One woman (u/Johnnnyyy111) shared her story of being manipulated by her sexist husband after he continued to invalidate her feelings and statements by claiming she must be “on her period.” Her story, which was posted to the subReddit “AITA?“, implied that after her husband had taken their car out and forgot to fill the tank back up.
OP (original poster) rightfully called him out. Backed into a corner and knowing he was wrong, her husband invalidated her emotions by stating, “We will not talk about this now since you appear to be on your period.”
How OP responded to this outlandish manipulation (which wasn’t even true), had the Internet exclaiming “bravo!” Read her story below to see the gutsy response she served up to her sexist husband.
After being manipulated by her husband regarding her period, OP asked: “AITA for pulling my pants down and showing my husband my underwear after he insisted that I was on my period when I wasn’t?”
My husband has a habit of blaming my behavior/reaction on my period. For example, when we argue, he’ll say, ‘I won’t argue anymore since you tend to act crazy when you’re on your period,’ or even say, ‘I know you didn’t mean to do/say that but couldn’t help it since it’s that time of the month for you.’ It’s so irritating, and it prevents me from being allowed to express myself.
After being invalidated and feeling powerless to stop it, OP’s husband finally struck a nerve that sent her over the edge…
It happened again last night at the dinner table. We had an argument about him forgetting to fill my car with gas after he used it, and when I expressed my frustration, he said, ‘We will not talk about this now since you appear to be on your period.’ I said that I was not on my period and that this was just me feeling frustrated with him. He insisted he wouldn’t talk about this then and insisted he wouldn’t hear what I had to say since ‘I was on my period and I was being irrational during the argument.
As you can predict, what happened next was an equally powerful statement.
I snapped and had enough. So, I got up, stood in front of him while he was still eating, pulled down my pants, and showed him my underwear.
He made a grossed-out face and shouted, ‘That’s nasty, I’m eating my damn dinner, damn it.’ We had a full-blown argument, and he said I acted horribly and ruined his appetite by pulling that nasty move. He told me to grow up and stop being spiteful over nothing.
He keeps saying I grossed him out during dinner and made him go to bed hungry. AITA? Did I overreact?
Was OP the “A-hole” for what she did, or was her reaction to her manipulative husband completely valid?
One major thing that sets women apart from men is their menstrual cycles. Having to go through the pains of period cramps and bleeding profusely for a week every month is something no one wants to endure. Not to mention the hormonal changes and mood swings accompanying these inconvenient “Shark weeks.” Some studies have shown men undergoing “period simulators” in which they claim the pain is equal to a heart attack.
However, periods have always gotten a bad rap for men using them as a means of manipulation. Most women have heard the phrase: “Someone’s on their period” and been enraged by the dripping sarcasm and judgment accompanying it. Little do most men understand, is that when a woman’s on her period, her intuition and emotions are heightened. If she’s saying something you don’t like, it’s probably because it holds some truth.
Any woman who reads OP’s story of her being manipulated by her husband about her period should be cheering her on from the sidelines for her act of heroism!
That’s precisely what happened. Redditors who saw the story chanted for divorce in the comments, stating that her husband was a manipulative, sexist, gaslighting, a-hole. These are all very valid points. Using a woman’s period against her is wrong, in every single instance.
What are your thoughts on this post? Do you think OP went too far in her dinner-time entertainment, or do you think her actions were entirely justified given the circumstances? Let us know!
Commenters urged OP to pull up her pants and run as fast as she can away from her marriage:
