AITA - Am I holding my brother accountable or am I sensationalising? *trigger warning - sexual harassment, incestuous themes*

Super long post but would appreciate anyone that takes the time to read it <3 

So a bit of backstory, My brother and I are in our 30s, he is two years older than me. He lives with my parents and we have sons around the same age. Our parents are still married. I grew up in a relatively dysfunctional household, but despite that i had a pretty happy childhood. I had some mild sexual abuse in my early childhood by a youth worker in a local church and again by my basketball coach and a string of older boys in their 20s taking advantage of a naive pre-teen who had developed early. Mum was an angel, never wanting to upset her children and really did everything for us. Dad worked his butt off to provide and protect us but lacked some necessary communication skills and has always been hyper critical of us but mostly my brother from a very young. My brother was exposed to pornography from a young age by an uncle who is no longer in our lives. A few years later he figured out how to access internet pornography. This was when the internet literally only started to become a household thing, and so my parents were ill equipped in knowing what was out there and whether it would he appropriate for him to be looking at. So without these boundaries, my brother, starting at about 11/12 years old became obsessed with pornography, watching it every day, several times a day in the study in our home. It got so bad that he destroyed the carpet by ejaculating into it so much and it had to be ripped out and replaced with laminate flooring. He also was completely unhygenic about it, he would ejaculate into pieces of paper and leave them lying around the house, there would be 100s, (not even kidding) just thrown under the desk in the study and there would be sperm on the family keyboard, mouse, computer screen and he wouldnt clean it off himself. On a few occasions i remember picking something up and getting his sperm on my hand. One day when I was on the computer I stumbled upon his internet history. I was probably only 9 or 10, and I told my mum. I suppose she must have looked at it then and decided it wasn't appropriate so she moved the computer out of the study and into the general living space where there wasn't a door. I'm not sure if she had a conversation with him regarding this. So this is when it started. My brother started masturbating to porn in the living area. I can't count how many times I walked in on him. He would walk around wearing satin boxers with an erection. It was really traumatic for me as a little girl to witness this. It continued throughout my teenage years and I confronted him about it as I got older and told him to stop and to just do that in his room. There were many attempts by my parents at intervention, they would get rid of the internet, change the computer password, discuss the implications of his actions with him, but eventually it would just happen again. We had to move in with my grandparents while building our new house and it continued there too, and at this stage we were 18 and 20. We moved into our newly built home and the study nook did not have a door. Needless to say the behaviour continued. At this stage I was fed up and told my parents I would be moving out if they didn't get rid of the internet at home. His behaviour was escalating (masturbating with the window open so passersby could potentially see, using mums work phone, using my tablet without my permission in the kitchen). You couldn't talk sense into him so my parents put their foot down finally and got rid of the internet. So the behaviour stopped at this stage. Anyway a few days before I left home forever, my brother left a piece of paper with his sperm on it on the kitchen bench. I thought nothing of it and picked it up to put it in the bin and it was all over my hand. I literally vomited all over the kitchen floor and then went upstairs and wept. I asked him why he did that l, why he can't just keep it private and he said that he "likes the rush of being caught". This was retraumatising to me... I felt so violated. I did not consent to being part of his twisted sex games. I told my parents they had to kick him out, or I would be leaving. They said they wouldn't kick either of their kids out but it was my choice if I wanted to leave. I think I had a nervous breakdown at this stage and said to him "you're a monster" among other things and I left. It was awful I practically had a psychotic break, I was screaming at him that he was disgusting and a piece of shit etc. I regret that but also understand that I was at my wits end. I didn't speak to my brother for 3 years after that. I eventually started talking to him again with the assumption that time equals growth and surely he had come to his senses and understood his wrongdoings. 

