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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

Is SGB around?

225 replies

spiderslegs · 26/01/2012 00:29

Open relationships - tell me more.

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 30/01/2012 16:19

< waves to 5 >

DoesntBodenWell · 30/01/2012 16:31

God I would love a bit of endorsed extra marital.

DH says no.

spiderslegs · 30/01/2012 19:25

Thanks for all the responses, plenty to think about, DH & I spoke more, much more on Sunday morning, he was more thoughtful & if not exactly receptive & welcoming about what I had to say, listened & spoke to me & said he had to think about it as it was a lot for him to take on board. Which it is really.

& then we had the best sex we've had for a long time, which was great.

& I don't think anything I actually told him was that revelatory, he knows me well enough to probably have been thinking much of what I said anyway. So we will see.

Oh & when I said he reads every thread I ever write anyway, I didn't mean he hounds me across the boards searching, I just tend to leave things open on the shared PC & he reads them if they're up - I've nothing to hide & would probably do the same if he did (in fact I do read his threads on his beer & programming forums when I'm having trouble sleeping...). Told him about this thread & invited him to read it if he felt the need.

As for my history, fairly standard few mid-length relationships through my 20's, married once before at 26 for five years, no children, older husband - disastrous. Distinct lack of fidelity in all of them. Have thus far been completely & chastely faithful to DH, & will continue to do so if that's the way it's got to be.

(Oh & one more thing before I end this inordinately long post, I am outed in RL under this name - if any of you are reading, don't worry, I'm not about to shag anyone's husband & please, please, try not to keel over from a prurience induced heart attack).

OP posts:
ike1 · 30/01/2012 19:58

Dont worry not married - got rid of the ex-actually think Mr Spiders is rather fuckable so u might want to worry about ME lol!

spiderslegs · 30/01/2012 20:10

Ike - that last part was addressed to people I know in RL who may be having a beak at this thread, I live in a very rural area so was just pre-empting any gossip that may result (not that anyone probably gives a shit).

Mr Spiders is rather fuckable, he will be pleased to hear it.

OP posts:
spiderslegs · 30/01/2012 20:11

& was a joke.

OP posts:
ike1 · 30/01/2012 20:28

Thought he might like that ! Ah well whatever you decide good luck to yous but tread carefully.

spiderslegs · 30/01/2012 21:09

Thanks, will do.

OP posts:
HillyWallaby · 31/01/2012 02:50

Wow, Spiders, you are amazing! You know full well there are MNers who know yu in RL and you still don't feel the need to name change for this thread. Shock

I don't know whether your are an incrediblely well-balanced and self assured person or just plain mad. Grin

spiderslegs · 31/01/2012 03:34

Hilly I think that's part of it - I often ask myself - I came to conclusion I was brought up with lies, lies blighted my childhood, I'm trying to be the former but constantly suspect I may be the latter.

I can't be arsed with lying & pretence., life is short, often brutal but sometimes lovely. I want to mine the loveliness & realised some time ago that can only be done through honesty.

& the realisation that we're all human & we do things because we do.

& pretending we're someone else won't change that.

OP posts:
spiderslegs · 31/01/2012 03:41

I am probably, plain mad.

OP posts:
MrMeaner · 31/01/2012 07:57

Spiders
One more thing before I leave the thread (unless there are any more questions):
Sometimes simply the fact that you have the agreement that you are allowed to have sex with other people, actually results in you having more at home and in reality not following through with other opportunities. It's almost as if the temptation has been taken away, and the 'frustration' at only ever sleeping with one person for ever etc etc is muted because you know you could if you really wanted to... A sort of 'double bluff' situation!

Not sure if that makes sense, but hopefully you understand what I mean.
Glad you had a good discussion and take care.

fiventhree · 31/01/2012 08:25

Interesting point about the outing,though.Dont think I have been but anyone who knew me in RL could easily work it out from what I have said about jobs, kids, where I have and other circumstances.

I think privacy can be important for some people and some situations, but on the other hand, if someone knows our truest opinions and some of our circumstances,they havnt bought our souls,have they? Personally,I wouldnt like it, but I would never lose sleep about it.

solidgoldbrass · 31/01/2012 11:29

MrMeaner: very good point there. Sometimes being able to talk to your partner about your feelings makes them much more manageable, whereas trying to pretend that you don't have such feelings because they are 'bad' or 'selfish' gives them more, and definitely toxic, power: someone who is not very monogamous but convinced that monogamy is the best or only way to live will desperately repress any desire for new partners, feel ashamed of it and then, sooner or later, will find themselves up to tricks with someone else and convinced that it 'just happened'.
Spiderslegs: Good for you for not minding about being outed. I do think that if more people who lived without monogamy felt able to be as open and indeed 'meh' about it as, for instance, most gay people now are about their non-heterosexuality, it would be a better world all round.

EirikurNoromaour · 31/01/2012 11:30

Why do you want sex elsewhere?

I take sgb's point that humans are not naturally monogamous but I think that monogamy has benefits that we crave, and we sacrifice sexual freedom in order to take the benefits of monogamy, as a rule.

I have been unfaithful to my DH and he to me and we both get why and how it happens, I know you aren't talking about infidelity but what is it that you are seeking that you don't have at home? That is why the idea is hurtful for most people, as for me anyway I would like to have the opportunity to improve the area that is lacking, rather than give DH blessing to seek it elsewhere.

Maybe I am lucky in that DH and I have always had great chemistry and a great sex life, that I wouldn't need to look for sex elsewhere because I'm not bored with what I have. But isn't that what you are saying to your DH? Sex with you isn't exciting enough to meet my needs? Because that I don't understand. If DH told me that I would crumble.

spiderslegs · 31/01/2012 11:41

Very true MrMeaner, you may have hit on something there, & actually, since I started this discussion my thoughts have been leaning that way, maybe it's just something I needed to get out emotionally rather than physically.

Erik - your post makes no sense, you say you have both been unfaithful then that you wouldn't need to look elsewhere, which is slightly flummoxing.

OP posts:
EirikurNoromaour · 31/01/2012 12:07

It was a bit rambly, sorry...
I meant, I understand what goes on when you are I satisfied by your partner (not necessarily sexually) and I also understand how it feels when your partner looks to get a need met by someone else. It is crushing, so the idea of condoning that is really difficult to get my head round. I guess I wonder what need isn't being met by your DH, and why you can't give him the chance to rectify that?

Also, sexual jealousy is real and powerful. Some people experience it more or less than others but it is fairly universal. It is all very well talking about loving each other as free individuals, but how do you deal with the fact that you are telling your partner 'you are not enough for me sexually'? Ouch. I don't know many people who could swallow that message.

I am honestly not being judgemental but I am wondering what it is that you want to find in other partners? For me, the excitement of a new sexual partner isn't worth the hurt it causes to my DH. I would rather ignore those urges and be satisfied with my sex life as it is.

ike1 · 31/01/2012 17:55

The only thing is we now know that Mr Spiders wife wants to shag others does HE mind being outed I wnder?

ike1 · 31/01/2012 17:56

I only say that cos there are plenty of pics of him on the profile page.

solidgoldbrass · 31/01/2012 21:35

Well I cannot imagine not wanting sex with different people. I am totally unmonogamous; to me it's like saying, you live in a beautiful place, why would you ever want to go on holiday? Or, chocolate chip ice cream is delicious so it's morally wrong to decide you fancy a spoonful of rum and raisin.
And lots of people don't really feel much sexual jealousy or, if they do, they regard it as a shameful, selfish feeling to be acknowledged and then ignored.

EirikurNoromaour · 31/01/2012 22:34

That is completely valid and fine, sgb, and do you have long term (open) relationships? Do you choose to be single (sorry I'm assuming you are, I think you have said so before?) or is it circumstance? I wonder how successful most long term open relationships are.

I think what op has to take on board though is that her DH isn't interested. And my advice to her would be tread carefully, as monogamous types may experience a wish to be open as a personal criticism on a fundamental level.

squeakytoy · 31/01/2012 23:41

Thing is, longterm monogamy is not natural at all.

I would honestly say that is a personal view, and certainly not one that applies to everyone.

To many people, longterm monogamy is perfectly natural, and they are wholly satisfied with their relationship, and have no desire whatsoever to sleep with anyone else.

I am one of those people, and I know many many many more. I actually do no know anyone, (and my friends and I are all brutally indiscrete when we chat) who would want to be in an open relationship.

I appreciate that some couples may be happy with an open relationship, but the emphasis is on "couple". Unless both parties are willing, then it is doomed to fail. I would say there is something fundamentally wrong in a relationship if one half of the partnership goes from being happily monogamous, to wanting an open relationship, as it is very unlikely that the other partner is going to be in agreement with that. That being the case, it is kinder to end the relationship than force someone to accept/tolerate what they see as infidelity from their partner.

solidgoldbrass · 01/02/2012 00:47

Squeaky: It's a fact. Monogamy is a social construct, not an inbuilt human instinct. That doesn't mean to say that it's bad in itself, and some people do have a fetish for it, just like some people are only interested in sex if their partner is wearing rubber boots or whatever. But it's a mistake to believe that longterm monogamy is the way human beings are hardwired, the reverse is true. If monogamy was natural (like breathing or pissing) you wouldn't need a huge amount of cultural pressure to prop it up as an institution and loads of sanctions and penalties for refusing to engage in it.

squeakytoy · 01/02/2012 00:56

I would disagree. I have seen scientific reports that suggest it is natural for the human race to "pair off" and that has been the way back as long as man existed. This doesnt mean to me that you should have one relationship for life, but only one relationship with the person you love at one time.

Even animals practice monogamy too, and you can hardly say that isnt what nature intends!

ike1 · 01/02/2012 07:32

I know it sounds a bit trite but by the looks of it you have a great home, lovely kids, smashing fuckable partner, money to read (your hobby) money to buy nice clothes. Explore your 'fetish' SGB (sees monogamy as a fetish so ditto for this) via couples/ singular counselling and REALLY get to the root of it, you have a lot to give up if your partner is not interested in that lifestyle.