
Originally Posted by
whilhelm
OK, i'll be the wet blanket. minivan - don't take this as an assault on you or your marriage. i'd like to challenge what you're saying a little bit. if you're not OK with that, just say the word & i'll just say to each his own.
keep it in that context please - i'm not assuming that it's my place to judge you & your wife or your decisions regarding sex & porn.
but...
my problems with the attitude you've described:
1. your hanging onto your porn & your wife's tolerating it allows you both to avoid critical communication about an issue in your relationship: your sex drives don't match. that doesn't make you any less perfect for each other. no two people come into a marriage without the need to grind down the gears & make the machine run smoothly.
but rather than work your way through you wanting more & her wanting less - you're taking the easy way around all that. not only would working through it potentially resolve the issue, but would take you through an exercise that would make your relationship stronger, your communication skills sharper, & your understanding of one another deeper.
you're getting into a car, noticing a knock in the engine & rather than deal with the knock, you're just taking the other car.
2. "Well, at least he's home and not out getting drunk or picking up chicks" - this is a common resolve for couples where the husband is into porn, strip clubs, etc. the problem is the qualifier: "at least". this reduces your wife's expectation to the least common denominator. in other words, she can't look for the best, or what she would really hope for - she has to settle for the least worst of all the bad options.
it's as though she has to choose b/w you cheating on her & disregarding that she doesn't want as much sex as you ("If it weren't for porn, I would be all over her almost every night") - or you satisfying your desires by engaging with porn.
there actually are other choices and i would argue they are better ones.
i know this won't be a popular post. it looks like i'm attacking a guy who has humbly shared his relationship with us. i want to assure you that i don't mean to disrespect your marriage. your decisions are yours. and i applaude your honesty & am sure yours is a wonderful marriage. my wife & i have our own issues to work through & i'm preaching to myself here as much as anyone. i hope you believe that.
i just wanted to challenge your ideas in the interest of the discussion - if you're offended by this i'll really shut up about it.
i'll be up front about my perspective that porn is never OK and is always a bad thing, even in open relationships such as yours.
so my intention is just to challenge - and i'll welcome your challenges back.
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