Dear Abby Gets It Right In Reponse to Thrown In Kansas

A woman was having a great marriage at a time in her life many women no longer have any marriage at all, but she's found a way to ruin it, as she detailed in her letter to an advice column.

Dear Abby gave a great answer.

THROWN IN KANSAS wrote:

My husband and I are in our early 70s. We have been married seven years.

So, there's a lot of history for each one of them.

I was celibate before we met and thrilled to have a partner I respected and was attracted to.

Maybe she means chaste? Or does she meant she had never married? If she means she was chaste, especially for her entire life, then she likely doesn't have much of a libido.

Our sex life seemed normal and exciting with lots of kisses and hugs throughout the day.

So, she was happy with their level of affection and the sex.

Recently, I caught him on a phone sex call and then discovered he visits sex chat rooms. I'm devastated.

Why devastated? He's much more horny than his wife and so he seeks relief.

I feel betrayed and angry that my trust has been violated.

Trust? How does this in any way mean she can't trust him? Did he explicitly agree he'd never do anything like that?

After several attempts to lie, he finally admitted the truth, but said it was a "recent" thing -- which was even more insulting!

My therapist says men don't suddenly take up phone sex and pornography in their 70s.

They do if they're not getting as much sex as they want.

When I shared that with my husband, he revealed it wasn't "as often" in the past. He swears he loves me and will get help, but I can't imagine how I can trust him again.

"Get help?" He's saying these things because you are upset. He tried to deny what was going on because he has difficulty being honest about his sexual nature, and she clearly has trouble dealing with the reality.

He doesn't seem to want to talk about it any further, other than taking some online classes dealing with porn addiction.

Why would he want to talk about it? The truth is upsetting to you. "Porn addiction" is a term used by grifters, hysterics, and their marks. It's not an official diagnosis.

Our relationship has always been cordial and friendly and that continues, though I'm no longer willing to have sex at this time.

So he's DEFINITELY going to seek relief. "My husband is hornier than I am, so my solution is to not have sex with him at all!"

My impulse is to bolt. I'm too old to deal with this nonsense, and I just want to live the rest of my life in peace.

Want peace? Accept male sexual nature for what it is. If you won't do that, leave. You might be able to find a man who has no drive or interest, but is that what you want? The pickings of men in general are slim at your age, and you had  a good thing going with this guy.

Dear Abby responded:

Please ignore your impulse to bolt. When you started your letter, you stated you had a good marriage to a man you respect and are attracted to -- with the bonus of kisses and hugs throughout the day. Your husband isn't having physical contact with anyone on the "hotline."

True. But maybe he should go out and have an affair instead.

If your therapist hasn't told you, many thousands of individuals of both sexes consider porn to be erotica and helpful, and many couples use it to enhance their sex lives.

Porn panic people will say that porn use is "linked" to relationship problems. But what they don't tell you is that the "link" is either that the relationship was already in trouble and/or that a partner's panic over porn caused the problems. Beyond that, compulsive people tend to do things compulsively, which may include watching porn. The core issue is their compulsiveness.

Rather than sacrifice what has been a successful marriage, you and your husband would be better off scheduling some appointments with a marriage and family therapist, and possibly one who specializes in sex therapy to help you overcome your emotional issue on this highly personal subject.

Obviously, anyone consulted should not be someone who buys into porn panic. And the concern for me is making sure he's avoiding being scammed.

She was getting what she wanted and everything she needed from their sex life. He wasn't. He needs more. If it's mostly a matter of frequency, is she willing to have sex more? If he "needs" variety, she might not be able to do anything about that. If she no longer wants to have sex with him, either she needs to accept he's going to seek relief even more or this marriage is over.
https://www.uexpress.com/life/dearabby/2023/06/07https://www.uexpress.com/life/dearabby/2023/06/07
Abby is going to get absurd letters and comments about how his enjoying what he does is going to turn him into a serial killer or cause children to be abused. Even some people who are usually rational and reasonable throw logic and sense out the window when it comes to erotica.