuff like this. Best wishes.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 09:51

spidookly - it is hard not to blame yourself because you have always been told that a) he is not mean to you at all b) if he is, then it is just because you are horrible to him and he doesn't like you;but I just keep questioning if I was ever that horrible to him in the first place; I am not the kind of person who would intentionally be unkind to anyone.Sad

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 09:53

If I upset someone, I would be aware that I am doing that, and stop being like that. I would feel mean if I kept treating someone in a way which upset them.Confused

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 09:56

And I hate what that email says because it just makes me think of someone playing 'mind games' and having no respect for women.

StuffingGoldBrass · 07/12/2010 11:05

BYT: I strongly advise you to talk to WOmen's Aid and RL friends. YOur H sounds utterly horrible and abusive and he is NOT ENTITLED TO MISTREAT YOU LIKE THIS BECAUSE HE'S A MAN.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 11:36

SGB - has also been said that I am abusive, btw.

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:04

who said you were abusive? your DH?

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:07

DH. Because I have got upset, and tried to get him to talk to me, when he wouldn't - when he wouldn't answer me/refuse to discuss anything/refuse to speak....

eandz · 07/12/2010 12:11

yucky

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:11

It was just hard to handle because you just want to be not ignored frequently.

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:13

you know you aren't an abuser don't you? you know this is all his way of contolling you don't you? i agree totally with SGB, you need to speak to Women's Aid. i think you need someone to tell you this isn't a normal relationship and help you to turn it around.

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:14

also, a confidence boosting course or something sounds like something you could benefit greatly from.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:15

I don't think I ever did the ignoring thing/refusing to answer with anyone, not even in the playground.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:19

I think I will change my name to isolated. Thanks for your comments, btw.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:22

Back to the OP's original post, I think, whereas the email was nothing but crap, from a crap website, it just hit a raw nerve with me.

I wish OP the best in just putting her mind at rest with her DH, and then forgetting all about it.

GraceAwayInAManger · 07/12/2010 12:25

He's really broken you down, byt. You feel like you love him, but that feeling is dependence not love. He has trained you with cruelty, like those people who beat their dogs and then say "look how devoted he is" as the poor animal cowers in front of them, hoping to have got it right for once.

Please phone Womens Aid. 0808 2000 247. Just talk.