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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

Husbands, masturbation & paranoia......

180 replies

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:40

DH and I always had a great sex life pre DD but things have certainly slowed down since her birth, due to my sex drive dying a rapid and almost complete death (sex reduced to once a month MAX). Our DD is now a happy healthy toddler and only recently has the physical side of our marriage picked up a little, we have had sex twice this week and DH has orgasmed 3 times (once via non penetrative contact IYSWIM). I know DH still has sexual urges, his sex drive is fairly average.

I am learning to drive and I have a couple of one hour lessons per week. A few weeks ago I came home from a lesson and DH was in the bath. I popped into the spare room for a sneaky 5 mins on MN and there was something on the desk, it was clearly semen. I checked the history and the temp internet files on the pc and they had all been wiped clean (DH is in IT). DH got out of the bath and came into the spare room to say hello. When he got in I jokily said 'you need to get yourself a better towel, next time' (or something to that effect). He said 'what are you on about ?!' I pointed to the fluid on the desk and looked at him quizzically. He denied it was semen or that he even knew what it was and how it got there. I KNEW he way lying so I calmly turned off the pc and went downstairs DH came down and admitted that it was semen and that he had been masturbating to images on the internet. I told him that I would prefer it if he wasn't so secretve about it as it makes me think that there is more to it (ie is he cheating on me in chat rooms etc). He said he understood that I would feel insecure and I asked him to not delete the addresses off our PC in future (we share our own private profile so kids wouldn't ever get access to it). He agreed.

Anyway, I had another lesson tonight, we had an hour together (in front of the tv) and he went out to his sports club. Naturally I came in here to go on MN when he left. I checked the history and sure enough he'd been downloading mpegs with titles like 'mouthf*ck' and 'dirty double penetration'. At least he'd kept the history.

My point is that I've lost a lot of confidence in my body/sexual attractiveness since childbirth. DH does his best to reassure me, and sometimes I even believe him. Then I find out that he is w*nking over leggy slim blondes and it all goes out of the window I know that it is all fantasy but part of me can't help thinking that he'd rather be with them than me, the thought makes me feel physically ill.

Looking at the properties on history I can see that I was barely out of the door before he was up here with his pants down

I don't want to deny him his right to do whatever he pleases with his own body in his own time, but how can I feel better about it ? How do I convince myself that his masturbation bears little or no relation to me ? Is that even true ?

Thanks
An embarrassed regular Mumsnetter

OP posts:
ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:40

Sorry, I appear to have gone on a bit....

OP posts:
Lisa78 · 05/01/2004 21:46

You haven't gone on, I think you have explained yourself here, very clearly
Have you explained how you feel to your DH? I think you need to discuss it with him, but for what its worth, I don't think it bears any relation to his feelings for you, its just something men do

Eowyn · 05/01/2004 21:47

had the same situation. went so mad I don't Think he's been on here again...
It's the insecurity it fuels that is the harm, rather than the fact of them wanting a bit of relief...makes you feel useless & obsolete, can't compete with those sort of women, so feel if that is what he wants, he can't have/want me. I'm incapable of rational detatchment on this.
Seems common tho, have read this on here before.

Chinchilla · 05/01/2004 21:49

Hmm...there have been threads about this before. Personally, I would have no problem with dh doing 'that', if it was me that didn't want sex. I have the opposite problem IME, men masturbating bears no relation to the state of their relationships. I can see that you would relate this to your body and sex drive in a negative way, but I have every confidence that he still wants you.

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:50

Whenever I try to practise how I will word it, I always end up hearing a prudish old woman . I DON'T WANT TO BE HER ! I know he will say that he loves me and fancies me as much (if not more) than he did pre-DD if I ask him, so I may as well not bother. I wish I didn't care so much about this. Thanks for your time Lisa

OP posts:
zebra · 05/01/2004 21:50

I think it's normal, PWife, for men to masturbate. Actually, I think it would be abnormal if a man never did it! Can you get all your nutritional needs met from eating apples? Neah, probably like some cheese, meat, few veg. SExual outlets are like that for men. They like variety. It doesn't begin to compete with the complete relationship they get with a real woman.

But the downloading thing bothers me a bit. I don't want to say too much because no experience.

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:52

I have posted on this subject before using my regular name, but suddenly things don't seem so cut & dried now they are happening in my bedroom

OP posts:
nearlymybeetrootday · 05/01/2004 21:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:54

I can see from going through the temp files in my pc that he is going to these sites, downloading the stuff, creating a shortcut on his desktop, 'using' the material and then deleting the shortcut. I assume he is downloading it so that it can be played on our media player.

