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Do you have trouble saying, "no."?

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Changing4Best

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I find that I have trouble convincing people, especially men, that when I say, "No." or "Don't do that to me." or "I don't want that." etc., that they don't accept it. If someone else says it on my behalf, they might be mad, but they get it. But when I say it, it goes in one ear and out the other, not stopping in their brain for a second!

I had to tell my boyfriend 5 times that I am not interested in marriage before I think MAYBE he finally got it. Time will tell though, as I fear he might still bring it up again.

Another boyfriend raped me, even though I told him I did not want sex that night. I even tried to fight him off, but he got his way anyway, me not cooperating, but finally just laying there and accepting it, because I was not strong enough or convincing enough for him to GET IT that I had said, "No!". That was maybe 15 or so years ago, but it still hurts to think about it. I still feel sometimes as if I should have fought harder or objected more vehemently, but I know that it was not my fault. Or was it? Was I just not convincing enough? Was my "No." too weak? I know I was physically too weak to fight him off, even though I tried to, but I just wonder sometimes if there would have been some way for me to prevent this tragedy in my life.

Also, I have a problem speaking up and saying "No." to begin with. I will ignore, or ask someone else to help me say, "No." or finally say, "I'm not in the mood to be teased today." to a woman who is teasing me, when I let it slide that two men before her teased me just minutes before. I have a real problem saying "No." to men.

My father was very bossy as was my older sister. So I grew up being bossed around a lot and not being old enough or strong enough to object to much of anything in our household. Furthermore, my father picked on me and teased me a lot, so I grew up expecting that from the male of our species. So these days, when men have picked on me or teased me lately, I have had a problem with it, not known how to try to stop it, and finally spoke up for myself when a woman teased me. Then, and only then, did I feel I had a right to speak up for my rights and say, "I'm not in the mood to be teased today."

I had the word "No." beaten out of me by my molester (my father's father) when I was very young, so I know that this is part of the whole problem. Until I was 6 or so and my parents somehow became aware of what he was doing to me and stopped it, I was taught that "No." was an unacceptable word. I know that does not help!

So, do you have trouble saying, "No." or similar words?
 
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Sounds like you understand perfectly where this comes from. Do you think since blowing your top you might find it a little easier to say no?

I have had trouble saying no yes. Though I'm so much better at it now. Can be positively fierce sometimes. Especially if it's on behalf of a friend to someone bullying them. But I can do tat for myself too.

I do still have terrible difficulty dealing with conflicts with people I know though. Ie situations that are not male on female abuse.
 
I didn't really "blow my top." I stated calmly that I was not in the mood to be teased that day. Nor am I EVER really in the mood to be teased, honestly. Teasing is something that people do to annoy you, make you angry or confused. It is done to goad you into some kind of retaliation, so that the situation can escalate into some sort of drama that is entertaining to the teaser and no one else, unless there is another teaser in the room.

I've had a lifetime of teasing and I am DONE with it. I want to find a way to NEVER be teased again. I want some magic words that will finally and completely get through to the teaser that NO ONE likes being teased, most of all ME.

But, alas, there probably are no such words, nor any tone of voice that I can muster that would be convincing enough, I fear....
 
My mistake sorry, not blow your top.

I'm quite sure there is a tone of voice that would stop this a good deal of the time at least.

I wonder if some sort of self efence class might enable you to connect with the part of you that can say no?
 
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I took a self-defense class once and failed miserably at it. You see, I am dyslexic and I kept getting my rights and my lefts confused and using the wrong side of me to do what I was supposed to be doing. I did learn one move successfully and I "got" the instructor with it even, full force, because he was not expecting me to come at him from that side. I probably didn't hurt him very badly though, he was a tough "Special Forces" kind of guy who worked in law enforcement and I am just generally a weakling.

However, taking a self-defense course did not really help me to learn how to be forceful enough with my "No." It did not build much self-confidence in me, it just showed me how weak and confused I am about right and left, which has been a life long problem. In an emergency especially, I will invariably choose the wrong direction, left instead of right, etc.

I think what I need is a VERBAL SELF-DEFENSE course!
 
Yeh,we have a slogan in Overeaters Anonymous that is, "Progress, not perfection." As long as we are making progress, even if it is slow going, we are considered to be winning. And progress can be made in many different ways! So the fact that I spoke up for myself at all is progress, even if I did let some other taunts slide.
 
It feels silly at first but practicing ahead of time can make it easier to do when you need to speak up. If the word 'no' itself is difficult there's other words to express disinterest or get-off-me-you-creep. You could try exclaiming "What?! Behave yourself!" because that's disrespectful or even making the wrong-answer buzzer noise.
 
Nope. No problem saying no, whatsoever.

That doesn't mean people always acquiesce to my every wish or demand, however.

If someone else says it on my behalf, they might be mad, but they get it.
That has less to do with you, or anyone saying no, and more to do with the fact that any time backup is brought in? It becomes a much more serious thing. Even if I've told someone no, if someone else steps in and says "She said no." Or vice versa, if I step in and say "He/she just said no." At the very least it becomes 2:1. It can get complicated with gender roles, authority, etc. But as a baseline? 2:1 is almost always more serious than 1:1.

So I wouldn't say that PersonX is respecting the other person's "no" more than yours, per se, so much as people tend to back down when ganged up on or outnumbered.

Another boyfriend raped me,
Aaaaaand that's the thing about rape. No, by definition, doesn't matter. You could yodel it, preform a moving poem about it, scream it, whisper it, hit an octave above high C, beg it, shout it, suave it, growl it, make grown men tremble or weep with the force of it... And nada. Does nothing. Zip, zero, zilch. Because it's not sex. You don't have a choice in it, and no doesn't matter.

***

So I suspect one of your problems with "no" is the expectation that it's going to be honored, and every time it's not, you sort of stop? Like you need their permission in order to say "no". But you don't. Saying no allows someone the opportunity to follow your wishes, and that's it. It doesn't change anyone's actions or behavior unless they choose to. If someone tells me no? That just tells me what they want. Not what I have to do. What I do is my own choice. <grin> And vice versa. When I tell someone no? How they choose to act after that is on them, not me.
 
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