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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

Husband using prostitutes

214 replies

shockedandshaken · 24/03/2017 12:56

Hello - I've name-changed for this for obvious reasons. This morning I found out that my husband has been using prostitutes. I've found evidence through an online account going back several years. I suspect now that this is something that he's always done. I'm shocked and feel sick - I can't even feel angry yet. I can't believe I'm writing this thread. I've read so many on here and felt desperately sorry for the posters, and now it's my turn. He won't be back from work until this evening. I'm not sure what to do. I've got a school event to get through this afternoon. I've taken as much evidence as I can find and have emailed it to myself and copied it to a couple of devices so that he can't deny anything. I'll take my DD to my Mum's before he's back. I've told a friend IRL. Trying to think of how I want the conversation to go with him but it feels so surreal. Any advice?

OP posts:
NotAnotherNoughtiesTune · 03/07/2017 22:26

You still haven't answered me user - would you be cool with your wife fucking about?

Fair enough if you would.

But it's not one rule for men and a different for women.

On UKCunting site a lot of the men say if their wife cheated, used to be a prostitute or had lots of sex partners he'd be disgusted/leave her/think she was trash - yet it's OK for them to do it?

I'd just about wrap my head around if they were cool with it happening the other way around but nope - misogyny ahoy.

user1499118954 · 03/07/2017 23:26

There is no need to be so abusive ladies - along with everyone else I am just presenting my views here. All I am saying is that infidelity does not necessarily mean the end of marriage.

NANT: My situation is quite interesting in that, after a divorce (which had nothing to do with cheating), I started seeing WGs and ended up dating one. She promised me to stop working but I caught her cheating. We had a mighty fight, broke up for a while but ended up together again. So when I say it is possible to recover from infidelity I am speaking from experience. This is also why I have an insight into both sides of sex industry which most members on this forum lack.

The other thing I mentioned briefly is that modern feminism, viewed from a wife's perspective, is a con. It gave your hubbies sexual access to other "liberated" women who would otherwise be in committed relationships and unavailable for casual encounters. So on the one hand feminism has this sistahood thing in which all women should stick together and fight patriarchy but on the other it is "normal" women against home-wreckers which I am finding quite amusing. Newsflash: if you, ladies, think that women can do with their bodies what they want this includes sleeping with your husbands!

Through this inconsistent thinking we ended up with the Scandinavian model in which offering sex services is legal but consuming them is not. Using a drug analogy dealers would be allowed to roam the streets but users would be punished. If this is not loopy I don't know what is.

Josuk · 03/07/2017 23:45

So - user ....954....
You'd have been better off not catching your girl back on the streets - I assume, that follows from your previous statements.
What you don't know don't hurt you?

Recovering from infidelity - sure it's possible. But it's different, depending on a type of arrangements and expectations.
Married people tend to put a much higher bar on monogamy - just by the nature of the arrangement.
You and your WG were 'dating'. And, given her profession, I am sure you didn't have quite as high actual expectation of monogamy...

That said, I do believe people have overly romantic expectations of long term monogamy.

merville · 03/07/2017 23:50

"The other thing I mentioned briefly is that modern feminism, viewed from a wife's perspective, is a con. It gave your hubbies sexual access to other "liberated" women who would otherwise be in committed relationships and unavailable for casual encounters. "

Yes, because no married woman on the face of the planet has ever had an affair.
Likewise before feminism; there were absolutely no single women in existence anywhere - no unmarried girls, no spinsters, no widows, no prostitutes/courtesans ...

It's feminism that has provided men with woman to cheat with - none of them ever existed before.

You seem highly intelligent.

merville · 03/07/2017 23:52

Oh and that's not abusive _ I'm merely stating that I don't understand how anyone with a functioning brain could have come up with that theory and not seen its fundamental flaws.

merville · 04/07/2017 00:03

"(FWIW XP does sometimes bleat on about 'what a difficult time he was having' confused. I guess these men so sad they got caught they get all sorry for themselves. angry )".

