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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

Red flags I should have heeded - share yours for womenkind

999 replies

ParsleyTheLioness · 16/04/2012 21:13

There were various red flags that meant I should have headed for the hills, but I was vulnerable at the time, and he only upped the ante several years and a child down the line. I will share mine, in the hope that someone may take it on board, and hopefully others will share theirs too.
In no particular order: very early on in our relationship, he would throw a strop for no reason that I could discern, and looking back, still didn't know what had triggered it. I just knew I felt bad afterwards.
He was always unaware of personal space, and would frequently invade mine. Eg in the car, he would suddenly lurch accross me to access the glove box, without any warning. His car, his space.
Subtle undermining tactics. I am very particular about the perfume I wear. Anything else is a bit of waste of money really. He knew this, but would always try to 'convert' me to another one.
There were many others, and things got worse, with lots of EA, some dv, but I am just thinking of the things that had my Twat Detector been working, would have encouraged me to get out before I had emotionally invested. Please feel free to add. I'm sure I shall think of lots of other things later.

OP posts:
cgno · 18/04/2012 23:23

Maybe he doesn't care. Coolness is a trait.

BibiBlocksberg · 18/04/2012 23:28

"I'm thining of going on a similar mission, cull freinds which basicly aren't nice people"

Don't forget to acquire at least one cat while on that mission cgno Grin

Being flippant, but yes, the older I get and the more I get to know myself the less time and headspace I'm willing to give to people that just aren't nice or aren't willing to return the effort and care I put into my relationships.

Wine has maybe made me slightly maudlin tonight but I do wish there was a place in RL that would allow me access to all the amazing people I meet on this site :)

cgno · 18/04/2012 23:33

Plenty of cats in my back yard

ParsleyTheLioness · 19/04/2012 07:42

Bibi there are MN meets sometimes on the Local Boards.

OP posts:
Mealiepudding · 19/04/2012 13:32

Several have said their partners had bullying fathers and PA mothers - mine certainly did. And he'd never stand up to them.

In fact, he never got angry - he got me to do that for him. He'd wind me up about a situation he'd been in but couldn't cope with, until I reacted by getting angry. Then he'd criticise me for losing my temper

marshmallowpies · 19/04/2012 14:00

My exBF's dad was lovely; possibly rather absent during his childhood at times as he worked long hours and was away on business a lot, but definitely not abusive or violent. His mother, on the other hand, I shall say no more.

IDontWannaBeAStupidGirl · 19/04/2012 14:08

The red flag I wish I'd heeded...

When he said if I didn't do his ironing he'd take it round to his mother. I so wanted to please him, and be approved of by his mum that I fell for it.

Of course, I probably wouldn't have had children if I'd dumped him then, aged 36. That was probably also a consideration.

KirstyWirsty · 19/04/2012 15:46

Who's to say Idontwanna .. you wouldn't have had HIS children ...

KirstyWirsty · 19/04/2012 15:47

(and I'm sure you wouldn't change them for the world) :)

ParsleyTheLioness · 19/04/2012 16:07

Mealie it is known thing when people, not necessarily men, 'elect' people to carry their anger for them. Mine used to do this too....

OP posts:
Lueji · 19/04/2012 17:22

MyDogShitsShoes

Here too.

It's a good thing I never really lost my confidence, as he actually wanted, which allowed me to dump him as soon as he became violent.

LesAnimaux · 19/04/2012 18:34

OK I've been thinking about this today and so far I have concluded the reason many women don't leave abusive men immediately is......we (women) seem to think we can change twatish men. For some reason we think we can succeed where all his past partners have failed.

We also really, really want to please.

Love. When you love someone, it's really, really hard to just walk away. Although these men are out and out twats, they will also have some good qualities, or women wouldn't be attracted to them in the first place.

fergoose · 19/04/2012 18:50

Also their behaviour becomes the new 'normal' to you - so you don't always see what is going on right in front of you. It is often only in hindsight do you realise what has been going on.

ParsleyTheLioness · 19/04/2012 18:54

It's gradual...it doesn't happen all at once. Sometimes they just keep pushing the boundaries by small increments, and they know that when you have children, etc, you are more 'embedded' in the relationship and often up the ante at that point. Les An, there is a lot of research on 'battered women syndrome', it really isn't their fault/our faults. These men are clever, and often have personality disorders.

