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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

Do you go out without your partner?

368 replies

VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 14:25

I've been in a relationship for a few months.

Partner, bit older, Says he has never gone out without his partner in previous relationships, and would not do so.

He seems to think me expecting to go out without him is weird/inappropriate. This crops up almost every time I go out without him and is becoming a source of friction.

(My sisters, in fairness, dint tend to go out without their partner's. A coffee in the daytime would be the height of it. I've always been more independent though).

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 22:48

The bit about mentioning you'd like to do xyz so can you change the day/night you usually see him that week.

It's only cropped up twice and I didn't ask (to go), I told him what I was dkingvabd asked if the alternative day/night suited him OK. If it hadn't, I just wouldn't have been seeing him on the alternative day.

He accepted the first occasion and met up on Sunday instead (obviously not the usual overnight meet up) though he did... gripe/criticise slightly in the weeks after. Second occasion, he was angry. He seemed to think it was unreasonable of me to not see him on his only truly free night, and unreasonable if my relative to ask me to go out on his only truly free night. I got the impression he felt like I use him as the default/fall back for weekend company but them shuffle him to the side if i get a "better" offer. He also got into the theme of why he hadn't been invited, why my relative thought that was polite/appropriate .. thst his relatives would not not invite me. I pointed out that it was a girls night out, he was welcome to come but he'd be the only man there.
(Also since his relatives don't go out without their partner's, he isn't invited to guys nights out (!))

OP posts:
OnyxOryx · 08/11/2021 22:49

It sounds very much like he's operating under the assumption that weekends are his, so you see him weekends and negotiate for "time off" which is granted at his discretion. The only reason he's not also claimed weekdays yet is because you don't live together, although he's started trying to from what you've said. Like you're a possession to him, not a person with your own life who is capable of making your own decisions about how to spend your time and decide for yourself when you're available to see him.

My ex used to say he didn't know what my problem was because he let me go out with my friends. Leaving aside the fact he made my life so difficult it was easier for me not to go out and a bloody nightmare if I did. It's that assumption he had that he decided whether I went out with my friends or not, that sense of entitlement to rule my life, like he was doing me a favour by not standing there barring the doorway!

VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 22:50

but you would never have posted this if you felt it was normal/right.

No, i don't think its right.

But i know lots of couples like this (his take) so I wonder if I'm being selfish/headstrong/unreasonable. But lots and lots of posters on here go out without their partner's so ..

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 22:55

Reading the latest posts, and I feel like you are justifying his opinion

I'm explaining his background & community.. doesn't mean I don't think they're bonkers, or unhealthy.

Doesn't mean I don't realise, even if there are lots like him, maybe I don't fit there

OP posts:
Graphista · 08/11/2021 22:56

gripe/criticise slightly in the weeks after.

He went on about it for WEEKS?!

Oh hell no!

SleepingStandingUp · 08/11/2021 22:57

@VelvetRope212

but you would never have posted this if you felt it was normal/right.

No, i don't think its right.

But i know lots of couples like this (his take) so I wonder if I'm being selfish/headstrong/unreasonable. But lots and lots of posters on here go out without their partner's so ..

You don't live together. You don't live that near. I assume you're not with him every night and that isn't up for changing. It's ridiculous that you should have to sit home alone unless you're seeing him because he's insecure.
Kite22 · 08/11/2021 22:57

Actually he describes himself as old school, on this subject

I see why people are saying 'red flag', but it really does depend how old he is. There are huge generational differences here.

How old are you folks talking about exactly ?
My parents would be 90 and 92 now if they were still alive - they weren't joined at the hip, and, like a pp felt it was incredibly important to have things they did apart from one another, even more so as they aged, as they had seen too many 'joined at the hip' widows / widowers just crumble without their partner, and other friends cope better as they were used to spending time apart.
I'm mid 50s - tonight, dh went for a curry with some work friends and I was at a meeting to do with something I volunteer with. Tomorrow I am going to the theatre and he has a meeting. We will both be in the next day. This is a fairly typical pattern for us, in "our generation".
I have 3 x dc in their 20s (and various dn). They too go out with their partners sometimes, sometimes with their partners and meeting up with other folk, and sometimes without their partners.
So that is 3 generations (including "older" ones) who all think it is normal to go to different things with different people.

It's interesting that so many posters on gete regularly go out separately; my older sisters do not, and that's not uncommon among people around our age (30s, 40s) here.

See above

I'm in my '60s. It's not uncommon at all in my social group for members of couples to 'do their own thing' as well as do things together. My social group ranges in age from 40s-60s. Same thing goes for my DC and my nieces/nephews who are in their 20s/30s.
It's not a 'generational' thing. It's an insecurity/control thing.

Exactly.

VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 23:01

I assume you're not with him every night and that isn't up for changing

I would not do it for various reasons.- its a bunch of teenagers' home and they didn't ask.for me to be on the scene .. i don't like pursuing relationships in a full on, inmoderate, unbalanced way, my job is in my home town and I don't have a car atm etc. but I get the impression if his gf did want to spend pretty much all her time there, he'd probably go along with it.

OP posts:
AveryGoodlay · 08/11/2021 23:02

Of course I go out without my partner because we trust each other and, shock horror to some on Mumsnet, I have friends outside of my partner who I like to see and talk to, and they me, confidentially at times.

ChargingBuck · 08/11/2021 23:03

Second occasion, he was angry

Oh dear. You've known this man a few months, & he has the fucking temerity to try & control your social life with his anger?

Why are you tiptoeing round this? It's only going to "work" if you end up either conceding to him & kowtowing to the local conventions, or if you put most of your energy into managing him & maintaining your boundaries.

The first option is miserable, & the second option is exhausting & miserable, surely?

AveryGoodlay · 08/11/2021 23:04

Having said that, this is mumsnet where some posters won't even go to a wedding on their own despite having friends there!

Ragwort · 08/11/2021 23:04

What is special about this man that you are agonising over his behaviour and wondering if it is 'normal' ... Hmm.
Just from what you've posted on here he sounds controlling and over bearing, and why is he so insistent on you being available on his 'free' nights ( for sex ?).

Of course you are not being headstrong or selfish. Please don't doubt yourself, is your self esteem very poor? This guy seems to want a 'stepford wife', just ditch him and enjoy your independence.

SleepingStandingUp · 08/11/2021 23:05

@VelvetRope212

It's interesting that so many posters on gete regularly go out separately; my older sisters do not, and that's not uncommon among people around our age (30s, 40s) here.
It's uncommon in the people I know and I'm a similar age. You're really not odd in this op.
me4real · 08/11/2021 23:06

Wow how claustrophobic and not allowing you your own space to think, breathe, and be yourself.

He's controlling and manipulative.

Verfremdungseffekt · 08/11/2021 23:15

@VelvetRope212

I get the impression he thinks single people go out socially alone, but people in relationships do not; and are acting like they're single if they do.
My mother thinks this, but she was born in the 1940s, met my father when she was 19 and genuinely believes that women only go out socially to meet men to marry, so going out ever again without your husband clamped firmly to your side is the equivalent of wearing a flashing sign that says ‘I’m a bit of a hussy, like a tipple and have a Wandering Eye.’ In her imagination, the Married Woman Who Goes Out Solo dresses like Bet Lynch, complete with beehive bun, brassy lipstick and thousand-yard stare.

But that’s my mother. Are you sure your boyfriend wasn’t born in the 1940s, rather than in his 40s?

OnyxOryx · 08/11/2021 23:23

He's bad news, expecting you to justify your decision to meet up with that relative on that night.

Can you see how you already changed your behaviour three times?

Firstly you justified it to him, when no justification was necessary. You made a decision and he should have accepted it without question or comment (except, "have a nice time" or similar and arranging when else he could meet you that week).

Secondly, you invited him along on a girls night out! The very definition of which means he's not invited! If you've read the thread you'll see from others that contrary to what you told him, he's not welcome on a girls night out.

When he's free isn't your problem, if he wants more 1-2-1 time with you, let him change his life to achieve it instead of creating a situation in his life where he's limited to one available day and you're expected to toe the line and comply because he decrees it so.

He's also shown massive escalation in controlling behaviour already. Going from moaning a bit (WTF?! Like he has any right to do that!) over a few weeks (so repeatedly hassling you about your perfectly reasonable choices, aka bullying you) to getting angry the second time, after moaning at you the first time didn't work to make you never do it again.

He's done you a favour, if the escalation was slower you might not have picked up on it so soon. That feeling of awkward, of something not being quite right, that's the feeling of someone trampling over your boundaries. People who do that are never good news.

