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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

Hen Weekend

115 replies

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 07:35

Ladies/gents i have just discovered mumsnet even though Im a bloke ha whilst browsing through this subject on the internet. Apologies if this is a bit long winded.
I am 60 yrs old and my wife is 57 having been married 37 yrs, we have no children and have been happy with each other.My dear old mum died recently very suddenly aged 86 and as you can imagine me and my sisters are still grieving. My wife never visited my mum very much she didnt exactly fall out with her I think it was a case sometimes of wives at least in my experience not having much to do with the husbands family and everything was always concentrated around my OHs family.
Anyway a couple of weeks ago OH went on a hen do with about 30 other hens it was her friends dtrs hen do and they were away for two nights. On the Sat they were away I went to see my mum for the last time at the funeral parlour prior to her funeral and later that day got a txt from OH saying "OMG what a hoot we are drawing a male nude" To be honest I was shocked and although my OH had asked if it was ok that she went on the hen do I said yes go and enjoy I will be ok I just thought it would be a girly weekend with lots of alcohol a bit sillyness some shopping etc. Her mates are a group of in their late 50s and have good jobs in the public sector.
The upshot is that they were taken to a rather seedy pub (my OHs words) and a young man posed nude in various postions and they had to draw him whilst being served by a semi naked butler. To be fair with OH she did tell me about what happened saying it was a bit embarrassing but they all had a good giggle. I got suspicious when i asked her where were the drawings she done and also the very guilty look on her mates face when she came to our house to collect her car just after they arrived back home.My OH said the drawings were being kept by the brides mum and and later my OH deleted pics from her phone after I had to be honest gone a bit ballistic.
I then looked on the internet under this male drawing thing and was quite shocked by the images, reviews descriptions about what happens on these sort of events. So I then went on Facebook looking at her friends profiles and saw some pics which showed (not my OH) touching the young lad in various poses and one where he was somewhat excited. how these types of pics can be put on facebook I don't know some were just his bottom etc but 1 showed his penis with lots women touching him all over his body. A big arguement ensued with OH and I told her how shocked I was that she could take part in this sort of thing and more so while my mum was still to be buried. My view is that if it was gender reversal and it was me and a group of my middle aged mates closely looking at a naked young girl for an hour and a half with her legs open and drawing her intimate parts we would be regarded as perverts and rightly so. I can accept that my Oh didnt know what was about to happen and couldnt just walk out but if it was her mum when she died and I had been part of this sordid thing I would have been shunned by her family. Can it be seen any other way?

OP posts:
JoyVed · 18/05/2015 13:37

Why do you think your wife's friends have gone quiet?
Why do you think she's been secretive with her mobile?

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 13:38

why are you looking to attack me and pick up points to attack when I havn't done anything wrong thats a bit unfair.

OP posts:
jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 13:40

Joy I can only surmise they have something to hide is that not a natural assumption wouldnt a lot of women react the same if their partners changed their behaviour patterns.

OP posts:
JoyVed · 18/05/2015 13:42

Who is looking to attack you? Confused

I think some of us are now struggling to understand what you want from the thread.
Did you just want to vent about it, or are you looking for some sort of advice, or looking for everyone to just agree with you and say how wrong your wife's behaviour has been?

I'll bow out, as I don't know what your expectations are and seem to be upsetting you.
I hope you can work things out with your wife.

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 13:49

well it seems like Im getting it in the neck a bit as can be seen from some other posters. I thought it was ok to come on here for advice and vent your feelings too. Ive been given lots of advice which I will consider and think about of course. I have been under stress through bereavement and then this so its not so surprising that I want to get rid of and hopefully move on. They say its good to talk so thats what Ive done. Thanks all for taking the time.

OP posts:
TheGirlFromIpanema · 18/05/2015 13:50

Sorry for your loss OP but seriously you need to either get over the fact that your wife was part of a hen group acting in a way you and your sisters find distasteful or leave her...