OP posts:
ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:56

It is just SO tacky, if I wasn't so negative with my own body image then I really would have a good laugh at them.

Perhaps I am just a ridiculous old prude. Am off to drown myself in the bath

OP posts:
zebra · 05/01/2004 21:58

I think it's very common for wives to have issues with how fond men are of self-love! I still think the men who didn't ever do it would be the really weird one, though.

Chinchilla · 05/01/2004 21:58

You could ask him to stop, but why bother. Is it the computer thing that is upsetting you? Would you feel the same if he had a stack of magazines? He could still do it by merely using his imagination in the bathroom. Do you not ever do it yourself? What is the essence of your problem with the situation? I think that even if you had sex every day, he would probably still be doing it.

I have no idea what when my dh does it, but I am totally sure that he does. He doesn't want me that's for sure, even after losing nearly 2 stone. I don't mean to sound inconsiderate to your feelings, I just want to understand exactly what you are upset about. Do you feel rejected? If so, DON'T. It is nothing to do with you.

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 21:59

The rational part of me agrees with you zebra, it's just that the other bit is having difficulty shutting up !

OP posts:
Mardy · 05/01/2004 22:00

This is the whole point. A man produces sperm continuously. If it couldn't leave somehow then
something very bad would happen. It just has to get out and it's no reflection on you at all. Don't worry.

Chinchilla · 05/01/2004 22:00

It is not just men who do it you know.

zebra · 05/01/2004 22:02

But whereas women feel threatened, most husbands would merely think "Wow, can I watch?" "Can you bring your friend?" "Do you think she might also...?" They really are ruled by craving for variety in the sexual arena, you know?

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 22:02

I think that the fact they are MPEGS makes it feel more real, perhaps if they were pictures in a magazine then I would feel less threatened but who knows.

Mainly it is the fact that he can't seem to wait to get me out of the house so that he log on .

I never meant to cause offence with this thread. I just wanted to vocalise a problem I've had for a while. I guess it was mainly a rant, but thanks to all who have given good and supportive advice.

OP posts:
popsycal · 05/01/2004 22:03

Normal, PW!

ParanoidWife · 05/01/2004 22:07

I have to go as he'll be back soon and I really don't want him to see this and feel like a naughty schoolboy IYSWIM. Thanks again.

ParanoidWife

OP posts:
handlemecarefully · 06/01/2004 09:15

Paranoidwife,

My dh tells me that 90% of men he knows use porn...but I know exactly where you are coming from. I share the same sort of thought processes - if dh gets off on size 8 / 10 perfectly proportioned women with silky smooth skin and no obvious bodily imperfections, what on earth must he think when confronted with grim reality (i.e. wife with post child birth ravaged body). It's that which is difficult to deal with - not the porn per se.

Twinkie · 06/01/2004 09:34

Message withdrawn

FairyMum · 06/01/2004 09:36

I also think this is completely normal male activity and doesn't mean he fancies you any less or doesn't want you anymore. I do think it is often a few years when the children are small that your sex life suffers a bit. Sometimes I know myself that I am just too tired for sex with my husband, but I might feel like masturbating. I don't watch porn, but I have also got my secret little fantasies that I keep to myself. I personally wouldn't worry, but I know everyone feels different about porn so easy for me to say.......

ParanoidWife · 06/01/2004 09:36

Thanks hmc, that is it exactly. I find that I am stuck in a vicious circle, I feel that I need to know what he has been using in order to quieten the trust issues I have (he has never given me any other reason to suspect that he is unfaithful, but we met in an internet chat room when we were both in relationships). But in knowing what he has been using I feel disgusted with myself (and a little with him if I'm honest, it seems so sordid) and less inclined to want to have a physical relationship with him as all I see in my minds eye is him hunched over in in the computer chair.

OP posts:
ParanoidWife · 06/01/2004 09:38

Thanks Twinkie, your post is helping.

OP posts:
ThomCat · 06/01/2004 10:12

good post Twinkie.
ParanoidWife - when he's looking at those images and doing what he does - it's all just a fantasy. What he's thinking in his head bears no relation to what he would like in reality. If some of my fantasies presented themselves as reality I'd run a mile!!!
I'd try and concentrate on the fact that your sex life is improving and not worry too much about what he does in his own time or when he does it. It's only masturbation and probably 95% of the male population use images to masterbate to, us women have more vivid imaginations and don't need pictures to give ourselves a good time!