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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

Fucking men!

422 replies

StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 04:50

I am 46. I'm about a stone overweight. I'm atractive enough but no one is going to offer me a modelling contract. I'm single. I'm always fucking single or just about to make myself single again.

In the past 5 years, I've dated two men. Both for less than a year and both I dumped for crimes against respect and decency.

In the past 5 years alone, I've lost a friendship group because one of the married men in it made a really obvious play for me, was far too attentive, giddy when I was nearby and i ended up withdrawing from the group because I didn't like it and it was, quite frankly, embarrassing. I didn't fall out with anyone because I did nothing wrong but friendships dwindled once i started avoiding group stuff because of it.

I've lost another close male friend (he was married and I was close to his wife too) because, after making a pass at me when she was out of the room on one occasion and me rejecting him, he later contacted me to tell me he was in love with me Hmm which means I've lost her too.

I could have lost another friend because her husband 'developed feelings' for me - he actually told her he'd fallen in love with me Hmm. Fortunately, she is the most amazing woman ever and told me at the time that he was an idiot but she couldn't bear to lose me as a friend. We worked really hard on saving our friendship. They worked things out and it's now like that blip never happened (fortunately).

I've moved on, i've made new friends... every time it happens, i move on and make new friends. And it just happens again.

I dated someone for a few months last year (the second of the two men). I met him through friends. So we have mutual friends/acquaintances in common. Three couples mainly although the wife of one doesn't socialise much with us and has her own friends.

Of the three men... two of the three have made it known for a while that, if I were interested, they would be too. They've both declared love Hmm

The third? Well I don't know him well. He's socially awkward, quiet and a bit irascible. And then, tonight, he messaged me to say he was sorry to hear that the his friend and I had split up (4 months ago!) He's never seemed particularly interested in getting to know me or talking to me so i was surprised at his sudden friendliness...

You know where this is going...

Just pisses me off and makes me feel really sad. I know that none of these men are actually interested in me. Of these four men, one I was seeing but he never thought I was good enough for him because I'm not 28 and hot. And the other three are in relationships telling me how attractive I am and how much they fancy me.

Of all the men who have declared love to me over the past 10 years, I haven't been in a relationship with any of them and none of them have been single.

It's just fucking shit.

What is fucking wrong with them??

OP posts:
something2say · 09/02/2021 09:53

I rock skater dresses and boots. I've got some very good boots, nice jewelry, I've got long curly hair. I hope I frighten men! I had to start learning how to manage men from the age of 13. Now I play guitar and dress really well. I hope they don't even think to bother. My fiance is hunky and manly. The rest can....well you know. Its bollocks and pisses me off. All this shit. Dress to please your self!

Seatime · 09/02/2021 09:56

The men feel entitled to have affairs. They see you as a target because you are single. You shouldn't have to defend yourself on here about what you wear and how you behave. The men are married, they should have boundaries. I'm guessing that you are a nice, ordinary, attractive woman and that they see you as fair game. I mean ordinary in a good way, as in a normal person, l sense l'm digging a hole here, but you catch my drift.
I'm sorry that you had to put up with all their patriarchal entitlement. I don't know, is it possible to find single females to hang out with? Not that you should have to, but keeping the men out might make it easier. You are being punished by the patriarchy for defying them, by being single, and that is not allowed. All women must be at home, washing their boxers and sending their mummies birthday cards.

Silenceisgolden20 · 09/02/2021 09:57

It's really not you Op.
Not all men do this, they really don't. They may think it (who knows unless you can read thoughts) but they don't always act on it.
A lot of men are dickheads that would do this but not all.

prettyfamiliar · 09/02/2021 09:59

Sadly this is very common IME. When I've been single I've been very disheartened to find there are so many seemingly lovely committed family men have no problem hitting on single women who are also friends with their wife and or family. It is very very common. I've been had a "lovely" church going man of God attempt to hit on me when his wife was pregnant and already had two young children. Sorry but a lot of them are just dirty dogs.

prawntoastie · 09/02/2021 10:07

Your age really doesn't matter.
When I was 19 my partner cheated on me with a 35yr old.
Age doesn't determine if you're pretty or sexy as anyone can be this.

Just wanted to say that I don't know why you're having issues with friends men. I think you should spend time alone to find yourself and why you keep attracting these toxic people

StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 10:12

Besides, OP seems to be handling it with minimal awkwardness, that's not the issue. The issue is that the fuckers are doing it in the first place.

Yep.

Eventually it was effort not to roll my eyes and say "oh another one". I wasn't looking for attention but it found me anyway

You've summed it up perfectly. I don't find it flattering or confidence boosting. I'd rather be invisible to them. I enjoy male company, I always have done. It's just sad that, as others have said, so many men seem unable to have female friends.

The one thing I would say - the incident where you said the husband was just being attentive and too close, but never declared feelings - are you sure he had them?