Fast forward to now, our relationship had been better and better since then until about two months ago. My daughter had just been born, she was a week old. My brother came over while we had other family and friends over to meet the baby and went into the house wearing shoes. I asked him politely to take his shoes off and he did but I noticed he was really down. He has a lot of mental health issues of which have been exasserbated due to drug use in the past and I could tell there was something really wrong. Anyway he went inside and made a mess with his son, playing with my sons toys while everyone was outside. I asked him to pick them up and he again came in with shoes on so I told him in a frustrating tone to take his shoes off (as did my mum)... I mean of course I'm annoyed I shouldn't have to tell a grown man for the 100th time to respect my home. Anyway I softened almost immediately and went back outside and starting feeding her on the outside lounge. He came and sat down and was on his phone. I asked him if he was okay and he didn't say anything. Then about 30 seconds later he said something like: "do you remember laughing at Ricky when he got hit with the flying fox?" Ricky is his kid. I honestly didn't remember laughing but it was my fault, he ran after me and my son accidentally hit him. He then proceeded to call me every name under the sun, said I was manipulative, had a black heart, that I was evil, would always be evil and would die that way, that I was a horrible person, he blamed me for all of his mental health issues, said it's my fault he can't figure out how to live this life, that I made him out to be a monster, that I take up all of mums time by guilting her into loving me, that my family is cringe and my house is a pigs sty, he said I'm a conniving fox and it's the only way i can get love is by tricking people into loving me. He also called my parents incompetent idiots. 

This completely came out of nowhere. I didn't retaliate, I just kind of sat there and said "im sorry youre hurting", i could see he was in no place to reason with. He did this in front of our children and my mum, but as soon as my husband came back he stood up and left. I burst into tears it was really aggressive and I felt really unsafe because of his unpredictability and at the same time I recognised myself in his outburst on the day I left home so immediately forgave him for it, I just knew he was out of his mind at the time. My husband was furious and my mum was really upset too. Continued in comments

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I reached out to him in a message later that day and he doubled down and hurled more insults my way. Needless to say I was really upset about it for a few days/nights after and couldn't understand where it was all coming from. Anyway a few weeks later he sent over a gift for the baby and I texted him a thank you. He said he felt terrible for days after his outburst. He asked if I could go over for a talk so I said okay. I went over with my son and daughter and was expecting an apology. It didn't come. He proceeded to almost blame me, saying that I was degrading him by telling him to take his shoes off in the house and telling him to tidy up his mess and I essentially deserved to be attacked like that.

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There were a few times when he kind of acknowledged that he was harsh, but mostly the conversation revolved around his experience and how he isn't coping with his mental health and essentially making excuses for his behaviour. He also acknowledged that no, i didnt laugh at his son he wasnt remembering that correctly but that i didnt comfort him the way he wanted me to, because i picked him up and gave him straight to his dad (i thought thats what any kid would want).

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Anyway I didn't want to convince him of anything so I chose to just have the conversation and then leave and didn't try to pull an apology out of him. He kept trying to organise a playdate in the subsequent weeks but we were really busy, and then he was accusing us of "still being mad at him" even though he hadn't done anything solid to try to rectify the situation. Finally my husband went camping and I agreed to meet him for a playdate at a local park. We went there and he couldn't understand why my husband was 'still mad at him', he hadn't returned his message. I asked him what he expected and told him to put himself into my husbands shoes and take accountability... don't just message him "are you still mad at me".

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He was flippant and said that he would still at least message back if it were him. He then asked me to explain why everything was his fault growing up.. he said it was unfair that he lost his internet privileges. I ptold him why and his recollection of things were so minimal and didn't encapsulate the entirety of the situation. I told him how traumatic it was for me, that I did not consent to being part of his sex games to which he laughed

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. I told him it was borderline incestuous... that it felt to me like him being caught by me got him off based on what he said and he was involving me in a sex act without my consent. He laughed again and said I was being ridiculous. To me, it makes sense.. . 
I have spoken to a few counsellors about it and at best this was highly dysfunctional, at worst it was a form of sexual and emotional abuse.

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However you look at it it wasn't okay. I told him I actually don't know how he expects me to have a relationship with him without him apologising and taking accountability for his wrongdoing. I told him it was horrible that he, the person who inflicted trauma onto me, was laughing at me and making a mockery of my experience. I told him it was disappointing that he couldn't just take responsibility for his actions and that he couldn't possibly expect me to continue on as if nothing has happened without some real commitment to change.

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It seems like he wants us to silently absorb his bad treatment of us. The frustrating thing is, I take accountability maybe even to a fault. I apologised for being snarky about the shoes, I acknowledged his experience growing up being criticised and I don't even blame him for developing coping mechanisms like compulsive pornography use.. it makes sense given his upbringing, but I expect him to acknowledge the part he played in my trauma. When I brought it up he said, "how is that my fault, I wasn't given the privacy". I asked him if he ever caught me, to which he said no, and I remarked that we had the same amount of privacy.

