How to get my husband to accept me lifting heavy?

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  • JenGranzow
    JenGranzow Posts: 116 Member
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    Best of luck to you. I don't really get the concept of "make" and "let" in a relationship, that just doesn't work for me. You are so, so young. My goodness.
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
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    Yikes!

    1) This is YOUR relationship and what you and your husband need to do. You don't need to adjust your relationship according to what other people think is and isn't ok. Just really wanted to say that because I don't think the solution is a massive overhaul of your relationship if that's what you and your husband want/enjoy. We all have different things we want in a relationship. There's no one mold. My partner prefers to be with a more modern woman that does for herself and is independent. I have friends that prefer the traditional man works/woman raises the kids view. Both are ok if that's what makes you happy.

    2) The way to solve this isn't to change your relationship. It's to change what you husband understands as driving the things that you both want. If the preference for both of you is that he is the man and you depend on him for certain things, he wants to feel like he is the person that provides for you. Show him that scooping ice cream isn't important. Show him the actual important areas where you depend on him. Getting strong doesn't change those things. He's looking at minor issues and thinking it changes the whole relationship. Emphasize the values of your relationship and how being physically strong will NOT change those things. He needs to understand that the world won't end if you're able to pick up a box by yourself. Your relationship isn't changing. Your HEALTH is changing. It sounds like he's just panicking and picking out little things to make them big issues (clearly 45 minutes 3 times a week isn't making your sex life change, he's just being petty). I think the key isn't to get him to accept lifting, but to get him to realize that your relationship isn't changing. Then lifting won't be a big deal.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.

    Depending on the lift, I would think a dress would get in the way. I can just see myself snagging the hem on the bar and then giving everyone a show.
  • BeautifulJess526
    BeautifulJess526 Posts: 11 Member
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    LazerMole wrote: »
    Becoming strong and capable is fundamentally opposite to your previous "deal" with your husband.

    He will have to change his mindset, just as you have, or it's not going to work out. Any issue he's having is likely due to his insecurities, which you likely didn't see much of before, because you were in an arrangement that allowed him to feel like the "strong, capable manly man".

    Now that you are becoming more capable, it is threatening his fragile world view.

    You either need to stop lifting heavy, in order to quell his massive insecurities, or he needs to work through whatever ridiculous ego crisis he's having because you can open a jar now.

    This
  • TossaBeanBag
    TossaBeanBag Posts: 458 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Tell him to stop acting like a little girl or you will begin to treat him like one.
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
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    The short answer? You probably won't. You need to decide where you want to go from there.

    I know what I think would be best, but I don't live your life.
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    Paige682 wrote: »
    GothyFaery wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.

    Depending on the lift, I would think a dress would get in the way. I can just see myself snagging the hem on the bar and then giving everyone a show.

    But again, it's all done at home so there's no one to see the show. Now some dresses wouldn't be fit for some lifts. Like trying to squat in a wiggle dress would be next to impossible but a circle dress would be fine for 95% of lifting as long as it wasn't too tight around the bust.

    I don't lift in my dresses because I don't want to ruin them but if I bought a few cheap ones, I probably wouldn't mind it. Still prefer bra and undies but I could make a dress work if I tried.
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.

    I was just curious cuz you said you only wear dresses... and you're asking advice about the lifting weights and stuff... Which by the way, (I truly haven't read what people wrote so I don't know if it's been suggested) maybe you shouldn't lift while he's home, like don't do it in his presence. If that's possible, maybe that could help.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You say you don't have secrets and such, but you are on here posting about this on the internet to a bunch of strangers? Does he know about this?

    Have you considered maybe talking with those in a similar relationship style as yours that have faced such dilemmas? Maybe on Fetlife?
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Mamahana82 wrote: »
    ItsCasey wrote: »
    If you can hear me over the raging anti-man crowd (masquerading as pro-woman) ...

    I am so unbelievably sick of this false dichotomy that suggests you have only have two choices: be weak, scared, and lifeless, while handing over control of your life to your husband, OR be a cornfed hermaphrodite who prefers to spend all her time turning burping, farting, and spitting into competitive sports. It is possible to be physically, mentally, and emotionally strong and yet still allow the man in your life to feel like a man. I don't give a rat's *kitten* what year it is, and neither does biology. I wear a dress or skirt and high heels every day. I prefer dominant, hyper-masculine men. I can also squat 270 lbs, and the most masculine men I know actually find that very sexy, not threatening.