OP posts:
LesAnimaux · 19/04/2012 18:59

OMG...of course it's not any women's fault they are abused! Please don't think I think that!

I'm not really one for reading research, I tend to have to think things through for myself. Just because I haven't been in an abusive relationship myself, it doesn't mean it's not something close to my hart, and I am very aware that I need to do all I can to ensure my sons are not abusers and DD avoids such a relationship.

fergoose · 19/04/2012 19:03

Parsley it is gradual and insidious too. Each time pushed tiny bit further to see what they can get away with and what you will put up with.

ouryve · 19/04/2012 19:03

The insistence on long visits to his family, contrasted with the refusal to visit mine. His family were so much superior to mine, even though he was constantly battling with them about long held grudges.

The constant denigration of my taste in music and imposition of his own, insisting on its superiority.

I could go on, but the ultimate red flag was the way he put me on a pedestal. That became a reason to criticise me for not meeting his high standards, later on.

susiedaisy · 19/04/2012 19:30

Gradual and insidious is exactly right, if they were like it when we first spent time with them virtually all women would of gone wtf? and not bothered with them again! My exH hid alot of things until after we were married and then by time I'd had our second child he had basically given up even trying to be a decent husband/father and I felt stuck and trapped, forever hoping it was 'just a stage' or justifying it by saying to others were just going through 'a rough patch'!

chocoraisin · 19/04/2012 19:48

oh gosh yes... there is a name for that, with sufferers of NPD... it's called the narc relationship cycle. I think it starts with idealisation, followed by devaluation, then discarding.

Basically if a DP with narcissistic traits treats you like a goddess in the 'honeymoon' stage, its called idealisation. Then when you are committed/emotionally invested they start to devalue you, (devaluation phase) ie undermine you - become cold, emotionally detached, critical, lose interest in you sexually etc. Then when you stop providing them with the right kind of attention (narcissistic supply) they discard you. Often that doesn't mean they break up with you, they just cheat on you or ignore you, or reduce you to housekeeper/childminder status.

When I read about that the first time I thought, crap. I wish I'd known about that before :( I might have waited longer before committing/marrying/moving in or having children. Seems too good to be true? Probably is.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have my kids who I adore... so I guess there is your silver lining. At least I got rid asap!!

sunrise65 · 19/04/2012 19:54

interesting that a lot of people have said about saying your taste in music, books, films are crap. i had that too. he even had his own 'good shelf' where he'd keep his dvds and books (he took some of mine that he thought were worthy and put them with his) and all my 'shit' was at the bottom.

it's so sad how many people have posted on here in a way. shows how many horrible people there are out there. are there actually any good decent men? does anyone have one now that they are sure about? right now i feel like i dislike all men and even if they seem nice i'm thinking ...it'll turn nasty before too long :(

PillarBoxRedRoses · 19/04/2012 20:00

Oh my goodness sunrise...I had the exact same. His side for 'high brow', my side for 'mainstream shite'

garlicnutter · 19/04/2012 20:01

sunrise, have you had a look at the "early signs that he is ace" thread? Quite cheering :)

all my 'shit' - ah, yes, all my belongings were "your crap" while his was "my stuff". I told him my stuff was no crapper than his, and refused to respond if he called it crap. See? Trying to assert myself / 'train' him ... instead of packing up my 'crap' and getting the hell outta there.

LesAnimaux · 19/04/2012 20:04

There are good men out there. I had to run away from about 20 bad uns to find a decent one though. Smile

susiedaisy · 19/04/2012 20:09

My exH called my stuff 'all your crap'
He disliked my music, film and book choices and if a song I liked came on the radio whilst in the car he would talk all the way through it, he did it without fail everytime, sounds petty to even mention it on here but it was just another example of how I wasn't allowed simple pleasures.

sunrise65 · 19/04/2012 20:10

pillarbox my ex definitely considers his tastes to be very high brow too! It's all part of his narcissistic personality. he was always such a hard worker, trying to make a career for us himself... had made so many sacrifices. while all i did was sit on my arse all day with the baby...Hmm

garlicnutter go you for putting him right! i will take a look at the thread now, thanks for that. hope i will be feeling a bit more positive after!

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