r/AITAH•
No_Outcome1972

AITAH for telling my (27M) girlfriend (25F) to dress less provocatively to avoid stalkers?

My girlfriend of two years tends to be a very sexual person and so she often dresses provocatively. She also has some sensual hobbies like pole dancing that she publically posts. I've never cared about the dressing much (with a single exception mentioned later) and I don't see pole dancing as a sexual hobby -- it feels more like sensual artistic expression.

However, where this all goes wrong is that my girlfriend will sometimes receive very creepy unwanted attention especially when I'm not around. I know that women will unfairly receive unwanted attention no matter what, which is awful, but I've noticed that due to the decisions on how she presents herself, it tends to be much much creepier and a threat to her safety compared to the typical amount my girl friends face. The issue is that she can't seem to understand that the extremely creepy behaviour is (partially) a result of her decisions or behaviours. For example, she'll often wear short skirts without safety shorts underneath, so going up the stairs has a low chance of flashing her underwear. She also tends to expose a lot of skin in general and used to go out a lot without wearing a bra, where you could see her nipples poking through (this one I was uncomfortable with and she stopped). Dresses will often have relatively high slits and be very seductive in nature.

With the exception of going out without a bra, I'm not uncomfortable at all with the dressing. I understand she is very in touch with her femininity and attractiveness, so it makes sense that she'd enjoy dressing that way. The issue is that she is receiving extreme levels of stalking and creepy behaviour. As an example, some guys she casually met at events have found out that she has some lingerie shots posted on her Instagram, and some of them awkwardly try and hang out more and more with her, thinking that she's open to casual sex or cheating. They will keep messaging her and sometimes it gets to the level of obsession from these creepy men.

The biggest example is that she's had a few stalkers who get obsessed with her due to her being quite attractive, who have access to her Instagram and likely have some crazy fantasies about her. They will go out of their way to try and find her home and we've had to report some before. This is the major fear for me, these men become obsessed with me and I'm terrified of how someone may stalk her or act. There have been times where a man will wait outside her apartment. I also want to say that I understand -any- woman can go through this and unfortunately will, but she goes through it -more- than any other woman I've met. Magnitudes more to the point where it's a legitimate safety threat.

The thing is, for some reason, she cannot relate their disproportionately unhinged behaviours to her way of being. I completely understand that this is a men's problem. That women should be able to go bra-less or dress how they want without being harassed. I understand that it's really sad that she cannot exist how she wants to without receiving harassment. I help support her and lament these issues. But on the other hand, I also want to suggest for her to dress differently and hide the photos. I think that if these creepy interactions affect her so deeply and honestly genuinely for her own safety, she shouldn't dress as provocatively. Yes it's the men's fault, but continuing to dress and post like that is increasing it beyond what a woman usually experiences.

After supporting her through her feelings, I will sometimes gently suggest that she dresses differently or hides the posts on her profile. Any time I do so, she tells me that I'm being toxically controlling by trying to dictate what she wears and that I'm also victim blaming her for her experiences.

I just can't understand why she doesn't see it how I see it. So Reddit, how can I convey this to her? Am I victim blaming? I think at the root she wants support for having to go through that and the unfairness of a world which she can't be herself, but I do support her every single time. I also want to do more than that and make sure she's safe because the stalking cases genuinely scare me. Sure anybody could be stalked, but it's obviously happening to her more than the average person and it feels like changing her expression will make her safer.

My friend groups are very split where my male friends think she should just cover up in general harassment or not, and think she's doing the equivalent of the stick in the bike meme. My female friends think that I shouldn't tell her what to wear, men are the problem, and that she's a "queen" for wearing what she wants despite the problems.

TL;DR: Girlfriend dresses provocatively, gets more harassment than most. AITAH for suggesting to her to dress differently?

Posted Jul 4, 2025, 1:36 AM UTC

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