Okay everyone. The girlfriend and I just had a lengthy discussion/confrontation and I'd like to relate some of it here. It did not leave us in a friendly place relationship-wise, but I feel good about it anyway because I stated my case, stood my ground, and didn't apologize for anything I wasn't sorry for. I will relate what happened later in the post. First, I'd like to respond to some of the posts that have come up over the past 12 hours or so:
Ha. Well, I am sure everyone has different ideas of what a "real man" does. The long and short of it is that I'm a nice guy. Sometimes too nice. But I could never artificially be aloof or indifferent to someone's needs in the name of getting more action.
Frankly, I have revisited the theory you propose many times: That I'm different now which is why she's no longer attracted. I've asked her about this several times and she's denied that it's the case. It's true that some things about me are different than when we met. Back then I was making about 25%-50% more money than I make today. I was in a position of authority at my job and had the cocky attitude to back it up. I don't think that money is the issue. Maybe my attitude has changed. However, the "me" she knew back then was getting hot sex sometimes multiple times a day. That goes a long way towards stoking a guy's ego. It's hard to feel on top of the world these days when I feel like my penis is in a box in the attic and I only get to take it out to play on very special occasions.
I've *always* treated her like a queen. From day one. That never changed.
Ouch. I am so sorry.
Thanks for weighing in on this. It's heartening and comforting to hear the thoughts of someone who is in a similar boat.
I keep thinking that if I just make her understand how much pain I am in over this then she'll change her ways. But it never turns out to be the case. She feels bad about herself. Cries a bit. Promises to "work on it," and then apparently does this in private because I don't get to see the results.
She's not having an affair. First of all, she doesn't have the time. For the past 6 months she's been going to graduate school full time and has had internships. Between that and my work schedule we usually only get to have dinner together once or twice a week. (I know what some of you may be thinking, and believe me, we DO have plenty of time/opportunities for sex, despite how busy both of our schedules are.) I just don't think she'd have the time to cheat on me, and I don't think she's the type. Despite our problems, I don't think she would lie to me. I asked her only one time if there was someone else, and she said "no." I believe her. Moreover, I've seen no sign that any cheating could be taking place.
The problem is that I "use" myself. I keep duping myself into thinking that if I am more generous with myself and my time that she will respond in kind, the old "give and take" that a relationship is based on. Lately I feel like it's more "give and give" on my end. Some of the things I do are things she asks me to do. A lot of other things are things I offer to do or insist on doing, liuke bringing her dinner if she has a long night at school or some school function and I know that if I don't bring it to her her dinner will just be a bag or Doritos and a cookie and she'll only end up feeling sick later.
But you are right -- I do need to change that. I've gotten better about it over how I've been in past relationships, but I've still got a lot of work to do.
I have come to this conclusion as well. Most of the time, it feels like we are best friends with occasional benefits, benefits which usually feel more like drunken hookups than anything else. I told her as much this morning. More about that later...
Thank you for all of your input. I value it greatly. I plan to not be closed-minded about this issue down the road. If nothing changes after counseling I am going to have some hard decisions to make. The stress that this issue brings me (which I admit is partly my fault because I'm not exactly a "Zen" kind of guy) actually takes a toll on me physically -- I have a stress-related chronic pain condition. So when I am hurting emotionally, I often hurt physically as well. On top of that, I have a physically demanding job. I can't go on like this much longer, I don't think.
She takes Wellbutrin, which is actually supposed to *increase* sex drive!
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Okay, now the second part of my post. We had a discussion this morning. She woke me up so I could help her study for her quiz. (A weekly thing.) I groggily pulled on a shirt and she offered to make me a cup of tea, which I thought was a nice gesture. (She tends to do these little things as a way of showing me she cares for me, but rarely does the things I tell her that I *need*, which are FEW.)
I was NOT happy about waking up and doing this first thing, and my heart was aswirl with emotions after living with this for so long and staying up late on this message board working through everything. As you can probably tell, I am reaching the end of my rope and this morning I was really feeling it. She could tell something was wrong with me and I wasn't happy. I told her we shouldn't talk about it NOW because it would derail the study session and ruin the day. She prodded more, and I relented. The truth of the matter is that I wanted to talk about it today whether it derailed the session or not, because, like I said, I'm nearing the end of my rope.
What I told her was that I feel I do more in this relationship than she does. I go out of my way to provide for her emotionally and feel she does not respond in kind. I told her that although I feel the same way about her as I always did (and I fear of this goes on much longer I may not be able to view her in the same light forever) I feel that the relationship now resembles one of very close friends more than that of two lovers. And I wasn't happy with that. And I said it's been this way for some time now.
Whenever this issue comes up, she has a habit of trying to contract the time period. She couldn't fathom how I could feel this way "just because the last few weeks have been really busy for me and I haven't been giving you a lot of attention." I had to gently remind her that it's been well over a year. "But I thought things were getting better," She said. And it's true that there was a 2-week period recently in which we probably had sex 4 times, but she was drunk all of those times and then everything went back to the way it was before. I explained THIS to her, and then the conversation really took off.
I got to hear long explanations of how thinly she is spread (and she is), how busy she's been, how much stress she has been under. I pointed out that we;d been having this problem through various jobs and a long period of unemployment. No matter how hard she tried to cast herself as the victim I did not apologize, which was hard for me to do because I hate to see her upset, but I stood my ground and did not get emotional.
She spent most of the conversation very upset, but in a sad sort of way. (Later, she would tell me I need to find somewhere else to sleep tonight, but that comes later.) She told me that despite how much she has had on her plate over the months, she has always given me whatever "she has left" at the expense of what she "needs to do for herself." The message being that between me and the rest of her life there's nothing left for her in terms of personal space. I cannot even render into words the cosmic pain I felt over hearing that she gives me "what's left." WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!? I am not sure if she meant it the way that it sounded, but to ME it sounded like I was not a big priority in her life, or at least not as big as she is in mine. She's always said that if things were to not work out with us she would "regret it for the rest of her life." Yet I would never, EVER consider giving her what's "left." She gets the best of me, often at the expense of other things in my life, because I have made this relationship my #1 priority.
I kept hitting the point of therapy. When I first brought up couples counseling, she actually rolled her eyes. I kept insisting, and she said there's no point in us going together if I haven't gone alone first. (She is in therapy herself, and has been for years.) She said I need to speak to a professional so that I can "better define what I need and what I'm able to offer." (She sounded like a textbook.) I explained that I am very much in touch with what I need and what I expect from her. I agreed that I should seek counseling (because I really should) but that I think that's a separate issue from our own situation. Finally I said, "I just can't understand why you won't agree with counseling with conditions. Can you do that?" Finally she relented, and agreed, although we agreed that it's going to have to happen in May because right now she just has no time. (I am sure if she really wanted to she could find time for it, but I agreed with her on this point anyway.)
So, for now, we are agreed that we are going to couples therapy in the summer. I told her if this doesn't happen I will be very angry and disappointed.
At a certain point, she changed from sad and angry. She said she was furious with me that I would bring this up now when I "know how much stress" she is already under. She said I should know how difficult her life is and have been sensitive to that. Well what about MY life? What about how much stress I am under? I told her that I am tired of casting my own needs and feeling aside, and that whenever we have this conversation she accuses me of not being sensitive to the fact that she has a
"lot on her plate." She got very angry and told me to find somewhere else to sleep tonight. "I mean, what do you think we are going to do when you get home, cuddle and talk about our day?" She calmed down before she left just enough to say that I DON'T have to sleep elsewhere, though I wouldn't be shocked if I end up on the couch. Which is honestly fine with me.
I only apologized for one thing. I said "I'm sorry this conversation happened *today*" Which is true. We are going on vacation together next week and I was planning on doing this after we got back.
But I'm happy we talked about it. I feel empowered. She feels wronged by me, but I can't change that. Relationships need to be mutual. I'm not saying I am perfect. Lord knows I am not. But I need to be heard and looked after just like anyone else does. I will not be put aside. I will not be told that my desires are crude or insignificant. I am not asking for some crazy fetish. I don't want to pee on her face or have sex in public. Damnit, it just want to relate sexually to the person I live with and feel sexual about. If she can't come around to understanding this, I'll have to take measures.
I am beginning to wonder whether she has it in her at this point in her life to actually be in a relationship.