Saturday, December 29, 2012

My boyfriend secretly binges on porn. Should I bring it up?

Here’s a dialogue I had recently by email:

Kimberly: My boyfriend and I are in our second year of living together. I noticed when we first started dating he liked porn. Now it’s getting worse. He treats me like gold, so I don't want to bring anything up. What do I do?

Dr. C: What concerns you about it?

K: It’s getting expensive: he spends about $100 a week. And he’ll watch two or three movies in one sitting. He calls me to see where I am before he starts the next one to make sure I won’t come home while he's online. I know because I have the log on and see the times. It didn't bother me when it was every now and then, but now its every day. I’m afraid it will lead to other things. If I bring it up, it will push him away.

C: I see. Well, your concerns are legitimate. Here’s how I see it: consider this your chance to see if the relationship can handle legitimate concerns. If it can, the connection you already have will deepen and strengthen and become more secure and close. If not, do you really want to be with someone who won’t take your feelings seriously and address them together with you as a couple? How good a relationship is it, really, if he uses the fact that you brought up genuine concerns as a reason to distance himself from you? I realize everyone's ideals and preferences are different, but that sounds like a recipe for long-term @#!*% to me.

K: So what should I do?

C: If it were me, I would bring up my concern and hope that it reveals my partner  to be considerate of me and my feelings. If he is, I would rejoice that the relationship is as good as my instincts told me it was. We would then be on a path to deeper connection. If he can’t tolerate it, I would mourn the loss—but be thrilled that I found out now instead of burying my head in the sand because I didn't want to test it and find out.

K: Thanks

C: You're welcome. I hope it goes well. Please let me know what you decide to do and how it goes. Many women share your dilemma and will benefit from hearing how you sort it out and the path you decide to take--and how that goes. I'm glad you reached out.

K: Because I’m in a situation where I really love him and financial issues are a big factor, I may let it ride until I’m done with school. This is not the first time I've had a partner who's done this. I know from experience how it will end if I bring it up. So for now, until I can get a grip on my emotions, I will keep calm. Men will always look at porn. I broke a trust by snooping. If he wanted to end the relationship I think he would be distant rather than trying to please me all the time. So for now I’ll leave it. If I do decide to leave I wouldn't want him to know it was over this, I would want it to be on my terms.

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Okay Readers, I'm usually the one trying to offer help, but I need your help here. Please help me understand! I can't fathom how Kimberly could have arrived at this point. And not just her: how could our culture have devolved to where women find acceptable such a life situation and relationship M.O.? I know from the email I get that many do settle for it, or at least think they should because their friends and their experience tell them it's as good as things get with a guy.

They don't want to be nags; closed-minded, uptight prudes. So they try to go along. But deep down the whole thing sits uneasy with them. Late at night in weak moments they type google searches like "boyfriend looks at porn” or “Why can’t men ever get enough porn?” and end up at my blog. Then they ask—tentative, almost apologetically, “Why does it bug me? It shouldn't, right? After all, it’s just porn. I would hate to set things back by bringing it up.”

Since starting this blog, I've been blown away by how many women Kimberly’s age feel more hesitant and unsure about initiating emotional intimacy than men of my generation were about initiating physical intimacy. We were indoctrinated that sharing emotions is just as important for a woman as physical affection is to a man. We became convinced that to expect the one without being willing to give the other in return was selfish and sexist.

As one who bought into this way of thinking and spent years trying to put it into practice, I have to confess that my emotional connection with my wife Jenny is now as fulfilling and important to me as our physical relationship (not to downplay the physical!). So I have to wonder how we've gotten to the point where a woman can be two years into a relationship, which has been sexual from the start, and yet feels like trying to get to "first base" with him emotionally would turn him off and scare him away. And she doesn't want to do that because she does truly love him. What about expecting to be loved in return?

Is this the kind of relationship we want our little girls to feel obligated to put up with when they’re older? He gets to share his bodily fluids, but sharing your concerns is too much? Come on! Can’t we recommend as a general rule: never open your legs and let in a man's penis who won't open his heart and let in your feelings?

Sorry, if I'm sounding harsh it's only because I think that too many women--and their men for that matter!--are missing out on so much potential joy. It breaks my heart. Do I sound old-fashioned when I talk about relationships as a source of joy? I must admit, I do sometimes wonder what happened to the world I thought I knew. It makes me livid at our pornified, hypersexualized culture for doing this to women like Kimberly and their men.

To me this seems like the new sexism, where women squelch their own voices, sparing their men the job.

How do you see it?

6 comments:

  1. I am not sure where to begin. First I would like to say to Kimberly " I don't think that waiting until school is over is a valid reason for holding off on bringing up the subject of pornography with your boyfriend. I think it might be something that you tell yourself so that it feels okay to sit back and watch things continue to burn. Of course it bothers you! Why shouldn't it? You want your boyfriend to turn to you instead of movies. Most women desire an emotional connection over a physical one I think. So when your boyfriend turns to something other than you for a connection it hurts. You feel like " what's wrong with me? What do those women have that I don't? I wish he'd connect with me for 3 hours, get lost in conversastio, and be so caught up in us that nothing else mattered." Like Mark said this is a great opportunity to see where the relationship stands. Sure he might feel mad because you were " snooping", he might leave for a while, he might do a lot of things. If he really loves you though he will first say " I'm sorry". Then he will need to listen to how all of this makes you feel. Kimberly I have been on your boyfriends end. I am married and I wish with all of my heart pornography had never been in our marriage. I can't tell you the number of times I wish that I had never touched it. It is vile and toxic, it will eat away at something that could be so much more than it is now. I have always gone to my wife to tell her that I have looked at it again and I hurt inside and wished that I hadn't, that I had control over it. I hurt because I see how much it hurts her. I hurt because I know she feels like I don't love her or find he attractive. Truth is I do love her with all of my heart and think she is beautiful, smart, kind, selfless, more patient and forgiving than anyone should be. But my actions do not reflect that in her eyes, and I can't blame her .Yes he might treat you like gold, but imagine that there can be so much more. You deserve attention, love, and kindness. Pornography robs a relationship of all of that. If his feelings are real and deep then you have nothing to fear. Your golden realtionship can be turned into a diamond. More beautiful than gold and much, much stronger. Pornography is not something that is let go off quickly either. Chances are this has gone on for many years and it will take a lot of hard work and many years to control it. But it can be controlled.
    Mark I feel that this has become the new norm because sexual content has been slipped into movies and TV and we are supposed to just get used to it, or so the media and world thinks. Society has become the frogs in a pot of water that is having the heat contiually raised. I will not be suprised when pornography reaches basic cable. I think women and men are told " it's normal for guys to watch porn, so get used to it". I know they try, but can not put it out of their minds that this is wrong. No one wants to be abnormal and to speak out against it would be and that is all that needs to happen for evil to prevail, that good men and women do nothing.

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  2. Every man does it. You can't control him, you can't tell him what to do, you aren't his mother. Men are programmed to look. It has nothing to do with his feelings for you. Wouldn't you rather he take care of himself and leave you alone. Those girls aren't a threat to you. Those porn actresses/strip club performers are dirty whores. He's not going to actually fall for one of them. Or alternatively, Those girls are so hot, he's way out of their league and could never score one of them. He's going to settle for your slobby ass cause he has no other options, as long as he watches whatever porn he wants whenever he wants.
    You just are being insecure. You can't use your low self esteem to try and shame someone into obeying you. What a man does with his penis is his business, so long as it's legal. If there's a girl naked a man is going to look and then masturbate to the image. Sure it's offensive but just don't think about it. This is why you never check the computer history. You invaded his privacy and think he owes you something now? I know if I saw what my husband uses when he masturbates I'd feel horrible and be sad and hurt, that's why I don't look. Just ask him to hide it better. he won't stop and if he tells you he stopped, he's lying.

    All of the above were excuses and scoldings given to me by Women when I expressed my objections. My favorite was "just don't think about it" I mean, that could be the best piece of marital advice ever given. Would save people the heartache of dealing if their spouse is overly involved in porn, white supremacy, tax evasion, illegal meth production...the possibilities are endless.


    I think you are on to something with the idea of a new sexism. I feel as though women pulled off a sexual revolution and when the dust settled there we are were still continue to play by the very rules that were already there. And an overwhelming sense of "eh, what are you going to do?"





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  3. Mark,

    You're conflating a bunch of things here. You're conflating:
    -- The ability to bring up emotional topics with their partners
    -- The ability to initiate sex
    -- Your partner looking at porn
    -- The woman's generation.

    I *strongly* suspect that women born in the 80s (putting them in their 20s - early 30s now) are more comfortable initiating sex and bringing up emotional topics than women born in the 50s and 60s were AT THE SAME AGE.

    So when you say "how could our culture have devolved to where women find acceptable such a life situation and relationship M.O.", you're not looking at the facts right. Our culture hasn't devolved in their way; it's evolved tremendously. Women are much more comfortable exiting unhealthy relationships and are much more comfortable initiating emotional and physical intimacy than women of other generations were (at the same age).

    I'm sure, of course, that 25 year old women aren't as uncomfortable initiate emotional or physical intimacy as 50 year old women. But then, that's because 25 year old women don't know their partners nearly as well and are generally less mature and confident. You have to compare the 25 year old woman to how the 50 year old woman acted at 25.

    You're also assuming that women are "settling" for their partners looking at porn. For me, and for every female friend of mine, it's not "settling." I don't care if my partner looks at porn -- not even one, tiny little bit. I don't see it as a bad thing for our relationship; in fact, looking at porn has been a good and healthy thing for us.

    Yes, this has been a change in the younger generations. Women are more accepting (even welcoming!) of their partners looking at porn -- just as men are more accepting and welcoming of their wives working. This isn't women "settling" or men "settling." This is people *actually* being totally fine with it.

    I understand that porn can be abused and unhealthy. It's much like alcohol or video games in that respect. You can be addicted, but you can also use it healthily. And the vast majority of people are in the latter group.

    Of course, as a therapist who deals specifically with people who have an issue with porn, you're going to see the people for whom porn is an issue. This means either people whose partners have an issue with it (even when it's healthily used) or people who are in fact addicted.

    It's not right to generalize from that to all couples though and to assume that porn is always bad and women who accept it are "settling." I haven't settled. I just truly don't mind my husband looking at porn.

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  4. Great insight, I'm going to share this blog post on our Women for Decency Facebook page.

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  5. Poor Kimberly, I think she feels trapped. Sounds like the end of school might be close, and for her sake I hope that's true. She may not see him as a future mate but a means to an end. Financial concerns can make people put up with a lot, especially if she has a countdown in site. She sounds like she cares about him, but not a very fulfilling relationship!

    I have two daughters; 32 & 25. The 32 yr old has dealt with multiple men involved with porn and disgusted with men in general, but longs to find mister right. She has resorted to the fact that to start a family she may need to resort to artificial insemination since a man not involved with porn is hard to find, how sad! But this shows me young women are not ready to settle for men that won't treat them right, including porn addiction. But my daughter is strong and a lot of young women are not. Those women might be destined to just long for a meaningful deep relationship, also very sad.

    Unfortunately, porn is SO prevalent it seeps into the lives of even very good men like mine. I'm very fortunate my husband realized when I caught him with porn, he was in the wrong with our vows to each other. I realize from stories I hear from friends, I have a special man that values our relationship, he chose us instead of porn. It's very hard to avoid in TV & movies, making it seem ok. Men are hardwired to crave women, survival of the species. How hard it must be to always have candy in your face and say no.

    Yes your ideas might be old-fashion Mark, but it's a fashion that doesn't go out of style. I think everyone wants to have a great connection with their mate, and when they don't have it, they long for it and it causes unhappiness and unfulfilled desires. I know many young women that have said good-bye to their boyfriends that won't give up porn. Those young women are much more upfront at letting future boyfriends know what they won't tolerate.

    I have a hard time figuring out women like the above posts. I'm glad they found happiness in a relationship filled with porn, maybe they like it too and that's ok. I know some couples survive with porn in their lives, but I think it's unusual not the norm. Long conversations with both my daughters tell me that idea is not dead!
    Keep up the good work Mark!!!

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  6. I think that with porn on the table, the basis of relationships is now about either dealing with pain (if porn is looked at as aberrational) or acceptance. Intimacy now means meeting one another in pain if porn is looked at as an aberration. So, women like Kimberly accept porn use as part of the "norm" in a relationship, because the alternative of being left with nothing but meeting in pain is unacceptable. If a woman accepts the porn, then at least she's not in pain constantly. It seems evident that the best anyone can hope for is that either a relationship is filled with "struggle" against porn or acceptance of it, and many people are choosing to accept it rather than to swim against the tide. Many women are exhausted from trying to maintain a standard that has long since gone by the wayside. It does not seem realistic for women to expect to be the "only one" in the current climate. So, it is about acceptance and expectations of relationships within the realistic landscape where porn is just part of the daily mix.

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