I can't think why you are going round in circles on here tbh.

Are you asking us if we think it is a crime worthy of divorce? Confused

If so, imho, no it's not.

Are you suggesting that something happened between your wife and the model? Double Confused

If so, I highly doubt it.

I actually think that smashing things in the home is a far more serious relationship 'crime'. I'd probably let it go if I was your wife, given the circumstances, but it is pretty horrible if you ask me.

None of this is in any way connected with the passing of your mum though or teh relationship your dw had with her before her passing. Try not to confuse the issues here and you might see things more clearly.

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 14:04

the girlfrom ip you have got to be joking, smashing one tea cup on the kitchen floor is more serious and horrible as a relationship issue when she wasn't even in the house. Now that is being attacked. I am talking about morals and values here which I was brought up on and you just casually throw that in my face.For crying out loud my wife is 57 not some young kid and I expected more from her than this in terms of respect morals et al. Of course it is connected with the passing of my mum see the post above somewhere about men going a strip joint while a woman's mum is laying in her coffin.How would you feel about that?

OP posts:
Vivacia · 18/05/2015 14:11

Beyond some undignified, distasteful behaviour it's pretty difficult to see what "relationship crime" she has committed. Smashing a cup is pretty straight forward threatening behaviour.

Vivacia · 18/05/2015 14:13

Your wife going to some kind of cheap, objectifying "art class" is not related to your recent bereavement.

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 14:19

Below is the post put on by Fontella see post above.

If my partner had gone on a hen weekend with my mother lying in her coffin there would have been hell to pay

Too fucking right!

I'm shocked to be honest reading some of these responses and the way the OP is under attack.

Double standards indeed.

I've just lost my mum and my husband has gone off on a stag do. On the day I go to see my beloved mum lying in her coffin I get a text from my H crowing about what this bunch of late 50s professional men (including a school teacher) are doing - painting a naked girl. I then later discover they weren't just painting her but touching her and examining her genitals and the pictures are all over facebook.

I can just imagine the responses to that one ... but when it's a grieving son and husband and a wife off on a hen do ... he's the one getting all the stick.

Unbelievable!

OP posts:
TheGirlFromIpanema · 18/05/2015 14:21

Aah ok sorry OP, I did miss the update that she wasn't in the house, apologies genuinely.

You sound very upset - what would you like to happen now?

Vivacia · 18/05/2015 14:22

And?

You've had pages of support and sympathy, right from the very first replies.

TheGirlFromIpanema · 18/05/2015 14:24

Yes exactly Viv.

I'm failing to see how we can help.

Fwiw I agree that the naked modeling 'art class' is gross, I would personally sit out. I still do think that smashing a cup is OTT and plain old vandalism but can see how it would happen in these circs.

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 14:25

A good friend of mine is our vicar at our local church so I will go and speak with him in confidence of course about the rights and wrongs of all this as my moral compass is getting a lot off course due to some comments on here.

OP posts:
DrMorbius · 18/05/2015 14:27

OP - Although both things are connected in your mind, they probably are not connected in your DW's mind.

You have had a terribly sad loss. I am not sure why, but your DW was not there for you (at what could be one of the hardest times of your life). Whether she got on with your Mother or not, is frankly irrelevant. As your partner one would think your welfare at this sad time would be her priority. However you both seem to have decided that she should go on the Hen party.

Once on the Hen party she can hardly spend the time in some form of semi-mourning. At Stag/Hen parties you often get roped into some skanky sexual shenanigans. Most people go along with it, even though you would rather not be there. She was not wise sending you the text or taking photo's. But once you have agreed for her to go, you cant really blame her for the choice of "entertainment" (unless she booked it) and you can't really blame her for enjoying herself.

jethro1954 · 18/05/2015 14:29

That is all. Farewell fellow human beings and take care, my little soap opera is of no consequence really in the grander scheme of things. Be good and may your God go with you.