Always wonder if they are in fact sociopaths or similar. Because this ^ reminds me of what someone who works with convicted paedophiles said - that their focus is 100% on the effect on themselves of being caught and punished, they feel so sorry for themselves and can talk endlessly about the effect on them and their lives .. but the second thy are asked what they think the effect has been on the kids they abuse; they look blank and are quiet and it has to be suggested and squeezed to get anything out of them. It's not even that they don't want to say something, it's that they have no empathy. Apparently men are much more likely to be sociopaths than women.

user1499118954 · 04/07/2017 00:12

@merville:
Thanks for your thoughtful post. Of course cheating is as old as humanity but the number of women who avail themselves to the extramarital shenanigans has increased greatly with the advent of feminism (and general breakdown of traditional roles which is also related to the rise of feminism).

So now let me ask you a question. Do you see any irony/inconsistency/contradiction in women going on and on about being able to do what they want with their bodies but being miserable when their men hook up with other ladies who are willing to share theirs?

user1499118954 · 04/07/2017 00:20

@Josuk:
You are right, her relapse was always more than a possibility because our relationship is so unusual (we first met in the rooms). But this experience also made me realise that there is a bond beyond exclusive intimacy that couples can fall back on in times of trouble. She saw some guys who paid for her time - so what? Similarly, maybe not such a big deal if a guy saw some women and paid them.

merville · 04/07/2017 00:22

The society is falling apart, morality is declining wail - while blaming feminism (I wonder why some men might want to blame feminism hmm) is bullsh*t in my opinion - it is the result of someone who doesn't know enough about social history but presumes things and looks at the past through rose-tinted glasses ... infidelity has always been rife.

Oh and your claim that it's down to more available, 'sexually liberated' women to cheat with is completely irrelevant in this thread - where the husband has not in fact cheated with a civilian but with sex workers ... who have been around since time immemorial.

As to your question - I honestly wonder what is wrong with you, but I'll spell it out anyway. People are free to do whatever the fk they want with their bodes ... except when they wilfully enter into monogamous, committed relationships with other people.
In that case they are deceiving & betraying their partner, alongside exposing them to std's that could damage their health (and in the case of women their unborn children's health), and spending significant couple/family money on something not agreed to etc. etc.

What was is that needed explained about that?

SandyY2K · 04/07/2017 00:24

Did he admit to physical meetings or is he still spinning you the yarn of webcams only?

GardenGeek · 04/07/2017 00:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

merville · 04/07/2017 00:38

(What was it that needed explained about that)

user1499118954 · 04/07/2017 00:42

@merville:
Your dismissive answers show lack of understanding of the sex industry - the fact I eluded to in my post above. The relaxation of the moral standards which coincided with the advent of feminism also include removal of stigma which used to be associated with being a prostitute. In this sense it is absolutely relevant in the context of a discussion about someone's hubby's whoring. Some (many?) of the women he saw would not be working had the traditional values been upheld and sex work stigmatised, as opposed to being celebrated as a sign of Brave New World progressiveness.

Similarly you deliberately avoided answering my question. I did not ask about the moral/health value (or otherwise) of seeing prostitutes but womens' support for liberal feminism which affirms the right of females to sell their body to the men willing to pay for it. How else would the women who choose sex work as a career option support themselves were it not for the patronage provided by other womens' boyfriends or husbands?

merville · 04/07/2017 00:43

Garden Geek - sadly I've heard the 'feminism is responsible for the decline of society' thing many times now.
Funny how something that gets mens' boot (slightly off) womens' heads doesn't sit well with some men and is lined up as the cause of everything bad tat could ever happen.

There's another forum I frequent where men state their opinion that the vote should be taken ff women, that they're like children who need to be guided or they destroy themselves & society, that they shouldn't be allowed to work outside the home etc. etc. I wish I was joking but I'm not.

merville · 04/07/2017 00:50

"The relaxation of the moral standards which coincided with the advent of feminism also include removal of stigma which used to be associated with being a prostitute. In this sense it is absolutely relevant in the context of a discussion about someone's hubby's whoring. Some (many?) of the women he saw would not be working had the traditional values been upheld and sex work stigmatised, as opposed to being celebrated as a sign of Brave New World progressiveness."