Yes. He did eventually say something. And tbh it became obvious. I did feel awkward. Especially as he was the one whose wife never came out with us and my friend was encouraging me to 'go for it' 🙄

She had a bit of a track record for dating married men - she totally bought the script and felt the wives deserved it for being so awful. Again 🙄

I'm no longer friends with her for related reasons.

How do the husbands get your number - do they get it from their wives ?

Sometimes its them I met first. Sometimes you just meet someone and get on with them but I always made an effort to get to know their wives early on. Sometimes, yes, their wives have given them my number. Sometimes its because we do a shared hobby and I've messaged the wife to ask her to ask him something technical that she didnt know and she has told me to ask him directly and given me his number.

Mostly, its via fb messaging. So we're either all fb friends because we know each other, they're all friends with each other and so it would be weird if I just refused to be 'friends' with the men. And would probably look quite arrogant if I refused on the grounds that, at some point, they might message me inappropriately!

As for the skater dresses etc... I've got an hourglass figure and I wear what suits me! If i don't wear something that has a defined waist I just look like a bag of rags or enormous. I'm not going to apologise for my body or wearing clothes that suit it.

I am happily single. It would be nice to be in a relationship but it just hasn't happened for me and the more i experience of this kind of thing, the less interested i am tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think the manic pixie dream girl comment was probably quite accurate. My adult son has said similar. I'd never heard of it before he said it. I don't very often look like a sophisticated, mature woman... and I dont really want to either. I'm happy with me.

I was married a long time ago but not for long (4 years) and I have no desire to remarry. My relationships are all quite short term and 'flingy' but that's not through choice. I'd be happy with one man. I dont crave attention, I dont flirt, I dont seek male approval or validation.

I am nice. Otherwise these women wouldnt be so welcoming or so happy for me to be friends with their husbands too. I'm not 'threatening' in any way. I'm 'nice'. I'm not a female fatale Grin

Tbh I find that it’s not the blatant sexily dressed type that these men particularly go for. I am quiet, very unflirty, don’t show off my figure particularly (no skater dresses) but I have always got into messy stalkerish situations with men all my life.

Maybe... if I were 5'8, blonde and slim, I might understand it more. I'd fit a 'sexy stereotype' then at least. But I dance badly like an idiot, drink ale, and play a typically masculine instrument. I go to festivals and camping on my own and never have the need for a man to help me. If I go somewhere alone, I'm far more likely to be approached by a group of women who seek to protect the lone woman than men who are attracted to me. It's really almost exclusively married male friends (and the occasional drunk bloke in a pub who doesnt count) who hit on me - which is , again, largely why I'm single. I rarely wear heels and make up. Like I say, I'm a stone overweight but generally look after myself and present myself well but I'm not going to apologise for any of that either.

OP posts:
WarmKitty · 09/02/2021 10:15

Midlife crisis men. I would not be taking this very seriously. I think these men are testing the water to see if they’ve ‘still got it.’ They don’t love you, they text that because they think its seductive. This is all about about ego and midlife crisis. Long term marriage, kids grown up, greying hair, mundane life. It is and they are in fact, desperately sad to need to seek this kind of validation.

I don’t ever have any interest in socialising with my friends husbands. I have female friends I meet up with, I know their husbands to say hello to but I barely ever socialise with them. I’d have no interest whatsoever in that. If I did receive such a message from one, I would block that number immediately, think ‘silly old sod’ and forget about it. Shut them down and meet the wives for coffee, it’s the female friendship that’s important to you after all so don’t let these midlife crisis men spoil that.

There are good men out there who have enough self confidence to not need to behave this way. I hope you find one soon, OP.

Silenceisgolden20 · 09/02/2021 10:16

Can I ask why you're posting this again?
Just curiosity.

Melange99 · 09/02/2021 10:18

Such helpful advice @prawntoastie Hmm

crestar · 09/02/2021 10:25

Sounds like you must be God's gift.

How can anyone resist you?

StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 10:26

I would not be taking this very seriously. I think these men are testing the water to see if they’ve ‘still got it.’ They don’t love you, they text that because they think its seductive. This is all about about ego and midlife crisis. Long term marriage, kids grown up, greying hair, mundane life. It is and they are in fact, desperately sad to need to seek this kind of validation

Oh i know all of that. It's just crap. And I might not take it seriously, but I'm guessing their partners would be pretty offended/upset.

I'm guessing that you are a nice, ordinary, attractive woman and that they see you as fair game. I mean ordinary in a good way, as in a normal person, l sense l'm digging a hole here, but you catch my drift.

I do catch your drift! Grin

I am ordinary. Like I said, the women wouldn't trust me around their husbands if I was giving off predatory vibes! One casually told me once that she knew if her husband tried it on with me, she trusted me to turn him down.

