The Student Room Group

My Girlfriend keeps rejecting me

Some of you will probably think this is just purely selfish.

I've been with my girlfriend for around 24 months at age 19 and its like she's lost all physical attraction for me. We have intercourse every 2 months or so, she's said she doesn't like (giving me) oral so that doesn't happen and I get rejected every time I try to make a move past kissing. She said she feels uncomfortable sending nudes (we did for 6 months start of relationship then stopped), which I completely understand and so get a picture of her in a bra every 3 months or so. She gives me hints about things that happen when we will meet, but in person I get instantly rejected.
At the start of the relationship her drive was higher then mine but now hers is non-existent, she seems to like the idea of it but nothing happens. I'm honestly so confused about what's happened. She really wants to stay together for university but I have a very high drive and I don't know what to do, even though it sounds so selfish. Everyone else says we have the perfect relationship, but I don't know what to do.
I just want to know what's wrong - I must be doing something else wrong she says my hygiene is better then hers, I keep in good physical shape and she says she enjoys having intercourse and I always make her feel so loved and safe afterwards but I just don't know what to do.
More of a rant post then anything.

Reply 1

Original post by Anonymous
Some of you will probably think this is just purely selfish.
I've been with my girlfriend for around 24 months at age 19 and its like she's lost all physical attraction for me. We have intercourse every 2 months or so, she's said she doesn't like (giving me) oral so that doesn't happen and I get rejected every time I try to make a move past kissing. She said she feels uncomfortable sending nudes (we did for 6 months start of relationship then stopped), which I completely understand and so get a picture of her in a bra every 3 months or so. She gives me hints about things that happen when we will meet, but in person I get instantly rejected.
At the start of the relationship her drive was higher then mine but now hers is non-existent, she seems to like the idea of it but nothing happens. I'm honestly so confused about what's happened. She really wants to stay together for university but I have a very high drive and I don't know what to do, even though it sounds so selfish. Everyone else says we have the perfect relationship, but I don't know what to do.
I just want to know what's wrong - I must be doing something else wrong she says my hygiene is better then hers, I keep in good physical shape and she says she enjoys having intercourse and I always make her feel so loved and safe afterwards but I just don't know what to do.
More of a rant post then anything.

Respect and abide to the space brother that’s it.

Reply 2

Original post by Anonymous
Some of you will probably think this is just purely selfish.
I've been with my girlfriend for around 24 months at age 19 and its like she's lost all physical attraction for me. We have intercourse every 2 months or so, she's said she doesn't like (giving me) oral so that doesn't happen and I get rejected every time I try to make a move past kissing. She said she feels uncomfortable sending nudes (we did for 6 months start of relationship then stopped), which I completely understand and so get a picture of her in a bra every 3 months or so. She gives me hints about things that happen when we will meet, but in person I get instantly rejected.
At the start of the relationship her drive was higher then mine but now hers is non-existent, she seems to like the idea of it but nothing happens. I'm honestly so confused about what's happened. She really wants to stay together for university but I have a very high drive and I don't know what to do, even though it sounds so selfish. Everyone else says we have the perfect relationship, but I don't know what to do.
I just want to know what's wrong - I must be doing something else wrong she says my hygiene is better then hers, I keep in good physical shape and she says she enjoys having intercourse and I always make her feel so loved and safe afterwards but I just don't know what to do.
More of a rant post then anything.

Talk about it with her and remember respect what the woman asks you okay 👍....

Reply 3

Do all these people that say that you have the perfect relationship know the information about your sex life that you told us?

Garbage in, garbage out. If the people in your social circle have an incomplete picture of your relationship, they will make comments that have no validity.

Your relationship sucks. It's not worth saving.
Dump her and get a new girlfriend.

Start a clean slate with a new person - with you being a better lover and boyfriend this time round, in terms of keeping her attraction and interest in sex with you. Because you're older and wiser now.
A clean slate is better than trying to mend a broken slate.

It's impossible for us to say where you went wrong, because we don't know you and her well enough.
The most common things that cause such a flip in sexual desire are:
You selecting the wrong person in the first place
Sexual incompatibility
You making too many typical nice guy mistakes
You being too needy / clingy
You coming over as lacking emotional or mental strength
You being poor to mediocre in bed
Logistical issues - eg you not having a quiet private place to do the deed
You being physically unattractive to her
Her getting sex elsewhere

The swapping nudes and getting bra pics from her is a bad move. It displays a lack of class. And an excess of thirstiness / neediness.

Don't stay together for university. Go your separate ways.

Instead of making the women in your life feel loved and safe, aim to make them feel interested in you / attracted to you / excited / joyful / enthused / as if they have to stay on their toes or play their A-Game to get you and keep you.

Reply 4

Original post by Anonymous
Some of you will probably think this is just purely selfish.
I've been with my girlfriend for around 24 months at age 19 and its like she's lost all physical attraction for me. We have intercourse every 2 months or so, she's said she doesn't like (giving me) oral so that doesn't happen and I get rejected every time I try to make a move past kissing. She said she feels uncomfortable sending nudes (we did for 6 months start of relationship then stopped), which I completely understand and so get a picture of her in a bra every 3 months or so. She gives me hints about things that happen when we will meet, but in person I get instantly rejected.
At the start of the relationship her drive was higher then mine but now hers is non-existent, she seems to like the idea of it but nothing happens. I'm honestly so confused about what's happened. She really wants to stay together for university but I have a very high drive and I don't know what to do, even though it sounds so selfish. Everyone else says we have the perfect relationship, but I don't know what to do.
I just want to know what's wrong - I must be doing something else wrong she says my hygiene is better then hers, I keep in good physical shape and she says she enjoys having intercourse and I always make her feel so loved and safe afterwards but I just don't know what to do.
More of a rant post then anything.


it kind of sounds like she might be depressed to be honest, any changes in her behaviour otherwise? or any trauma that she might be hiding from you

Reply 5

Original post by Anonymous
Some of you will probably think this is just purely selfish.
I've been with my girlfriend for around 24 months at age 19 and its like she's lost all physical attraction for me. We have intercourse every 2 months or so, she's said she doesn't like (giving me) oral so that doesn't happen and I get rejected every time I try to make a move past kissing. She said she feels uncomfortable sending nudes (we did for 6 months start of relationship then stopped), which I completely understand and so get a picture of her in a bra every 3 months or so. She gives me hints about things that happen when we will meet, but in person I get instantly rejected.
At the start of the relationship her drive was higher then mine but now hers is non-existent, she seems to like the idea of it but nothing happens. I'm honestly so confused about what's happened. She really wants to stay together for university but I have a very high drive and I don't know what to do, even though it sounds so selfish. Everyone else says we have the perfect relationship, but I don't know what to do.
I just want to know what's wrong - I must be doing something else wrong she says my hygiene is better then hers, I keep in good physical shape and she says she enjoys having intercourse and I always make her feel so loved and safe afterwards but I just don't know what to do.
More of a rant post then anything.

Think its a little bit harsh for the previous commenter to suggest a relationship is not worth saving because of lack of physical intimacy, you could be the perfect intellectual and emotional match and just be working through some physical issues. Honestly please don't assume she is unfaithful or not attracted to you that is incredibly cynical and some of the worst advice I've ever heard. OP, you sound like a wonderful partner, continue to make her feel safe and loved and this is an environment where you can bring up your discontent. When you are in a long term relationship, you should not be "playing games" like trying to keep her chasing you, and you should approach this directly with your girlfriend and work through it as a unit. As the previous reply gave a list of very likely untrue and borderline misogynistic reasons for this issue I will also provide some:
She is struggling with her body image and is afraid of judgement
She is physically fatigued from school or work
A change in diet or lifestyle has caused changes to hormones that impact libido
She has developed depression or anxiety
She is stressed out (Alevel season)
You may not be compatible any more and it is not selfish for you to end the relationship if you realise this but I can basically guarantee it will not be because you made too many "nice guy mistakes". Tldr, talk to her about how you're feeling and make an informed and sensitive decision

Reply 6

its a little bit harsh for the previous commenter to suggest a relationship is not worth saving because of lack of physical intimacy
The big difference between a platonic relationship and a romantic relationship is the physical intimacy.
In addition there's the sunken cost fallacy.
The reality is that there will be thousands of young women at the original poster's university with whom he could have sex. It makes no logical sense to remain exclusive to this girlfriend when there's an abundance of wonderful women out there.
It's down to the girlfriend to do enough to motivate the original poster to want to stay with her. She's not doing that. She's not even close to doing that.

you could be the perfect intellectual and emotional match and just be working through some physical issues.
I can't see any realistic way to work through someone not wanting to give oral.
It's the oldest relationship mistake in the book to try to change someone. Or to stay with someone on the basis that you're hoping they will change at some time in the future.
There will be hundreds of women at the original poster's uni that love giving oral and who will also be a good match outside the bedroom.

please don't assume she is unfaithful or not attracted to you that is incredibly cynical
I never said that the original poster should assume either of those things. I said that they were possibilities. How strong a possibility they are would depend on the original poster and his girlfriend. Neither of whom we know well.
It would be naive to assume that she's not been unfaithful - on the basis of what we know so far.

OP, you sound like a wonderful partner,
There's nothing wonderful about swapping nudes. The original poster has the potential to become a wonderful partner. He's not there yet. No 19 year old that I've ever met has been a wonderful partner. Including myself. Like everything else in life it takes good basic technique (that a proportion of people never acquire), along with practise and experience to become a wonderful partner.
Cycling through a few romantic partners between the ages of 17 and 25 is a good way to speed up the process of becoming a wonderful partner.

you should not be "playing games" like trying to keep her chasing you,
Semantics here. Everyone plays games on a perpetual basis with their romantic partner. What differs is that some people play these games in a clever way and some in a not so clever way.
Everyone in a relationship absolutely should be playing the game in a way that they are motivating their partners to stay on their toes and play their A game. Without that, relationships go stale.

borderline misogynistic
If the original poster's romantic partner were male, I'd give the same advice.

She is struggling with her body image and is afraid of judgement She is physically fatigued from school or work A change in diet or lifestyle has caused changes to hormones that impact libido She has developed depression or anxiety She is stressed out (Alevel season)
All of these come under the category of "You selecting the wrong person in the first place".
There's plenty of women that don't have and never will have any of the above issues to the extent that they have "significant" impact.

Reply 7

Original post by Dunnig Kruger
its a little bit harsh for the previous commenter to suggest a relationship is not worth saving because of lack of physical intimacy
The big difference between a platonic relationship and a romantic relationship is the physical intimacy.
In addition there's the sunken cost fallacy.
The reality is that there will be thousands of young women at the original poster's university with whom he could have sex. It makes no logical sense to remain exclusive to this girlfriend when there's an abundance of wonderful women out there.
It's down to the girlfriend to do enough to motivate the original poster to want to stay with her. She's not doing that. She's not even close to doing that.
you could be the perfect intellectual and emotional match and just be working through some physical issues.
I can't see any realistic way to work through someone not wanting to give oral.
It's the oldest relationship mistake in the book to try to change someone. Or to stay with someone on the basis that you're hoping they will change at some time in the future.
There will be hundreds of women at the original poster's uni that love giving oral and who will also be a good match outside the bedroom.
please don't assume she is unfaithful or not attracted to you that is incredibly cynical
I never said that the original poster should assume either of those things. I said that they were possibilities. How strong a possibility they are would depend on the original poster and his girlfriend. Neither of whom we know well.
It would be naive to assume that she's not been unfaithful - on the basis of what we know so far.
OP, you sound like a wonderful partner,
There's nothing wonderful about swapping nudes. The original poster has the potential to become a wonderful partner. He's not there yet. No 19 year old that I've ever met has been a wonderful partner. Including myself. Like everything else in life it takes good basic technique (that a proportion of people never acquire), along with practise and experience to become a wonderful partner.
Cycling through a few romantic partners between the ages of 17 and 25 is a good way to speed up the process of becoming a wonderful partner.
you should not be "playing games" like trying to keep her chasing you,
Semantics here. Everyone plays games on a perpetual basis with their romantic partner. What differs is that some people play these games in a clever way and some in a not so clever way.
Everyone in a relationship absolutely should be playing the game in a way that they are motivating their partners to stay on their toes and play their A game. Without that, relationships go stale.
borderline misogynistic
If the original poster's romantic partner were male, I'd give the same advice.
She is struggling with her body image and is afraid of judgement She is physically fatigued from school or work A change in diet or lifestyle has caused changes to hormones that impact libido She has developed depression or anxiety She is stressed out (Alevel season)
All of these come under the category of "You selecting the wrong person in the first place".
There's plenty of women that don't have and never will have any of the above issues to the extent that they have "significant" impact.

Oh wow. I was Not talking to you AT ALL, hence why I replied to OPs comment not yours because I'm not interested in starting a discussion with someone who views relationships like you do. I probably shouldn't reply but I feel the need to defend myself.

