Me [40 F] frustrated with my husband [45 M], 20 years, for lack of enthusiasm towards me physically.
I have been with my husband for 20 years, married for 12. I have been feeling very frustrated because he has a general lack of enthusiasm when it comes to sex and intimacy. This has been going on for a very long time. To be clear, we have sex regularly, and it's great, and our relationship is good overall, however, he just never seems enthusiastic about me when it comes to me being flirty or just physically in general.
For example, I am a bit of an exhibitionist, so I like taking sexy photos/ videos. I only send them to him out of respect for our relationship - I had noted interest in posting online in the past but he wasn't ok with it, so I don't. When I send them to him he will give me short, vague responses like a thumbs up emoji or just "nice". Another example, we use a couples app to keep anything sexual private, if I send him a photo/ video and he can't check it right away, he will often "forget" to check it until I ask him about it the next day or whenever. In general, he rarely asks to take pictures of us together or and he also never compliments me. He says he just isn't good with words and isn't good at flirting, but it's just really hard to believe at this point.
I have asked him if it's an issue with not being attracted to me on more than one occasion while discussing our relationship, and he swears that is not the issue and that he is attracted to me, but I am honestly feeling like actions speak louder than words and I am having a real hard time believing he is attracted to me when he has little enthusiasm for me sexually/ physically.
Am I being over dramatic for not taking him for his word, or am I right that it sounds like he is just telling me what he thinks I want to hear, but just isn't generally attracted to me. And if someone were just not attracted to their spouse, why would they continue to stay all these years and pretend they are?
tl;dr: husband has little to no response when I send sexy photos/ videos, and lacks enthusiasm with things like flirting and showing interest in me. Says he is attracted to me but his actions make me feel undesirable. Am I overreacting?
Posted Mar 12, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC