[QUOTE=eleanorigby]
I think the girl was too embarrassed to admit she’d been duped. Either that or she is er, mentally challenged and if so, THAT would trigger my outrage meter.
[/QUOTE]
If I had been that woman, this would be my thought process …
I have a suspicion that something was awry, but I am not able to even contemplate the possibility that my *boyfriend *- someone I (presumably) love and trust - would do such an appalling thing to me. Why would he do it? It doesn’t make any sense to do such a cruel thing.
[Even knowing the whole story, now, from this perspective, it doesn’t make any sense to do such a cruel thing. For the purposes of this thread we’re assuming it happened as described, but for the woman in question, that would be a very difficult thing to believe, especially in the absence of other supporting evidence.]
I have the option of accusing my boyfriend of doing a cruel and senseless and humiliating thing to me, but how would that go over? If he didn’t do it, he would be (justifiably) quite offended and hurt that I would suspect it. If he did, then my bringing it up will be an opportunity for him and his accomplices to have a(nother) good laugh at my expense, and I don’t want to put myself through that further humiliation.
If I hold my tongue, and play along, maybe I can save myself further humiliation.
So I am upset not only because I had a joke played on me, because I was XXX’d by my boyfriend’s friend, because my boyfriend asked his friend to XXX me, and because all their friends are involved. Add to this the self-doubt that it actually happened, plus the guilt for suspecting my boyfriend if it isn’t true. Finally there is the guilt for “allowing” it to happen in the first place [this particular kind of guilt is really, really common for lots and lots of women, regardless of her actual role in allowing it to happen].
There is nothing I can do about this, no matter how I respond I will be further mocked and humiliated. Can you imagine the perpetrator of this sincerely saying “I’m sorry I tricked you into letting my friend XXX you” without giggling and reporting it to his friends after? I can’t; any attempt I can think of to fix it will only make it worse. There are no circumstances under which I would be able to say “Oh, ha ha, there’s a good joke on me then!” and feel good about it. None. That is why it is not a good joke, and I also don’t understand why, if the perpetrator regrets it, he keeps retelling the story.