    My advice to you is to get as strong as you want to be. When you get to that point, you will love yourself more, and that will be all the reality check your husband needs on this matter.

    Oh goodie. I love it when feminists pretend they aren't feminists and call fellow feminists "anti-men".

    How do you interpret this post as feminist?

    I'll tell you how I interpret it as a "feminist". They have a relationship that works for them. Awesome. She wants to change it slightly. They are both going to need to work through it to find a "new normal". They do this by communicating and compromise.

    People can have whatever kind of relationships they want. People also change as they age. OP got married young to an older man, she's going to do the majority of the changing and they are going to both have to work through it.

    My comment wasn't in reference to the OP, it was in regards to the comment about ItsCasey's reply.
  • Lennox497
    Lennox497 Posts: 242 Member
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    It takes a whole lot of testosterone for a woman to get bulky.

    Why doesn't he lift as well? If he really has a problem and fear of not being the 'Alpha' in a relationship then why doesn't get put for the effort and hit the gym himself?
  • disasterman
    disasterman Posts: 746 Member
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    This probably won't be very helpful but one could make the argument that being a strong woman is even more traditional, old-fashioned mindset than what you describe e.g. not being allowed to operate a BBQ or take out that trash. Prior to the Industrial Revolution women were involved in agriculture and home production work and were, by necessity, strong. Sure, there were tasks that were considered more masculine or feminine but whether it was swinging an axe to chop some firewood or carrying water from the creek to the home women were involved in the physical labor required to survive. These notions you discuss of being weak and not allowed to do physical labor are actually quite modern and have only recently - post WWII - really begun to change in a widespread way.

  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    deksgrl wrote: »
    GothyFaery wrote: »
    GothyFaery wrote: »
    Dragonwolf wrote: »
    GothyFaery wrote: »
    And if you'd like to avoid the "can of worms" in the future, I would suggest you avoid using the term "Stepford wife". It's not considered a positive thing. It was a horror story. Maybe June Cleaver would be more appropriate.

    I'm sorry, I don't see the term Stepford wife as anything negitive. It would be the biggest compliment to me if someone said I was a Stepford wife. I didn't think I was the only one who thought this way.

    Have you ever seen The Stepford Wives (or read the book)? Stepford was a dystopian, gated community where the wives were systematically replaced by (or turned into) robots that did the man's every whim without thought or question. Many of the women were formerly activists or otherwise very independent women. They were stripped of all independent personality, against their will.

    Being a "Stepford wife" is in no way, shape or form a good thing, and has never been. To say that you're a "Stepford wife" means, by definition, that you've been stripped of all independence, both in thought and action. Is that something you really want?

    Yes, I like the movies and the book. To me being a Stepford wife doesn't mean having no control (because they can't make me a robot). It means being everything my husband wants and making him completely happy in every way and doing it all with a smile. The Stepford wife ideal to me is basically being the perfect wife. I don't see it negitivly and I really thought more women thought this way. I guess I was wrong.

    You understand that your husband isn't giving you the same level of support you idealize giving him though and that's what we're all reacting to, right?

    He gives me that level of support in every other aspect of our lives. That's why I made this post. I've never come across this side of him and I don't know how to handle it. I just want him to understand that me lifting isn't changing anything about our relationship. I still need and want him and I always will.

    You have never come across it because you have always conformed. It is changing your relationship because you are doing something he is not happy with.

    In every other aspect of your lives -- let's talk about those. What do you outside of your desire to tend to him, please him and always have a smile on your face? Do you go to school? Job? Hobby?

    Is there anything in life you do that is totally separate from him that he supports, that's my question...

    I have a job (I'm a lead over a team) and he supports me there. I enjoy musicals and he gladdly watches them with me even though he hates it. For our anniversarry every year he dresses up (even though he hates it) and takes me out to a fancy dinner and a show in Vegas (he would rather just drink any gamble but he does this because it makes me happy). We're both into tattoos but that's another hobby of mine that he supports. I would die without eating Taco Bell. It doesn't agree with him so when we pick of TB for me, he gets something else without complaining. When I'm not feeling well he tells me over and over again not to cook and that he will just make a sandwich. What else do you want to know?

    I think these details are important.

    It's easy to see your situation as a woman who married her older husband when she was very young, and now he's struggling to let her grow and develop into a fully formed individual because it challenges his sense of security, which is wrapped up in a particular lifestyle that's based on values that prioritize a man's happiness over a woman's.

    Honestly, I think the best way to go about this is ask him to join you. Maybe ask him to teach you lifts you do not currently do?
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.