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He took back his statement that he liked the rush of getting caught and said that he just made that up. I dunno what to do.. at this stage I feel like I really don't want to be around him if this is what he thinks of me and I feel fearful that he will react in the same way since he hasn't indicated that he knows the behaviour isn't okay

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. I also worry that my son will be exposed to something at my parents place, I've actually never left him there without my presence because I still walk past his room sometimes and see those dreaded papers strewn around and would be moritified if my 4 year old touched them. I guess I want to know... am I the asshole for cutting him off? It disturbs me that he doesn't take it seriously and is a reflection I suppose of his disregard for how his actions affect others. When I asked my mum she said he is really stubborn and if I'm waiting for an apology it probably will never come. So cutting him off seems like the only plausible route at this stage, as continuing a relationship with him feels like self abandonment

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No keep him cut off forever I’m so sorry to say this but he’s a danger to your kids and your mental health he may be your brother but you need to permanently cut him off he’s sick in the head and he won’t get better till he gets really help
He needs to grow up your parents probably baby him way to much and that’s enabling him
Keep him permanently cut off and id highly suggest not going to your parents house at all and just having them visit you at your house or in public spaces.

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I've finally done it

I have finally done it. I have finally become the trope, the stereotype.

I have become bitter, resentful, and very overwhelmed and overloaded. I am very unhappy and hit burnout. And I snapped at my husband last night. I work full-time, and work has been very busy so im working late a lot. Im also in grad school. I also have a toddler that has become VERY clingy with me. My husband works shorter days but commutes, so he usually gets home after me by an hour or more. When he gets home, he usually heads to the restroom for at least 30 mins when he gets home. And now my toddler doesnt want anything to do with him. So im doing all the toddler duties until bed. I dont get 5 mins to myself. Not for almost 2 years. I finally hit my wall. I have also, somehow, become my MILs medical ride service and she somehow has an appt every week, it seems?! Shes not sick!! My husband was complaining that he needs to change routine to fit in a workout sometimes, and I lost it. I have been BEGGING for 5 mins to myself for months. I have been telling him how im not good, im going to burn out for months. And between his attitude and him complaining (which really got me b/c he blames me for not being able to work out?! Saying I need help when he gets home so he just cant workout now) I just lost it completely. I told him how unfair my life has become and I have the entire mental and emotional load and it is just not fair. He got mad at me and said "hes trying" when hes literally not trying at all. What do I do?? No one is taking the load from me! And im done and dont know what to do now.
I do not like this version of me.

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AITA?

This isn't a major issue, just wondering if I'm being a bit of an asshole.

• I do shift work, 5 out of 7 days, full-time.
• My partner works from home (mostly, sometimes he goes into the office) M-F, full-time.

Anyway, whenever I have a day off during the week he gets in his feelings when I make myself food (breakfast and lunch) but not him. His reason is he's working, I'm not - Which is fair but I've asked him how many times on a weekend has he gotten up, on his day off and made me breakfast and a lunch to take with me to work? You guessed it, 0.

So basically, just because I'm at home I don't think the responsibility to feed him should automatically fall on me when he manages to feed himself just fine while I'm at work.

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Big vent!

Hi mums.
I'm a first time mum in my 40s to twin boys.They are almost 5 months old and the biggest miracle in my life!
I am struggling!!!
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My husband is not helping much because he's always too busy with work.He will "look" after them usually between 8pm-12am so I can have a chance to sleep.
He expects me to just sleep when I touch the pillow,even though I hear tje babies crying and him don't really bother because most of the times he'll be on his laptop working.
When I tell him I can't relax to fall asleep because I feel you r neglecting the babies,he says I'm the problem becauae I'm always there with them and don't give them alone time!!
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2 days ago a button of his coat ripped and I told him I'll sew it these days.
Earlier this morning while running late for his work,as always,he weara the coat and told him didn't get the chance to fix the button and sarcastically said..of.course u didn't!!!
I spent all night awake because one of the babies had congested nose and we've been trying to reduce one fees at night.
I wanted to punch him!!He left and I started crying...I cry so much,even at 5 months pp...
I can't go on like this anymoreeeee...
The crying in my ears is constant..my head is always numb..I've gained so much weight and can't find the strength to get back on track..
Even if I try to.find a therapist to just talk,is it gonna help?I really don't know😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

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If your partners parent passes away

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