Follow

So.... I have thoughts regarding 'ultimatums'. But I'm still trying to figure out the wordage for it.

When somebody says "You cut THEM out of your life, or ME", that's clearly bad. But when you say "I need you to improve your treatment of me, or I won't be able to continue the relationship", there's more grey area, room for it to be okay. What specific component or context can make this okay when the first is so clearly not okay without extensive damning context?

I assume like in most cases, it's actually a lot of factors. Context, presentation, word choice, and even intent. (Isolation vs self protection). But intent can be difficult or impossible to intuit. How can one identify when their own actions are potentially abusive, or when someone else's *might* be, from both sides of this?

I have a lot of intuitive sense for this, I feel I can navigate this safely, myself, on both ends. I am sensitive to context and have a stronger than average ability to decipher intent behind people's words. But I have friends who are not as able to navigate this, and I'd like to find words to help explain the process to them, give examples and clearer delineations where it's possible.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Awoo Space

Awoo.space is a Mastodon instance where members can rely on a team of moderators to help resolve conflict, and limits federation with other instances using a specific access list to minimize abuse.

While mature content is allowed here, we strongly believe in being able to choose to engage with content on your own terms, so please make sure to put mature and potentially sensitive content behind the CW feature with enough description that people know what it's about.

Before signing up, please read our community guidelines. While it's a very broad swath of topics it covers, please do your best! We believe that as long as you're putting forth genuine effort to limit harm you might cause – even if you haven't read the document – you'll be okay!