User - you are delusional, ignorant & illogical
Because;
a. there is still a stigma with sex work
b. there have been times in the past when the stigma with sex work was no less or greater than it is now
c. there would always have been enough sex workers for the posters' husband to find one if he wanted to. There have never ever been zero prostitutes. In fact while you want to argue that there are no because there's less stigma; would argue there are less (than Victorian times for example) British prostitutes because there are more alternatives for them to put food in their mouths. There may be more imported prostitutes - due to sex trafficking, poverty, exploitation etc.

I have to go to sleep and will answer your other piece of nonsense later - if I don't wise up abotu about wasting my time.

GardenGeek · 04/07/2017 00:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Josuk · 04/07/2017 00:54

User...954...
Your relationship (or arrangement, or whatever it is) - is different from OPs.
In the same way open relationships are different from traditional marriages.
You, her - didn't enter into it with certain expectations - however marriage institution has developed and evolved - is it still, mostly doesn't imply an open relationship.

And there in lies the issue here. Open relationships - (prostitution part aside here) - are of course possible - BUT it's a consious choice by two partners.

I know people who live in marriages with different arrangements, and normally there are a set of rules they decide on together.

In OP's case - husband went that way unilaterally. So - OP can't really be expected to adopt your point of view - that it's OK, why not have an open arrangement if love is there....

user1499118954 · 04/07/2017 01:10

@merville

My comments:

a/ I do not stigmatise sex workers and neither do most men. It is mainly jealous/hurt family-minded females who do - which goes to the heart of my question which you again failed to answer :-)

b/not sure what you are trying to prove by prophetically stating that "there have been times in the past when the stigma with sex work was no less or greater than it is now" so comment withheld

c/here you are proving lack of understanding of the rules of free market economy. There have always been and will always be prostitutes (What was is that needed explained about that?) but the more there are at any given time the more affordable their services become. In countries with strict laws against prostitution there are less prostitutes and they charge more so it takes resourcefulness, and deep pockets for men to use them. You are delusional, ignorant & illogical not to understand that a normal married guy is more likely to use prostitutes if seeing them is legal, socially acceptable and affordable than if it is not.

GardenGeek · 04/07/2017 01:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotAnotherNoughtiesTune · 04/07/2017 09:14

user I don't think anyone is blaming the prostitute for being available. She has every right to be.

It's the person who promised to be faithful that is the issue.

merville · 04/07/2017 10:49

user1499118954

"Similarly you deliberately avoided answering my question. I did not ask about the moral/health value (or otherwise) of seeing prostitutes but womens' support for liberal feminism which affirms the right of females to sell their body to the men willing to pay for it. How else would the women who choose sex work as a career option support themselves were it not for the patronage provided by other womens' boyfriends or husbands?"

I didn’t deliberately avoid answering anything; your views are so twisted and mixed up I barely know where to begin addressing them. Also I thought you were referring to the general right of people to have sex as/when they want to without judgement; not specifically to people prostituting themselves.

To answer this ^

A. You assume all women or a significant proportion of women are liberal feminists – you can’t know that.

B. There are many shades of opinion within feminism – it is not a single, united idealogy – and one wouldn’t expect it to be. You lack understanding of that when you ascribe views on prostitution to all ‘feminists’ or ‘liberal feminists’.

C. If one does support the right of someone to sell sexual services – that does not mean that you accept the ‘right’ of people who have entered into committed, monogamous relationships to use those services. They have agreed to sexual exclusivity. Those services may be available; that does not mean that someone has to use them .. everyone has a choice, every has personal responsibility. That applies to cheating in exclusive relationships with both sex workers and ‘civilians’.

I have massive reservations about prostitution due to issues like drug addiction, exploitation and past sexual abuse ….(it is no coincidence that those beautiful young women murdered in Ipswich while working as prostitutes were drug addicts). However, if a non-exploited, non-addict person of sound mind wants to sell sexual services, I do not believe I have the right to try to stop them.

That does not mean however that I do not have the right to expect my partner not to use prostitutes while in a monogamous relationship with me; and likewise (since you seem to have such trouble turning it around and seeing it as anything other than a men using prostitutes v’s women issue) my partner has the right to expect me not to use male escorts who offer sexual services.

I cannot control who uses prostitutes – that is up to that individual. They don’t have to do it. They know what they’re doing. If someone in a monogamous relationship uses prostitutes they know they are betraying & deceiving their partner, they know they’re acting morally reprehensively, they know they’re breaking the rules they agreed upon in the relationship .. and they can expect to lose the relationship if/when found out.
(Also, believe or not, there are actually some single men in the world who may use prostitutes).

Would you like me to explain other self-evident things that any normally adjusted person would not need explained?

Your other post;

“My comments:

a/ I do not stigmatise sex workers and neither do most men. It is mainly jealous/hurt family-minded females who do - which goes to the heart of my question which you again failed to answer :-)

I did not state that you stigmatise prostitutes .. if you did you would be the biggest hypocrite walking the earth .. since you are a user of prostitutes.
You cannot speak for “most men”; you simply don’t know. I have seen many accounts of men on forums who have used prostitutes but would never ever consider entering into a relationship with a prostitute or former prostitute. They are ‘untouchables’ to them; forever judged as fallen women, damaged and ‘dirty’. Don’t act so fkg naïve.
Also; I was referring to a much wider demographic – not just you & some other men .. you seem to have trouble grasping that. In my experience we are nowhere near a stage where someone can openly discuss either being or using a sex worker without it negatively affecting others’ opinion of them.

Yes; you are 100% right – the only reason I’d have any judgement whatsoever of someone in a monogamous relationship having sex with prostitutes behind their partner’s back .. is JEALOUSY.
You’re remind me of type of guy who genuinely believes that the only reason women are uncomfortable with men having sex with teenagers when they’re in their 30’s and beyond; is because they’re jealous. Refer to my post above about sociopaths.

c/here you are proving lack of understanding of the rules of free market economy. There have always been and will always be prostitutes (What was is that needed explained about that?) but the more there are at any given time the more affordable their services become. In countries with strict laws against prostitution there are less prostitutes and they charge more so it takes resourcefulness, and deep pockets for men to use them. You are delusional, ignorant & illogical not to understand that a normal married guy is more likely to use prostitutes if seeing them is legal, socially acceptable and affordable than if it is not.”

At no point have I shown any failure to understand the rules of the free market economy – but thanks for the mini lecture, Keynes. To the contrary I mentioned poverty in my points about a significant portion of sex workers in the UK being foreign.

Prostitution is not (fully) legal, is not socially acceptable (though I understand as a prostitute user why you want to believe it is) … but whatever the case people in monogamous relationships who CHOOSE to have sex with other people behind their (not) loved one’s back are responsible for that decision, I don’t care how affordable or anything etc. it might be. It is beyond the pale, if a married/attached person does not see that and have some boundaries and integrity, they are not fit to be in an exclusive relationship.

Oh and btw – as a prostitute user, you are an example of a man whom I would never ever knowingly enter a relationship with, and never knowingly associate with. Your behaviour also fits with your opinions as expressed above. Your single redeeming feature seems to be that you’re not the 24-carat hypocrite that many prostitute using men are and will actually enter a relationship with a former prostitute.

I have more time ‘discussing’ this with you than I ever should have, good luck.

merville · 04/07/2017 10:52

(wasted)

user1492579407 · 04/07/2017 12:17

Merville what is your problem? You seem obssessed with this issue

S0ph1a · 04/07/2017 12:38

Please take your self justifying bullshit debating off this thread User and start your own.

I can't see how this can be helping the OP.

shockedandshaken · 04/07/2017 13:43

Well, I'm thoroughly enlightened now - I shouldn't be angry at my husband for cheating and paying to use women's bodies - it's all feminism's fault. How could he be expected to resist all those empowered women exercising their right to earn themselves some money? Silly me! Wink

SandyY2K - no he hasn't admitted actually having physical meetings with them. He's sticking firmly to his story. Hmm

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