She was right. I did.

something2say

I like the sound of you Wink I play bass. I don't think i frighten men though!

I alternate between feeling sorry for myself that it happens and yet I don't have a relationship of my own; indignant that it happens and well and truly fucked off.

OP posts:
pocketwarm · 09/02/2021 10:36

The thinking will be: you don’t ‘belong’ to a man therefore you are fair game to try it on with (and be grateful for it because your single status says to these men, “no man wants you luv, but I’m prepared to stick my cock in you”). Nothing to do with saving, nothing to do with attraction, nothing to do with anything apart from power and misogyny = women - stupid bitches that they are - exist for the pleasure of men.

Women who clothes shame, I find this deplorable. When will this end?

StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 10:38

Can I ask why you're posting this again?

I've already explained.

A lot of the comments last time seemed to be blaming me 🙄 but I took on board some of the advice to give it a go. Just in case...

I think if I were doing something wrong the women might have noticed though...

But it's made no difference. It's still happening.

Sounds like you must be God's gift.

How can anyone resist you?

Pretty sure that's not the tone I'm using...

Pissed off with the arrogance of men who do it and pissed off that, when I'm the one in the relationship, its happening to me because the guy I'm dating is always off looking elsewhere for better.

Presumably, if I were God's gift, the men I date would feel as lucky to have me as the married men claim they would feel.

That's why the thread is titled Fucking Men and not Look At Me, I'm So Amazing That Your Husbands Can't Resist Me Hmm

OP posts:
StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 10:42

your single status says to these men, “no man wants you luv, but I’m prepared to stick my cock in you”

Yep, I think probably is about the size of it 🙄

OP posts:
drlogerte · 09/02/2021 10:43

This will sound silly but I'm religious and it's a concubine curse. It can be broken. Go see a pastor and get prayed over. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. More practically, it's coz you ooze confidence and are happy just being you and these men are preying on you as a fantasy and should be ashamed of themselves.

youvegottenminuteslynn · 09/02/2021 10:43

@crestar

Sounds like you must be God's gift.

How can anyone resist you?

Have you actually bothered to read OP's posts properly? She sounds really nice! I don't understand the keenness for women to assume a woman is at fault for men's poor behaviour. These men are in relationships. Regardless of anyone's behaviour (not you, OP) it's up to them to not be arseholes and not try to cheat on their wives!
StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 10:50

drlogerte

It feels like one sometimes! Grin

Thank you but i have no religious beliefs whatsoever. I'm glad it works for you though Smile

OP posts:
MolyHolyGuacamole · 09/02/2021 10:51

@drlogerte

This will sound silly but I'm religious and it's a concubine curse. It can be broken. Go see a pastor and get prayed over. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. More practically, it's coz you ooze confidence and are happy just being you and these men are preying on you as a fantasy and should be ashamed of themselves.
Confused
Tehmina23 · 09/02/2021 10:53

@StoryOfMyFuckingLife Im single & have had married men at work (mainly) also occasionally neighbours asking me out.. so I get where you're coming from.

I'm friendly (as with female colleagues) but not flirty, I always wear tunic & trousers not a dress, I often have my hair in a bun with minimal makeup, wear glasses.

But I'm single & don't look like Shrek (who does?) so some men think they may get lucky...
I never go for drinks / swap numbers / make fb friends with married men. Ever.

Btw I'm not especially friendly with my best mates husbands, I'm not fb friends & we have never shared numbers. I like to keep it that way.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 09/02/2021 10:58

I've given up, men my age are rank.Happily single here.

Silenceisgolden20 · 09/02/2021 10:59

It's still happening since your last post?
With new friends or previous ones?
Cos your last post wasn't that long ago.

StoryOfMyFuckingLife · 09/02/2021 11:22

It's still happening since your last post?

I don't know when I last posted. Last year sometime?

Yes. It happened at Christmas and again last night.

The man last night was someone I've known socially for a couple of years; an acquaintance/friend of friend I've barely spoken to in the past. I've been friends with his wife for a couple of years.

OP posts:
Silenceisgolden20 · 09/02/2021 11:38

To the man who sent you a dick pic, I would block and have nothing to do with him.

Fireandflames666 · 09/02/2021 11:38

Oh op, I was in the same situation until I met my current partner. I don't even wear dresses... I wear jeans and geeky t-shirts. Still most of my male friends kept trying it on even though I didn't want to know. I think some men just think single womr are an easy target.

WarmKitty · 09/02/2021 11:41

OP whether their wives take it seriously or not is absolutely irrelevant to you. It’s not your business to care about that. I’m not sure why you care so much. I absolutely believe in the Sisterhood but your view on how much the wives care and why it matters to you is I suspect the root of your problem.

This is all actually a potential pot of trouble that can easily be shut down with a single tap without a second thought. There’s really no drama here.

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