9:50 pm - 04/30/2012

Slippery consent issues with boyfriend.

I have been turning the contents of this post over and over in my mind for a couple of months, and finally decided to just post it.

Outside of the bedroom, my partner is a perfect gentleman: charming, brilliant, funny, thoughtful, affectionate. We share great chemistry and the same sense of humor, and love each other's company. I am very happy to be with him.

But I do have a concern or else I wouldn't be here. It has to do with consent.



We've been involved for just over a year. He's older than me (27 to my 23; we're both grad students) and much more sexually experienced than I am (I would estimated 20 partners for him over 10 years of being sexually active, and I've had four partners over four years), and for the most part, our sex life has been really great and fun. That's important to point out: honestly almost always great and great fun for both of us. But there have been 7-8 incidents over the past few months where he won't take "no" for an answer. We rely on condoms and the fertility awareness method to avoid pregnancy; when I'm outside my fertile window, we skip the condoms since we've both tested STD-free.


There are always a few days each month on either side of my fertile window where it's probably safe to have unprotected sex but I have a lot of anxiety about pregnancy (and he's fully aware of this) where I insist we use condoms for my peace of mind. On some of these days, when I feel we should use a condom and say so, clearly and firmly if sympathetically, he has laid on top of me and pushed and pushed the head of his penis against my vagina (I'm not wet to receive him, obviously, since I am uncomfortable and don't want to have sex without a condom) and eventually pushed inside, despite my insisting on using a condom, and then he will thrust a few times, up to a minute or two, clearly relishing it, before he relents and puts on a condom. He's much bigger than I am, but I could push him off if I used all of my strength and wasn't worried about hurting him, but I shouldn't have to when I've been clear... additionally, after the fact, I've told him clearly that he put his pleasure over my peace of mind. I don't really remember his responses to these comments, but it was something along the lines of "I care about you and I don't want you to be upset, so talk to me..." Well, I was talking to you, clearly, when these things were unfolding... 


There have been two other kinds of incidents. One is joking about consent during sex, which only happened once but made me uncomfortable at the time (expressed my discomfort) and much more uncomfortable after the fact when I had time to think it over alone and examine it alongside the few murky-consent incidents we'd had. 


And the other has been a few times that I've been sick or under the weather and said that I am not feeling up to sex, and he's pressured me into it, basically not taking "No, I don't feel well and I'm not in the mood" for an answer (continuing to undress me, undressing himself, lying on top of me, and so on from there) so that I would either have to give in or I'd have to make a big scene to fully communicate the seriousness of the situation, and I've given in. He's also kept going (for - edited: what feels like several minutes until orgasming, definitely several deep thrusts and not a hasty wrap-up and pull out, but maybe only a minute or two now that I realize I don't know what several minutes during sex feels like?) the time or two I've gotten injured during sex (vaginal tears or major cervix bumps, both of which REALLY hurt... so in those instances, though he knew I was hurt and wanted to stop as soon as possible, he decided to keep on going and then congratulated me for being a "good sport." Yeah, definitely wanted to kick him out of bed. 


So, I am posting because I don't know how to think about these things and the discomfort they make me feel and how to square these things with how genuinely amazing he is the rest of the time: in every other setting and situation, and almost every sex situation. These incidents comprise a tiny tiny fraction of a percentage of our sexual experiences together, but they needle me. 


Edited to add: In at least a few past relationships, he's definitely been into Dom/Sub stuff (him being, he's said, very dominant), but we haven't dabbled much in that since it's not a turn-on for me, and it's kind of beside the point. What was OK and maybe very mutually agreeable in those relationships doesn't say anything about what flies and doesn't in other sexual relationships. 

nickelshoe TW: Talk of SA denial1st-May-2012 02:57 pm (UTC)
OP, I think you've gotten a lot of good input so far. I wanted to tell you that if you decide to have a conversation about this, you need to be prepared for his reaction. He is not likely to say, "Oh no, I am so sorry. I never thought about it like that." He is much more likely to turn it around on you and put you on the defensive. (This is likely to be triggering for some readers.) "It really hurts me that you think I've been raping you all this time." "You never stopped me!" "If you'd done X, I would have stopped." "I was just playing around." "You sure acted like you enjoyed it." He might say things that are totally untrue, like denying you ever said no. Even if he is basically a good guy (and definitely if he has been deliberately manipulating you), he is probably not going to be willing to be portrayed as someone who ignores non-consent.

I just don't want you to be caught by surprise. It may be very difficult for you to stand your ground here.
dearestevermore Re: TW: Talk of SA denial1st-May-2012 06:43 pm (UTC)
As someone who crumbles easily under gaslighting, thank you for pointing this out and OP, I urge you to read this over and over and over before you talk to your significant other (if you choose to converse with him about this). If he has even an inkling of not-so-great-things lurking inside of him, he WILL do this to you, and it WILL be hard to keep your head on straight. If you start to feel that familiar "I'm overreacting" sensation, if you find yourself trying to backpeddle to avoid him lashing out, if you find yourself questioning your memories because of comments he is making in response to you, be aware that you are most likely being misled and remove yourself from the conversation and the situation as quickly as possible to recollect your thoughts. Call a friend, post here, anything to reassure you that everything you are feeling and experiencing is valid and true.
misspaigeb Re: TW: Talk of SA denial1st-May-2012 09:54 pm (UTC)
Thank you for pointing this out. This was the huge problem in my last relationship. I agree, it doesn't sound like this guy is going to take you (OP) seriously when you bring this up if he didn't when you said "no."
lilsongbird Re: TW: Talk of SA denial1st-May-2012 10:41 pm (UTC)
Thank you for posting this. I wanted to say similar but my own experience is still too fresh and raw to be coherent in this. This is exactly what happened when I was going through a situation similar to OP. It took me a long time to accept that yes, it was rape because I was non consenting and he did it anyways either by pressure (which was the part I struggled with) and eventually by force (which I was a lot more clear on).
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