Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find distressing.
A woman who is growing weary of her husband's overt sexual advances and high libido has sparked a fierce debate online after complaining of his frequent "nagging" and "groping".
Sharing her predicament anonymously to the British parenting forum Mumsnet last week, the wife compared her husband to a "horny teenager" and complained that their differences have led to a lack of sexual appetite on her side.
"I'm basically sick of my husband groping me and nagging me for sex. We have sex maybe once a week and even then I have to force myself. He says twice a week is the norm for most married couples. I disagree," she said.
She explained the more forward and overt her husband is, the less attracted to him she becomes, noting that she finds his advances "irritating" and "annoying".
"If I bend over, he has to slap my arse. It wasn't an issue at the start of our relationship but now it just irritates me… if I go into the kitchen to do dishes, he'll follow me and want a full on snog fest," she elaborated.
"If we're sat as a family in the living room watching kids' shows, he'll mouth a dirty comment to me. It doesn't turn me on. It annoys me… when I turn him down, he acts like a wounded puppy."
The woman said she had been honest with her husband the night prior and explained that his forward behaviour is making her take a step back, to which he responded that unless he attempts to initiate, he feels their marriage will be devoid of physical intimacy.
"I was really honest with him last night and told him that the more full on he is, the less I want it… I just told him to be less full on. This morning, it was like the conversation never happened," she continued.
"Him acting like a horny teenager all the time is actually giving me the ick! Anyone else?"
The woman's predicament prompted an intense debate in the comments, with readers fiercely divided by who they commiserated with and why. Several urged the woman to leave her husband, describing his behaviour as "revolting" and sexually abusive.
"Every time he touches you sexually when you don't want him to, it's sexual assault," one said, with a second agreeing: "All this coercion and stropping when he doesn't get to touch you is sexual abuse."
Another advised the woman to call her husband out by referring to his actions as "sexual harassment" each time she is forced to confront him, suggesting it may help get the message across.
"That is gross and as you say, a massive turn off. Is he aware of the fact that it's not the 1920s and women are not the property of their husbands?" a fourth responded.
However, others were more sympathetic to the husband's side of the story, suggesting the couple were simply mismatched and a different partner with a similar sex drive would be unperturbed, or even flattered, by his advances. Several noted that a partner who enjoys a more sexually charged marriage might be better suited to him.
"It's just how some people show their affection. Your normal is not necessarily someone else's normal," one pitched in, with another agreeing that while his approach may be "immature", sex twice a week isn't excessive for everyone.
"If you still find him attractive and want to have sex with him, you need a serious proper chat and make it clear what you do find a turn on," they said.
"Twice a week isn't much. I'd be really upset if that's all I got," a woman chipped in.
"Me and my husband are very gropey and touchy feely," another added. "He clearly still finds you attractive. I feel sorry for the poor sod. You'd be better off leaving and letting him find someone more on his level."
"Fundamentally it's about respect though," another reader responded. "He has no respect for you or your bodily autonomy ,and knowing that is bound to chip away at your love for him.
"He probably needs to hear that too - the question is whether he will listen."