So onto the third way you've changed your behaviour. He's tying your thoughts up (and your spare time) with justifications, explanations, attempts to reason with him, attempts to make him see/understand your point of view, defending your choices and views. You're spending more time trying to understand him, figure out why he's like this so you can counteract it to him with logic, questioning yourself if you're the unreasonable one, questioning what's normal. All in the hope that if you say the right thing he'll suddenly understand and therefore stop his comments. He won't, because these types of people already understand, they just don't like it so they try to manipulate to get a situation they do like. It's not ignorance on his part, it's deliberate. It's a change of behaviour because I bet date one with him wasn't like this. I bet you don't behave this way with others in your life (and if you do, they're toxic too).

DARVO means Deny Abuse and Reverse Victim and Offender. So he tells you his actions are normal and it's not him that's unreasonable, it's you and you're the unfair abusive one. That's what he's doing, except this time he blamed your relative not you, but yes sort of still blaming you for not challenging your "rude" relatives behaviour. The relative wasn't rude at all for asking you on a night out on any day of the week.

Don't JADE means don't Justify, Argue, Defend or Explain. It's how to deal with arseholes. You inform them and that's it. End of. Nothing else. Don't get sucked in wasting your time telling him why you have the right to make your own decisions. He already knows, he just doesn't like it.

Lifewith · 08/11/2021 23:23

He sounds suffocating and wants to bring you in line. A lot of controlling men do see some women too free for their liking as a challenge.
Fuck that shit

VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 23:48

*My mother thinks this, but she was born in the 1940s, met my father when she was 19 and genuinely believes that women only go out socially to meet men to marry, so going out ever again without your husband clamped firmly to your side is the equivalent of wearing a flashing sign that says ‘I’m a bit of a hussy, like a tipple and have a Wandering Eye.’ In her imagination, the Married Woman Who Goes Out Solo dresses like Bet Lynch, complete with beehive bun, brassy lipstick and thousand-yard stare.

But that’s my mother. Are you sure your boyfriend wasn’t born in the 1940s, rather than in his 40s?*

Lol.

Well if you fancy visiting a place where 90% of the population seem to think like your mother, you're welcome to here (or rather his town, 40 mins away).

That's a rhetorical offer obviously, I can't imagine anyone sane would want to visit Stepford meets Craggy Island.

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 23:52

He won't, because these types of people already understand, they just don't like it so they try to manipulate to get a situation they do like. It's not ignorance on his part, it's deliberate.

You're right.

Though I add the caveat that he still has a (to me) weird context/community to make him feel like he's right.

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 08/11/2021 23:56

Secondly, you invited him along on a girls night out! The very definition of which means he's not invited! If you've read the thread you'll see from others that contrary to what you told him, he's not welcome on a girls night out.

Just for the sake of accuracy; it wasn't a real invite, it was a challenge ie "Sure, come along on the girls night out (you'll look like a right knob and like a fish out of water)" ... and he knew it wasn't a real offer (and he's not mental/clueless enough to do it, unlike a couple of men posters have mentioned). But yeah the fact I was even having to discuss it....

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 09/11/2021 00:00

He and his family seem to think that once you get into a couple, you socialise together, end of. And everyone assumes you socialise together, and attempting to set up sex/gender separate socialising (outside someone's home) is foul play, abd the person doing it should be ostracised, hence his affront at my cousin; in his view her behaviour is inappropriate and not kosher.

I never thought it would be possible to have such cultural differences with someone of the same (theoretically) culture.

OP posts:
VelvetRope212 · 09/11/2021 00:02

I know it's him too obviously; he could break away and have his own different approach; he's not doing that because he doesnt want to. I guess it suits him.

OP posts:
me4real · 09/11/2021 00:07

A lot of hardline sects of any kind are not good places for women. You could google and see what people/women say about their experiences with that sect. It doesn't sound like it would be a positive environment for you.

tinyrevolution · 09/11/2021 00:14

I tend to mainly socialise with my DH to be honest, but I don't think he would be that bothered if I went out without him. Neither of us have close friends so if there's an event I want to go to, DH is my default companion as it's the easiest option (don't need to check when he's free or worry about who will book/pay for tickets). We're early 40s.

reader12 · 09/11/2021 00:15

He sounds like a nob. I’d be really straight with him that this is how you want to life your life and you won’t tolerate being judged, criticised to treated weirdly because of it. And that he can either accept that and get over himself, or you can break up. His choice.