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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:
believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:34

Grace - I keep thinking I am the problem (I know I am a mess right now) because it is not as if he kept saying he wanted to be with me through the marriage; in fact, he has kept telling me he doesn't give a s... about our marriage.... Sometimes he has said he wanted to be with me, and wants to give me a chance; then, I blow it again. Before we married I made a mistake and he never forgave me for that too. I think I have ended up driving him mad (he says) by being too needy.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:38

He has told me I am so difficult to live with(I know my emotions have been all over the place).

spidookly · 07/12/2010 12:40

No. You are not the problem.

You are a mess right now because he has studiously made you into a mess.

He didn't say he wanted to be with you in the marriage, because that would give you security and that would make you stronger.

He says he doesn't give a shit about your marriage just so you are always off balance and not thinking about why the fuck you would bother staying with someone who doesn't give a shit about you.

He says he'll give you a chance for the same reason - to give you just enough hope to stop you figuring out for yourself that you'd be better off without him.

You don't "blow it" - the whole purpose of the bullshit is to set you up to feel you've failed.

Also - what was the "mistake"? Bearing some massive grudge that supposedly justifies abusive behaviour is straight out of the Abuser Handbook.

You haven't driven him, mad, he has deliberately made you mad and needy by abusing you emotionally.

Please call Women's Aid 0808 2000 247

Ariesgirl · 07/12/2010 12:41

Sounds like a Code for Pigs.

I am sure that there are not many husbands and boyfriends who subscribe to such nasty bullshit. My DH would be horrified on reading that.

As regards the email, well I guess he can't help what he has been sent, but that friendship definitely needs re-thinking.

Ariesgirl · 07/12/2010 12:41

Sorry - I should have read the subsequent posts. Those were my reactions on reading the OP.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:43

And he is kind, polite, charming. Denies that stuff which has happened ever happened (rewrites history).

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:45

spidooky - cheated on one occasion with ex, prior to marriage, which he knew all about before we got married.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:47

That was my mistake - which I never repeated, btw.

spidookly · 07/12/2010 12:49

"And he is kind, polite, charming."

They always are.

"Denies that stuff which has happened ever happened (rewrites history)."

That is called gaslighting

Your cheating is irrelevant. It would have been something else if not that.

GraceAwayInAManger · 07/12/2010 12:54

byt, you used to post under a different name, didn't you? If you're who I think you are, have you continued with your counselling?

Please ring Womens Aid, just have a chat with them. 0808 2000 247.

GraceAwayInAManger · 07/12/2010 12:55

What does he say about why he stays in your marriage?

JaxTellersOldLady · 07/12/2010 12:56

where has the OP gone?

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 12:59

Grace - I feel really stupid Blush - sometimes - 'because I want it to work', 'because of the dc', 'because it suits me'Blush

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 13:02

Grace, btw, I am being disposed of and I am so pathetic I am finding this hard.I just don't know who I am any more, and I don't recognise myself in the behaviour I have demonstrated, and I have kept being told I am a bad person.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 13:03

Sorry, realise I am hijacking, will have to start my own thread when I feel able.

Thanks for your support, really appreciated.Smile

GraceAwayInAManger · 07/12/2010 13:07

You're NOT stupid, my love. You've been tricked by a man who gets pleasure from making you unhappy. I know you want it to work, but what you mean by that isn't what he wants. It is working for him! He loves to know you're there, like the scared dog. He can only feel good when he's abusing somebody.

It works already, for him. But, as his happiness depends on your misery, who's looking out for your happiness?

How old are the DCs now?

OP - any news??

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 13:10

OP said she is going to talk to her DH about email, I think.

MortaIWombat · 07/12/2010 13:14

I think this says way more about your dh's friend than about him.

And WTF are "cobblestone walls"? Hmm

And, lastly, don't take it seriously. It is a load of shite made up by men who, as someone pointed out, may manage to intrigue damaged women who like the 'mad, bad' type, but cannot sustain a meaningful relationship for any length of time. Your dh's friend has had many, many relationships, you say? I wonder why he hasn't managed to keep one alive yet?....

The author of the piece, despite his macho posturing, reveals himself as the geek he is with the reference: "Soon, a Jedi lover you will be.". PMSL at the Star Wars nerd. Xmas Grin

stubbornhubby · 07/12/2010 13:16

what ARE you on , OP???

you are angry with your husband about an email he RECEIVED??? that's not his fault.

I can understand that you would be Hmm if he SENT that email but, really, distasteful emails circulate. No one can control what they get.

have you never got one of those threatening emails saying 'forward this to 20 friends now or your fmaily will suffer bad luck' ? exactly.

You are making a fuss about nothing. Next time you snoop in his email have a look at his SENT folder: that's the email he is responsible for.

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 07/12/2010 13:50

BYT, I know your previous posts about the horrendous situation you are in

love, you are sounding worse and worse, truly I am worried for you

google "gaslighting" and "stonewalling" and "emotional abuse"...you will find your partner there

this man is slowly killing your spirit...how low are you actually going to get ???

I just do not understand why one man is, or ever was, worth that. He is killing you.

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 07/12/2010 13:52

SH ...did you miss the bit about where OP was actually more worried that she recognised his behaviour in the text of that email ?

stubbornhubby · 07/12/2010 14:06

well, then look in the SENT MAIL folder....

you might find it forwarded to eighteen people

you might find a reply saying.. ' you know, it's not that funny, please don't send me this stuff'

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 07/12/2010 14:09

nice of you to dismiss her fears, SH

this is not all about the stupid email

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 14:17

SH this is about the fact that she recognises his behaviour in the content of teh email. regardless of whether he sent it on or not, he is displaying soem of teh traits, and that is a problem for her.

believeyourtruth · 07/12/2010 14:26

OP is troubled because she thought she recognised some similarities in her DP's behaviour, she has been ill for a couple of months (pregnancy related? - which is tough, having had very difficult pregnancies myself and know you need someone there to support you ie her DP), DP seems to have become a bit detached, she needs a bit of tlc - hopefully that's all.

Maybe she has her own issues herself which she needs help with. Whatever the reasons, I wish her the very best.

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