What delineates an ultimatum from a statement of boundaries?

"Lol no." I didn't say or imply you didn't have a right to end a relationship. I said the opposite. I also said that leaving someone is a form of negative punishment and inflicts emotional harm, which is objectively true, regardless of whether you have a "right" to do it. If you're threatening to leave someone if they don't do x, you're threatening to do something that would inflict emotional harm upon them. This is just a fact. Hurting people's feelings is sometimes necessary in life -- it's not always "wrong" -- but when you leave a relationship the other person is happy in, they do end up hurt -- the purpose of an ultimatum is to give them a means to avoid that.

By the way, "send your dogs to the pound," "propose to me or it's over," and "if you don't stop talking to this person, I'm leaving you" are not examples of insisting upon people "respecting your boundaries." They're examples of trying to force your partner to change their behavior to align with what you feel is appropriate in your relationship.

/r/AskWomen Thread Parent