    I was just curious cuz you said you only wear dresses... and you're asking advice about the lifting weights and stuff... Which by the way, (I truly haven't read what people wrote so I don't know if it's been suggested) maybe you shouldn't lift while he's home, like don't do it in his presence. If that's possible, maybe that could help.


    She can't do that because they are never apart from each other.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    PikaKnight wrote: »
    You say you don't have secrets and such, but you are on here posting about this on the internet to a bunch of strangers? Does he know about this?

    Have you considered maybe talking with those in a similar relationship style as yours that have faced such dilemmas? Maybe on Fetlife?

    This is a great idea...
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    Paige682 wrote: »
    GothyFaery wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    How to do I NOT get notifications on this specific thread?


    Right? What in the name of all things green is that about?

    Someone suggested to me that I should turn off the "notify me in a thread i posted" and I should just bookmark a topic with the star. That way I keep getting notified but when I'm bored I can just turn off the star. Best advice ever!! :mrgreen:




    Does she lift weights in a dress/skirt? That is something weird. :huh:

    Why is it weird to lift in a dress? I do it all at home so it's not like someone can see up there or anything. BTW I don't lift in a dress, but I don't understand why it would be weird if I did.

    Depending on the lift, I would think a dress would get in the way. I can just see myself snagging the hem on the bar and then giving everyone a show.

    But again, it's all done at home so there's no one to see the show. Now some dresses wouldn't be fit for some lifts. Like trying to squat in a wiggle dress would be next to impossible but a circle dress would be fine for 95% of lifting as long as it wasn't too tight around the bust.

    I don't lift in my dresses because I don't want to ruin them but if I bought a few cheap ones, I probably wouldn't mind it. Still prefer bra and undies but I could make a dress work if I tried.

    Wait up wait up wait up!! You do this in your undies? And your husband wants you to stop? And it's getting in the way of your sex life? I'm sorry, I take back my advice. Lift in font of him!! If he doesn't get turned on by his half naked wife, then there's something more wrong with him!!
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    PikaKnight wrote: »
    You say you don't have secrets and such, but you are on here posting about this on the internet to a bunch of strangers? Does he know about this?

    Have you considered maybe talking with those in a similar relationship style as yours that have faced such dilemmas? Maybe on Fetlife?

    No, he doesn't know. I tried to talk to him about it this weekend and it didn't seem to work. I thought maybe someone else here would have gone through this before and have some specific advice. I didn't think it would get crazy.

    I haven't looked at places like fetlife because this isn't a fetish. This isn't some S&M thing (not into that). It's just how I live. It's weird to me that more people here don't understand it but I'm sure I wouldn't understand the specifics of a lot of people's relelationships either. Just because it's not what 90% of people are doing, doesn't mean it's a fetish.

    And honestly the whole Stepford thing is way more in my mind than his. I'm the one who is striving to be the perfect wife (yet another thing I don't understand seems crazy to a lot of people), he's not forcing me to be that way.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    GothyFaery wrote: »
    PikaKnight wrote: »
    You say you don't have secrets and such, but you are on here posting about this on the internet to a bunch of strangers? Does he know about this?

    Have you considered maybe talking with those in a similar relationship style as yours that have faced such dilemmas? Maybe on Fetlife?

    No, he doesn't know. I tried to talk to him about it this weekend and it didn't seem to work. I thought maybe someone else here would have gone through this before and have some specific advice. I didn't think it would get crazy.

    I haven't looked at places like fetlife because this isn't a fetish. This isn't some S&M thing (not into that). It's just how I live. It's weird to me that more people here don't understand it but I'm sure I wouldn't understand the specifics of a lot of people's relelationships either. Just because it's not what 90% of people are doing, doesn't mean it's a fetish.

    And honestly the whole Stepford thing is way more in my mind than his. I'm the one who is striving to be the perfect wife (yet another thing I don't understand seems crazy to a lot of people), he's not forcing me to be that way.

    Umm...Yes, actually, this is a fetish. Fetishes aren't just S&M type deals..and S&M covers a lot of aspects, not just physical but mental/emotional as well.

    There are those that are into the 1950/Stepford Wife fetishes both in and out of the bedroom. This is totally a fetish..as is another aspect of your relationship but I'm not going to mention it here because it's a bit controversial to those that might not get all the facts on it.

    This is totally a kink relationship and I suggest you mosey on over to Fetlife because you are going to get a rude awakening. :laugh: