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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

I (F27) feel like my marriage with (M29) is falling apart due to his sexual preferences

74 replies

Insertnameheree · 05/03/2023 11:13

Hi guys, trying to keep this as short as possible. Want to start by saying sorry im not native to English, if you find some faults please read past them!

So, my husband of now nearly 3 years has an addiction to women. Not as in, physically cheating, but through the internet. I first noticed when my husband wanted to show me something and scrolled through his photo album which had a bunch of women pics that he forgot to delete. (This occasion was a bit after we got married) All of them thick women, big bum etc. Let's just say, I am not like that. I do think I have a beautiful body though, but I don't have the biggest bum. I didn't think too much of it at the time, don't know why. Just kept on living. Couple months later he was watching a video on Facebook and when he swiped down to the next vid I saw another girl who was being sexually there lets say. This is I think when the alarm bells started ringing and I remembered the pics he had saved.

Now, I am in no means proud of this and actually pretty ashamed of it but this is when I started to check his socials. I saw his Facebook videos were full of girls, thick girls yet again and his algorithm kept up showing. I found out you can see the videos someone has watched and it was full of that type of videos. His websearch was full too with all different kind of thick women pornsites. So did his instagram even though he tried to delete it. I felt disgusted and didn't look at it again. I had a conversation with him about it and he pretty much denied everything, sweet talked to me and I guess I just accepted that. This is around 2 years ago.

I tried to not let it bother me, still had sex in that time. I think almost a year ago I logged in again and found all the same stuff. In my mind he stopped all of that cause we were fine together, I even found old fake accounts of his, he didn't use them anymore but it was full of content like that too. Saved pictures from girls that he send to another fake account. I would say around a 100 pictures he had saved. He used that account in the beginning of our relationship but I could see it wasn't active anymore.

From this period of time we didn't have sex again. I felt disgusted, and even the thought of having sex gave me the biggest ick. It still does. I still check his socials from time to time and it still shows up the same type of content. I honestly don't know what to do. We are great friends. We have an amazing future ahead of us (a lot of upcoming plans). But I feel like I just can't get past this. I had talks with him about it throughout the last years even recent ones, told him I think he is addicted and yet he would still say he's not and it's not him watching those things.

I want to have sex with the man I married, and I want to have an amazing marriage but I think it has turned me into someone who got insecure about herself. Not also that, just knowing he has an addiction to all of that also makes me turned off. I feel like it is very childish and something he should have managed to stop throughout out marriage but he didn't.

How can we genuiely get past this? I feel disrespected and literally build a wall around myself

OP posts:
StopStartStop · 05/03/2023 11:16

Ditch him. Leave him to his 'thick' women. That's how you get past it.

StopStartStop · 05/03/2023 11:17

I mean, you could get surgery to bulk up your arse, but is he really worth it? Move on. Get a man who respects you.

Spanglemum · 05/03/2023 11:19

You're in a sexless marriage in your 20s because of his porn use? It's over. Move on, you deserve better.

TheVanguardSix · 05/03/2023 11:20

I want to have sex with the man I married
The guy you married doesn’t exist. He never did.

and I want to have an amazing marriage
And you can! But with someone else, not this loser.

GreyCarpet · 05/03/2023 11:21

Sadly, you won't get past this. That discomfort you feel is your self respect being eroded as you try to find ways of making yourself ok with something you are not ok with.

He isn't going to stop doing this. He isn't even admitting that he is.

You need to consider now what you want your life to look like and make it happen. But stopping him from doing this and feeling like you want to have sex with him again won't be part of it.

Luckingfovely · 05/03/2023 11:28

He's a pig. That's is not going to change. That is who you married.

Just leave him now - you won't be happy until you do, and you'll never trust him.

MustardCress · 05/03/2023 11:29

TheVanguardSix · 05/03/2023 11:20

I want to have sex with the man I married
The guy you married doesn’t exist. He never did.

and I want to have an amazing marriage
And you can! But with someone else, not this loser.

This is absolutely true. Find the strength to accept that he is not who you want him to be, then find the energy to be angry with him for being such a misogynist arsehole and use this anger to ditch him and move on.

This can be an unpleasant, temporary blip in your life, it doesn’t have to break you or take up any more years of your life. Get rid of him and live a happier life

smileladiesplease · 05/03/2023 11:31

You deserve better op

DutchCowgirl · 05/03/2023 11:39

Have you talked to him about it ever since that talk 2 years ago? You don’t talk about not having sex?
Shouldn’t you get help with talking more together, like therapy?

I think the lack of talking is a bigger red flag than watching porn.
A lot of men watch porn… it isn’t always a bad thing. I don’t think you should make it that personal. I like seeing pictures of big muscled men like Jason Momoa… and my DH looks completely different. But I wouldn’t want to trade him in a million years , I bet Jason Momoa can’t make such good lattes and help my son doing maths as my DH can😉

LaPerduta · 05/03/2023 12:16

What does "thick" mean? Fat? (Genuine question.)

Also, is anyone's marriage really amazing?

Anyway, it sounds like at the very least he needs some help to sort out this addiction.

category12 · 05/03/2023 12:25

His sexual preference (or fetish?) is deeply rooted and isn't going anywhere. You can try to police his online activities, but it won't and hasn't solved anything.

If you were to genuinely believe that he loves you, fancies you and wouldn't be unfaithful, just likes to look, you potentially could decide to let it go, just accept he's gonna perve online and the rest of the relationship is good enough, and stop checking up on him and driving yourself crazy.

But it doesn't seem like you would be happy with that, and can't blame you. So probably best to call it a day and split up.

You can't change his sexual hot buttons.

bigbloom · 05/03/2023 12:26

Please leave him and find somebody who can give you what you need. This is not looking good at all, it's going to grind your self esteem away.

Find somebody who prefers to and do not have children with him.

bigbloom · 05/03/2023 12:29

The looking at curvier women is one issue, but the leering online is another. This isn't going to change. It's impossible to monitor what he's doing (and who would you want to? You'd feel controlling and paranoid).

It's never going to change. He will always prefer that and you'll always be wondering. It's not too late to decide this isn't working out even though you've married already.

GarveySister · 05/03/2023 12:30

You’re still so young. You have time and options.

Don’t stay in a dead end marriage with a guy who makes you feel shit about yourself.

WhimBarWhey · 05/03/2023 12:48

Honestly OP, you're 27, no kids and an entire future ahead of you. Ditch him, this will just take up far too much emotional real estate and the longer you let it go on the harder it'll be to live life on your terms. He won't change and soon enough he won't be able to orgasm during sex because mentally he won't be in the moment. You deserve better.

JessieLongleg · 05/03/2023 13:08

@Insertnameheree @StopStartStop

As a thick womyen there is no chance I date men who think this. I'm not a object of fetish. I quite regularly get these men often with ex's or present wives who are slender. From primary school I've been bullied or had snide comments about my body and hate the way rapers and influencers are pushing the mainly fake curves.

He married you because he is attractive to you and you're socially more acceptable. Married people can find other types of bodies attractive but if they don't have a sexual relationship with then it's not a problem.

I'm a joke to many men on a dating sites. Now I have my slender friends saying things to me like men only look at you because of your curves. I'm intelligent woman with an interesting life. Why would I like to be just objectified.

As long as he is not subscribed and in contact with these women then I would just let it go. My husband watches porn I'm not going to do but don't expect me to as knows it's a fantasy and not the alternative to our relationship. Your husband has invested his life in you not the girls on the internet. I've rarely meet a man that doesn't want to change my body. Unless your husband has said he wants you to change then why does it make you insecure? To be honest a man that can be with women of different kinds with strong minds makes me feel more secure. Expecting your partner to only find you attractive for life is unrealistic but as long as not cheating or being socially pervy what the problem.

StickofVeg · 05/03/2023 13:09

You are really young - ditch him and find someone who loves you and respects women. He isn't going to stop doing what he's doing and in my view a porn addiction usually gets worse (i.e. more extreme over time) it doesn't stop. But good luck in whatever you decide.

Insertnameheree · 05/03/2023 13:54

WhimBarWhey · 05/03/2023 12:48

Honestly OP, you're 27, no kids and an entire future ahead of you. Ditch him, this will just take up far too much emotional real estate and the longer you let it go on the harder it'll be to live life on your terms. He won't change and soon enough he won't be able to orgasm during sex because mentally he won't be in the moment. You deserve better.

That's exactly what I am scared for. I think most people don't understand the reality of what porn does to the human brain. Even tried to tell my husband that watching too much porn can cause his negative feels (he can feel very negative sometimes).

One of my hobbies are psychology and literature. (In my native language 😅😄). I feel like I am emotionally more mature, might be because I just read a lot, but this also something that bothers me. My EQ is just way higher than his. I read and practice a lot about self growth, communication, discipline, business growth and psychology in general. I feel like whatever I learn can't put it in practice as me trying to communicate is just not taken seriously / he just doesn't know how to respond. I tried to talk to him about this subject a lot of times actually, but it's like he isn't there.

Anyway, thank you all for your honest replies. I know this deep inside, know this isn't going to change and know that if I don't file for divorce I just simply have to live and deal with it. It's not something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. But this decision is just a tough one to make. All your replies do encourage me and I need a couple days to let it sink in

OP posts:
bigbloom · 05/03/2023 13:54

Married people can find other types of bodies attractive but if they don't have a sexual relationship with then it's not a problem.

If you're not your partner's ideal, they're always going to want you to look more like that. Some people don't know or mind, I guess, but once the issue is there, it's not something that changes really.

The husband in this case sounds a bit obsessed. More than a fleeting attraction to a random woman in the shops. This would bother anyone.

category12 · 05/03/2023 14:00

me trying to communicate is just not taken seriously / he just doesn't know how to respond. I tried to talk to him about this subject a lot of times actually, but it's like he isn't there.

You don't sound like a great match overall if you don't feel taken seriously by him and that he's absent from you.

Don't waste years on trying to make it work with someone who is a poor fit for you.

Insertnameheree · 05/03/2023 14:09

I in no way feel bad about how I look, I think I am an attractive woman but I might not just be the type my husband is looking for. I can understand someone has preferences, but after everything I have seen he obviously has a thing for a certain type and I am just not that. And even if I was, I would still not be happy about how he uses social media. I understand it might not be cheating and he can love me for who I am but if he did and really respected me, would his socials still be full of this type of content? I honestly don't think so.

He does tell me all the time like 'Oh this jeans looks so good on you' 'I love your hair today' 'hey youre so pretty!' Etcetera. But it just doesn't do anything to me anymore. After the things ive seen its like I can't feel anything when he tells me something nice

OP posts:
DaniellaSanders · 05/03/2023 14:14

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ComeTheFckOnBridget · 05/03/2023 14:15

He isn't addicted. He makes a conscious choice.

You can have a great future without him, you'll regret staying.

Garrie · 05/03/2023 14:27

Does thick mean fat in this context?

HeatherHahn · 05/03/2023 14:29

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