The big difference between a platonic relationship and a romantic relationship is the physical intimacy.
Yes, of course, that is the case but there are also periods in any long term relationships where sex will become less frequent (injury, child birth, stress, depression) I am simply pointing out that.
It's down to the girlfriend to do enough to motivate the original poster to want to stay with her. She's not doing that. She's not even close to doing that.
Once again the disgusting attitude I alluded to in my first comment. In a relationship of two years you should not have to offer sexual acts that you're uncomfortable with to maintain the relationship. I do not think she is perfect she should be more clear and explain why the change in heart. You have read a snapshot of their relationship you do not know what she is doing outside of the bedroom to put effort into maintaining their relationship.
I never said that the original poster should assume either of those things.
Be so for real, you listed nine reasons none of which gave any party any emotional slack for the relationship.
There's nothing wonderful about swapping nudes.
Yes, well, obviously. I made it very explicit that I was referring to his desire to make her feel safe and loved and respecting her boundaries. No 19 year old is perfect obviously and while trying to date around in your late teens is a good way to develop romantic maturity it should not be playing these "keep her on her toes" games that you detail.
Semantics here. Everyone plays games on a perpetual basis with their romantic partner. What differs is that some people play these games in a clever way and some in a not so clever way.
I do not play games with my partner and they do not play games with me because we love and respect each other. If they have a problem with my behaviour, such as I am not making enough time for them or I do not physically initiate enough (which they have in the past) they explain their issue to me clearly and I try to accommodate them as best as I can.
All of these come under the category of "You selecting the wrong person in the first place.
I cannot conceive the lack of empathy to say your partner isn't the right person for you because they go through a high stress event. Obviously dating for two years is a bit different to a long term marriage or anything but yeah, if it's a temporary event why could OP not talk about or wait it out.
There's plenty of women that don't have and never will have any of the above issues to the extent that they have "significant" impact.
While it is true that it may be the case OP is better matched with someone of a similar libido, most women do in fact go through changes in their life impacting sexual drive. Unless you intend to date exclusively women younger than you, you will one day have a partner going through menopause at the very least. Maybe your ideal partner treats sex as a tool to keep you interested, ignores their own desires and boundaries and probably grows to resent you for it. That's your preference but maybe some people want healthy relationship.
Original post by Dunnig Kruger
borderline misogynistic
If the original poster's romantic partner were male, I'd give the same advice.

And yet, because most men have spontaneous sexual desire and most women have reactive sexual desire, you end up giving this advice in the main when it's men who want sex more than women, and your advice very often implies that women have an obligation to give sex to men. You can try to dress that up in whatever sort of shiny logic you like, but whether it's down to not understanding how reactive desire works or otherwise, you quite regularly give advice that is borderline misogynistic.

She is struggling with her body image and is afraid of judgement She is physically fatigued from school or work A change in diet or lifestyle has caused changes to hormones that impact libido She has developed depression or anxiety She is stressed out (Alevel season)
All of these come under the category of "You selecting the wrong person in the first place".
There's plenty of women that don't have and never will have any of the above issues to the extent that they have "significant" impact.

I'm really am quite stunned by the notion that your reaction to someone become stressed or depressed due to issues in their personal or work life is that their partner chose the wrong person. It really demonstrates just how unsuited your advice is to people in long term relationships, because these sorts of issues happen in every single long term relationship. Literally every single one. Your advice for people to better themselves for the initial stages of relationships is very often positive and worth following, but long term relationships really are significant more complex than that.

OP, there are competing issues here. The first is that you are in a long term relationship. It is absolutely normal for sexual desire to change in a long term relationship, and this issue of you having more desire and being repeatedly rejected is really very common in long term relationships. The good news is that it is absolutely fixable, and you can see the post that I wrote on this recently here. However, I do think your age and the fact that you're soon going to be separated due to university is relevant. You are both still very young, and still have a long way to go to find out who you both are individually. It is by no means the case that you cannot be in a long term relationship while you do that, but your respective ages (and things that come with it, such as respective maturity levels and life experience) are likely to make it an awful lot more difficult to maintain this relationship than if you were both five or six years older and in a different place in your lives. That's not to say that you shouldn't try. There's every reason why you should. But as much as I wouldn't advocate for ditching your girlfriend and running as soon as there's a problem, it also isn't the case that issues can always be solved and that relationships can always survive the sort of situational change and pressure that your relationship is about to experience. If you can't fix things despite your best efforts, or things don't improve after the university move, it may be that breaking up is the best thing for both of you.

Reply 9

Okay there is definitely some mixed opinions. I have briefly spoken about this with her before and voiced my concerns at a lower level then this, but nothing seemed to change afterwards and in approaching the subject again I don't want her to feel like she has to do it because of me. While I understand this tiny image of our relationship doesn't sound great she is honestly a great girlfriend and honestly even though im 19 she has helped me achieve things like getting into my dream uni, but being young I don't think I could deal with this in the long run even though it is a selfish factor. Another factor is that she is moving homes for uni to the opposite side of the country (from South England to Scotland), so we would only really travel to see each other in term times (once every 2 weeks max) but she seems so confident we should stay together for uni.
Replaying to some previous points:
"Do all these people that say that you have the perfect relationship know the information about your sex life that you told us?" - Neither me or her talk about our sex lives with anyone outside of the relationship and why should we?
"it kind of sounds like she might be depressed to be honest, any changes in her behaviour otherwise? or any trauma that she might be hiding from you" - I understand where you are coming from but nothing of the sort as far as I'm aware, probably something I should try be more aware of though.

Thankyou for all the advice. - Though the comments expecting her to be perfect and tending to my every need is just stupid, stuff happens but we have been very open in the past and if there was a problem I thought she would talk to me about it.
Don't know what I want the conclusion to be just looking for different opinions.

Reply 10

Original post by Anonymous
Okay there is definitely some mixed opinions. I have briefly spoken about this with her before and voiced my concerns at a lower level then this, but nothing seemed to change afterwards and in approaching the subject again I don't want her to feel like she has to do it because of me. While I understand this tiny image of our relationship doesn't sound great she is honestly a great girlfriend and honestly even though im 19 she has helped me achieve things like getting into my dream uni, but being young I don't think I could deal with this in the long run even though it is a selfish factor. Another factor is that she is moving homes for uni to the opposite side of the country (from South England to Scotland), so we would only really travel to see each other in term times (once every 2 weeks max) but she seems so confident we should stay together for uni.
Replaying to some previous points:
"Do all these people that say that you have the perfect relationship know the information about your sex life that you told us?" - Neither me or her talk about our sex lives with anyone outside of the relationship and why should we?
"it kind of sounds like she might be depressed to be honest, any changes in her behaviour otherwise? or any trauma that she might be hiding from you" - I understand where you are coming from but nothing of the sort as far as I'm aware, probably something I should try be more aware of though.
Thankyou for all the advice. - Though the comments expecting her to be perfect and tending to my every need is just stupid, stuff happens but we have been very open in the past and if there was a problem I thought she would talk to me about it.
Don't know what I want the conclusion to be just looking for different opinions.

Good luck I hope you guys can work this out and I hope hearing some different opinions helped a little bit!

Reply 11

Sex drive mismatch seems to emerge from nowhere in a lot of long term relationships. There isn’t really an understandable reason. The only way to deal with it is to talk it through and get to a, sometimes uneasy, compromise that can work for both of you. To be honest, unless you really want to stick with it, with what you describe and with going to uni I would consider ending it as amicably as you can and moving on

Reply 12

Original post by Crazy Jamie
And yet, because most men have spontaneous sexual desire and most women have reactive sexual desire, you end up giving this advice in the main when it's men who want sex more than women, and your advice very often implies that women have an obligation to give sex to men. You can try to dress that up in whatever sort of shiny logic you like, but whether it's down to not understanding how reactive desire works or otherwise, you quite regularly give advice that is borderline misogynistic.
I'm really am quite stunned by the notion that your reaction to someone become stressed or depressed due to issues in their personal or work life is that their partner chose the wrong person. It really demonstrates just how unsuited your advice is to people in long term relationships, because these sorts of issues happen in every single long term relationship. Literally every single one. Your advice for people to better themselves for the initial stages of relationships is very often positive and worth following, but long term relationships really are significant more complex than that.
OP, there are competing issues here. The first is that you are in a long term relationship. It is absolutely normal for sexual desire to change in a long term relationship, and this issue of you having more desire and being repeatedly rejected is really very common in long term relationships. The good news is that it is absolutely fixable, and you can see the post that I wrote on this recently here. However, I do think your age and the fact that you're soon going to be separated due to university is relevant. You are both still very young, and still have a long way to go to find out who you both are individually. It is by no means the case that you cannot be in a long term relationship while you do that, but your respective ages (and things that come with it, such as respective maturity levels and life experience) are likely to make it an awful lot more difficult to maintain this relationship than if you were both five or six years older and in a different place in your lives. That's not to say that you shouldn't try. There's every reason why you should. But as much as I wouldn't advocate for ditching your girlfriend and running as soon as there's a problem, it also isn't the case that issues can always be solved and that relationships can always survive the sort of situational change and pressure that your relationship is about to experience. If you can't fix things despite your best efforts, or things don't improve after the university move, it may be that breaking up is the best thing for both of you.

you quite regularly give advice that is borderline misogynistic
Wrong! I never give advice that is anywhere near to misogynistic.
What I give is advice that people with certain mindsets perceive as misogynistic.
For example, people with scarcity mindsets regard it as misogynistic when I give advice centred around an abundance mindset.

We could turn our perspectives of looking at this around. If you were in a relationship where you were allowing your partner to have sex with you once every 2 months and where you never gave them oral - despite them wanting sex more often and wanting oral - would you expect them to stay faithful and exclusive to you?
I wouldn't. I could never be so selfish.

It really demonstrates just how unsuited your advice is to people in long term relationships, because these sorts of issues happen in every single long term relationship. Literally every single one.
Wrong!
Totally and utterly wrong!
For the specifics of this thread we're talking about a situation where one partner is setting the sexual rate at once every two months! When the other partner wants sex more often.
There are long term relationships where this issue NEVER happens.
Talking about "these sorts of issues" is too vague! Every relationship should be evaluated on the basis of the exact set of circumstances. It's the exact details of this particular relationship that counts. And the original poster taking the best course of action for the exact set of circumstances that he is in.
Every long term relationship will have a set of challenges. Not every long term relationship will drop to a unilateral rate of once every 60 days.

Furthermore, 2 wrongs don't make a right. 2 billion wrongs don't make a right. Just because there are other 19 year old couples that have stayed together in the wake of a unilateral reduction down to once every 2 months, with no oral from one partner ever, that doesn't mean to say that the best course of action is for the original poster to stay in an exclusive relationship with this girl.

And bearing in mind that the 19 year old original poster and his girlfriend are going to universities in different countries, by far the best course of action is for him to either make this relationship non-exclusive, or to dump her. So that he's free to find new love at his university. And vice versa.



Original post by Anonymous
Okay there is definitely some mixed opinions. I have briefly spoken about this with her before and voiced my concerns at a lower level then this, but nothing seemed to change afterwards and in approaching the subject again I don't want her to feel like she has to do it because of me. While I understand this tiny image of our relationship doesn't sound great she is honestly a great girlfriend and honestly even though im 19 she has helped me achieve things like getting into my dream uni, but being young I don't think I could deal with this in the long run even though it is a selfish factor. Another factor is that she is moving homes for uni to the opposite side of the country (from South England to Scotland), so we would only really travel to see each other in term times (once every 2 weeks max) but she seems so confident we should stay together for uni.
Replaying to some previous points:
"Do all these people that say that you have the perfect relationship know the information about your sex life that you told us?" - Neither me or her talk about our sex lives with anyone outside of the relationship and why should we?
"it kind of sounds like she might be depressed to be honest, any changes in her behaviour otherwise? or any trauma that she might be hiding from you" - I understand where you are coming from but nothing of the sort as far as I'm aware, probably something I should try be more aware of though.
Thankyou for all the advice. - Though the comments expecting her to be perfect and tending to my every need is just stupid, stuff happens but we have been very open in the past and if there was a problem I thought she would talk to me about it.
Don't know what I want the conclusion to be just looking for different opinions.

Neither me or her talk about our sex lives with anyone outside of the relationship and why should we?
It's entirely up to you what you disclose to your friends and family.
What that does mean is that you should discount and ignore the advice of everyone that says that you have a perfect relationship. Because all you have is what seems to be the perfect relationship on the surface to people from the outside looking in.
What you have is a Titanic just after it was hit by the iceberg relationship. The band's still playing in the lounge. Below decks it's flooding fast.

the comments expecting her to be perfect and tending to my every need is just stupid
There's a very simple guideline. If when you wake up in the morning, you decide you want to continue a relationship, you should be more tolerant of the faults of your partner than most people would be. Maybe a lot more tolerant.
If you decide that the relationship is not worth continuing you should either get out of there as soon as possible or you should move to a non-exclusive basis.

In deciding whether a relationship is worth continuing or not there should be 6 areas where you set very clear boundaries. Those areas are
Sexual compatibility
Approach to money. Earning it, spending it, investing it
How the 2 of you resolve conflict
How many children you want (+/- 20%)
Basic approach to raising children
Where each of you wants to live geographically

There are other areas, such as taste in music, films, TV where a huge amount of tolerance can be extended with no significant issues.

Reply 13

Original post by anonomouse888
Oh wow. I was Not talking to you AT ALL, hence why I replied to OPs comment not yours because I'm not interested in starting a discussion with someone who views relationships like you do. I probably shouldn't reply but I feel the need to defend myself.
The big difference between a platonic relationship and a romantic relationship is the physical intimacy.
Yes, of course, that is the case but there are also periods in any long term relationships where sex will become less frequent (injury, child birth, stress, depression) I am simply pointing out that.
It's down to the girlfriend to do enough to motivate the original poster to want to stay with her. She's not doing that. She's not even close to doing that.
Once again the disgusting attitude I alluded to in my first comment. In a relationship of two years you should not have to offer sexual acts that you're uncomfortable with to maintain the relationship. I do not think she is perfect she should be more clear and explain why the change in heart. You have read a snapshot of their relationship you do not know what she is doing outside of the bedroom to put effort into maintaining their relationship.
I never said that the original poster should assume either of those things.
Be so for real, you listed nine reasons none of which gave any party any emotional slack for the relationship.
There's nothing wonderful about swapping nudes.
Yes, well, obviously. I made it very explicit that I was referring to his desire to make her feel safe and loved and respecting her boundaries. No 19 year old is perfect obviously and while trying to date around in your late teens is a good way to develop romantic maturity it should not be playing these "keep her on her toes" games that you detail.
Semantics here. Everyone plays games on a perpetual basis with their romantic partner. What differs is that some people play these games in a clever way and some in a not so clever way.
I do not play games with my partner and they do not play games with me because we love and respect each other. If they have a problem with my behaviour, such as I am not making enough time for them or I do not physically initiate enough (which they have in the past) they explain their issue to me clearly and I try to accommodate them as best as I can.
All of these come under the category of "You selecting the wrong person in the first place.
I cannot conceive the lack of empathy to say your partner isn't the right person for you because they go through a high stress event. Obviously dating for two years is a bit different to a long term marriage or anything but yeah, if it's a temporary event why could OP not talk about or wait it out.
There's plenty of women that don't have and never will have any of the above issues to the extent that they have "significant" impact.
While it is true that it may be the case OP is better matched with someone of a similar libido, most women do in fact go through changes in their life impacting sexual drive. Unless you intend to date exclusively women younger than you, you will one day have a partner going through menopause at the very least. Maybe your ideal partner treats sex as a tool to keep you interested, ignores their own desires and boundaries and probably grows to resent you for it. That's your preference but maybe some people want healthy relationship.
prsom babes
Original post by Dunnig Kruger
you quite regularly give advice that is borderline misogynistic
Wrong! I never give advice that is anywhere near to misogynistic.
What I give is advice that people with certain mindsets perceive as misogynistic.

I must admit, defeating your own argument in the space of two sentences is very impressive even by internet standards.


It really demonstrates just how unsuited your advice is to people in long term relationships, because these sorts of issues happen in every single long term relationship. Literally every single one.
Wrong!
Totally and utterly wrong!
For the specifics of this thread we're talking about a situation where one partner is setting the sexual rate at once every two months! When the other partner wants sex more often.
There are long term relationships where this issue NEVER happens.
Talking about "these sorts of issues" is too vague! Every relationship should be evaluated on the basis of the exact set of circumstances. It's the exact details of this particular relationship that counts. And the original poster taking the best course of action for the exact set of circumstances that he is in.
Every long term relationship will have a set of challenges. Not every long term relationship will drop to a unilateral rate of once every 60 days.

All I see here is that you said I was wrong and then proceeded to get into an awkward wrestling match with a series of straw men. I'm not even sure what you're expecting me to respond to because you didn't actually say anything substantive in response to the point I was making.

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