OP posts:
NotQuiteSoOnEdge · 18/05/2015 14:42

May I just ask, you said your wife didn't see your DM for the last four years. How often did you yourself see your mum throughout?

And you said there were issues between them. Enough so that it didn't seem objectionable to you for her to go on a hen do. What were these issues, as you understand them?

GinSoakedBitchyPony · 18/05/2015 14:44

He's taken his leave of us, Not.

Vivacia · 18/05/2015 14:55

Be Good.

slithytove · 18/05/2015 15:56

Be good... So no life drawing or cup smashing then.

Pippa12 · 18/05/2015 16:07

Putting myself in her shoes, If my husband said things like 'it will leave a dirty stain on our marriage', I'd been accused of fondling a '20year old boy' and deemed tacky and disrespectful by my husband and 3 sisters for being roped in to a activity on a hen doo I'd feel like running for the hills, never mind be quiet. She's probably deleted the photos feeling like she doesn't want to remember any part of it, in fact wishes she'd never gone and stayed at home with her greiving husband, which personally I think she should've done. Her friends are probably quiet knowing you've gone nuclear and either not texting with post hen party banter or giving you both space to come to terms with your loss.

Try to put this to the back of your mind, you obviously care for your wife and have had a lovely marriage until now- she isn't sleeping her way round the town because she's drawn a penis and observed rampant hens smothering him. She will of had no interest in this lad, just enjoying a girly giggle. I wouldn't go to far with this if you have been berating her for two whole weeks.

iamEarthymama · 18/05/2015 16:54

I would look at my partner with different eyes if she left me to grieve my mother while she partied.
Obviously this isn't the way some posters relationship work but I think most people I am friends with would not leave their partner alone if they lost a parent who they obviously love very much.
I am as old as OP probably, lost my mother 4 years ago. My partner cooked for me, consoled me, got out all the old photos and let me reminisce about the past, welcomed the family, cwtched me up and held me tight.

My mum was old and I'll and are part of me was relieved she had passed.
But I miss her every day and still cry for her if I am in pain or great sadness.

I think OP has been very shabbily treated by his wife and she should be trying to make him feel better. He is hurt and rightly so.

I think he just wants someone to say, she was wrong and she was wrong for leaving you then, let alone taking part in something as tacky as "life-drawing".

Talk to her, OP, tell her how sad you are. Hope you can create good memories of your mum's passing now. Plant a lovely shrub that she liked in the garden xx

Vivacia · 18/05/2015 17:14

I would look at my partner with different eyes if she left me to grieve my mother while she partied.

Me too, but OP gave her his blessing, sorry, his permission.

specialsubject · 18/05/2015 17:24

allegedly grown women laughing at the discovery of what a naked male looks like?

I hope the bloke gets paid a lot. I would have walked out, not because a naked male is disgusting or perverted but because the whole thing is just so stupid. And the grope session - that IS disgusting.

sorry for your loss, and for your wife's insensitivity in going on about this cringe-making session when you are so recently bereaved.

KPlunk · 18/05/2015 18:09

I'm very sorry for the loss of your mother Thanks

I think this type of hen party event is revolting. I would have refused to be part of it.

OP, I hope you can filter out the more unhelpful posts. It's because you are male - some MN's aren't too found of men Wink

You wife was very insensitive and a bit stupid to have got involved with the nude painting but I doubt that she did it to be purposely hurtful to you. She has apologised and I presume she now understands what she has done and how much it has upset you.

If I were you I would let the matter go now. You have other things to think about at the moment and I can't see any good in dwelling on this. I think it's still all a bit raw at the moment but hopefully you will feel better soon.

I don't think going ballistic or smashing cups is going to help the situation. It's childish and overly dramatic. It's a good idea to talk to your vicar friend - hopefully you will get some sensible advice and support. Good luck. I hope you feel calmer soon.