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Relationships

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Would these comments and behaviours be reasonable deal breakers in dating?

348 replies

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 17:50

I've was dating someone for a few months (met on Hinge, mid 40s)and am reflecting on my standards and self-esteem in the wake of it ending. Which, if any, would be deal breakers or have caused you serious concern?

-made a few silly sexual jokes whilst messaging, before we met eg..I asked him if he played a musical instrument and he made a joke about wanking
-first date in a coffee shop, I removed a long sleeved top as was too warm (had another top on underneath obvs) and he went "wahaaayyy" as if I was stripping
-made a joke about all women having a base level of psycho
-referred to disabled people as "Scopey"
-met a colleague of min at a works do and told me she was "rough" and this is why he doesn't date women from her area
-despite the fact he is on amicable terms with his ex wife, told me laughingly, when she asked for a divorce, that he had called her a "fat old witch" and threatened to take her pension
-told me inappropriate details about his ex including that she was restricted in sexual positions she could do due to bad hip and that she could orgasm immediately from anal sex (he told me this whilst we were in bed by way of praising my comparative flexibility)
-said "You look lovely in your dress; my ex wife never wore them because of her body type"
-met an acquaintance of mine and said "You're naturally beautiful, not like women like that who plaster on the make up"
-when I was trying to encourage him to get o know me better and asked if there was anything he wanted to know about me (cause I had tried to ask him lots about himself) he said "What is the smallest penis out there have encountered?
-told me, in bed, that he had yet to encounter a smelly vagina
-told me he had dumped a woman as her pubic hair was too long (after avoiding having sex with her for weeks)
-shortly after we began a sexual relationship, told me he thought genitals in general were gross and then was annoyed with me when I went a bit quiet and distant for a few minutes after he said that
-first time we had sex, he seemed clueless despite being married before and many relationships. He kissed me for a while and I was expecting some foreplay (I know I could have initiated this but I had lead on taking him up to my bedroom and removing clothes so didn't want to lead ointment everything). Without so much as touching me intimately, he entered me without a condom. He stopped as soon as I told him to and was visibly upset and said he thought I had wanted it as we were naked and he was laying on top of me. He was genuinely upset and I ended up comforting him!
-I disclosed to him that I had been sexually assaulted in a previous relationship. Despite this, he sent me a GIF that appeared to be of a woman being assaulted, face down on the floor and crying..looked like really rough porn but you could only see her face.
-he had some very laddish mates and he said he didn't judge them for sleeping with prostitutes although it was not something he would do. Told me they had all been giggling in the pub about some story about a woman with a massive anus.
-in a weird coincidence, a mate of his turned up at my house to collect something I had listed on marketplace. He arrived 15 minutes earlier that agreed and ex and I were in bed. When ex realised who it was, he got dressed and said hi his mate. he later told me that the incident had been the subject of joking on their group WhatsApp, with one them writing "He was just pulling out of her as he arrived!"

I felt unsettled with him lot. Would the above reasonably explain that? I have very poor self esteem and anxious attachment style and I am trying to work out if there were reasons outside of that which would make others feel insecure in this dynamic. He was affectionate, attractive, a good dad, good to his mum, a professional, kind to animals, funny, lots of friends and very keen on me. He would send gushing messages and romantic songs and GIFs a lot. He seemed quite future -focused with wanting to progress the relationship quickly. He made me feel very chosen. He was not the type to ask me things about how many men I had slept and liked natural-looking women. So there were lots of good things about him too.

OP posts:
Chilternrailwees · 27/07/2026 18:54

Op - he sounds vile.

but depressingly not necessarily a ‘bad’ person. He is just a bit pathetic and inadequate. He covers it up by being laddish. I get the impression he doesn’t necessarily believe the BS he is spouting and is using it to cover up that he is very scared, anxious and unconfident about sex.

sounds like a teenage boy.

but if they’re not the finished article by 40, bin him!

DreamingOfGeneHunt · 27/07/2026 18:54

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:43

But what about all the good stuff about him? He was kind to his mum by taking her to appointments looking after her cats and had his son 50% of the time and protected that time (as in, not off dating when he had his son but fully present).

This is how normal people should behave. He's meant to do this. It's not amazing.

AgnesX · 27/07/2026 18:54

He sounds appalling. So many of your examples are just yuk. On what planet are any of those remarks acceptable or adult/mature.

Comtesse · 27/07/2026 18:54

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:47

Isn’t that good stuff?

Not good enough matey. The sexual assault gif? Absolutely not. Oversharing about ex in bed? Bad. Gross comments about other people? Really offputting. Him being nice to his mum doesn’t offset all that.

Thundertoast · 27/07/2026 18:55

This is the kind of man I think of when someone says 'he seemed lovely, he had zero red flags, you dont always know'
THE BAR IS IN HELL.

WTAFuuuuuck · 27/07/2026 18:56

not going to dress this up OP. He’s a twat. The End.

The ‘good stuff’ is about 1 level up from he’s breathing

Silverbirchleaf · 27/07/2026 18:56

Regarding the first list, there’s a lot of immature comments there. Maybe one or two could be seen as banter, but the rest are immature.

Regarding the good stuff, it does put him in a more positive light, but these relate to his mother and son, not to you. Being a good dad or son doesn’t negate the fact that he could also be sex pest.

LapisBlue · 27/07/2026 18:56

I see you're no longer with him. Thank f. How did it end?

UrOutdoors · 27/07/2026 18:57

Good grief! Exactly how low are your standards?

SleepingStandingUp · 27/07/2026 19:01

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:43

But what about all the good stuff about him? He was kind to his mum by taking her to appointments looking after her cats and had his son 50% of the time and protected that time (as in, not off dating when he had his son but fully present).

A few ticks on normal human behaviour doesn't put balance the talking about his exes like they're meat, being disablist, immature, and shoving his penis in you after a snog cos he wanted to.

Culpeper · 27/07/2026 19:04

Giiid get. He sounds absolutely awful in so many different ways.

WyrdHag · 27/07/2026 19:04

Sleazy, childish, misogynistic and a bit thick would be my summary.

It's definitely not you, it's him.

TFImBackIn · 27/07/2026 19:07

I feel sick at the thought of you putting up with that man, not even knowing for certain whether his behaviour was OK or not. What was your parents' relationship like? What were your previous partners like?

This man is so far from a decent man he might as well be on the moon.

The things you suggest are good things about him are perfectly normal things for someone to do with his mum. I'm sure the Yorkshire Ripper took his mum to her appointments. It doesn't mean he's a good man.

I'm also shocked you were having sex just 15 minutes before his friend was due to arrive - whose suggestion was that? It sounds as though your boyfriend wanted to get caught having sex with you.

WinterBlues26 · 27/07/2026 19:08

-made a joke about all women having a base level of psycho

I hoped you walked away when he made this comment. I never read the rest of your list as this is bad enough by itself.

Delphiniumandlupins · 27/07/2026 19:25

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:47

Isn’t that good stuff?

I think you should be looking for an overwhelming preponderance of "good stuff" not a barely equal balance.

starryeyed19 · 27/07/2026 19:49

OP, I wonder if some of this is sunken cost fallacy? You have put time and effort and energy into the relationship and you don’t want to see that wasted but the bad genuinely outweighs any good here.

He’s broken several boundaries with you and is only going to keep pushing more and more. I would end this. I think him penetrating you without a condom after knowing you didn’t want that and that you were a victim of sexual assault is unforgivable personally. I don’t know how you come back from that

BeetrootLentilsGoatsCheese · 27/07/2026 20:10

AliasGracie · 27/07/2026 18:48

I feel quite sick after reading that. Why on earth didn't you dump all these men straight away?

This was all one man!

Italiangreyhound · 27/07/2026 20:16

He's a cock. You are well rid.

Sodthesystem · 27/07/2026 20:37

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:43

But what about all the good stuff about him? He was kind to his mum by taking her to appointments looking after her cats and had his son 50% of the time and protected that time (as in, not off dating when he had his son but fully present).

Why would having your OWN child half the time like you’re fucking supposed to make him a good person? That’s the bare minimum surely.

You’re SUPPOSED to look after your own kids. You’re SUPPOSED to love your own mum, and help her go to the doctors.

Lol.

the bar is on the floor.

If he was a woman would him looking out for his own family be something you would think makes him an extra special human being? Of course not.

Also, presumably you only have his word for most of this.

And why would it be relevant? Just becuase someone is a bare minimum decent person doesn’t mean you owe them to be their girlfriend. Even if they were a really fantastic human being regarding some stuff it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a massive bellend.

category12 · 27/07/2026 20:44

I feel like there's a type of poster that just comes on with a massive list of terrible behaviours in a man and asks "are these red flags" just to get us all going. It seems like a subgenre of posts.

orangehandles · 27/07/2026 20:44

RedflagGreenflag · 27/07/2026 18:43

But what about all the good stuff about him? He was kind to his mum by taking her to appointments looking after her cats and had his son 50% of the time and protected that time (as in, not off dating when he had his son but fully present).

That's not being 'kind'. That is doing what would be expected of any reasonable, normal adult. And why do you think that looking after his own child is so bloody heroic?

If there's 1% of shit in a sandwich, it is still a shit sandwich.

BEAchDays2 · 27/07/2026 20:50

I mean.

asparagusheaven · 27/07/2026 21:01

Honestly if you are an abuse survivor in any way some of this stuff can seem normal. It is quite unbelievable to me now what I would have put up with years ago.

I think it is a little worrying that his friend is turning up amongst all this. Be safe OP. The freedom program will help you. And get rid of this man asap. He sounds absolutely awful.

BauhausOfEliott · 27/07/2026 21:04

What the hell have I just read?

I’m sorry, but if you continued to date this man for months while he spoke and behaved like this, and you honestly have to ask whether all this shit was OK, I don’t think you should be dating anyone at all until you’ve spent a lot of time in counselling or therapy because you are extremely vulnerable.

This man was a disgusting human being on every level. Abusive, thick, misogynist cunt. There was absolutely nothing good about him ffs. He was a textbook abuser.

momtoboys · 27/07/2026 21:05

I wouldn't have engaged after the messaging. Raise your standards. There are good men out there!