If there's one thing jealous boyfriends and girlfriends like, it's control.
They like to exert this whenever they can, even if it's in insane ways, like making their partner wear a t-shirt with their face on it or by providing a list of rules.
The latter is what happened to one TikToker recently.
TW: This article covers emotional abuse and may be triggering to some readers.
Take this boyfriend who texted his girlfriend, Zoe Scholefield, 12 rules she had to follow while at a music festival with her friends.
I bet you can tell where all of this is going to go.
The screenshot shared by Zoe showed a numbered list of the insane rules he expected her to follow.
As if that's where her head is going to be while she's at a music festival.
This included not dancing "like a slag in reflex."
It also specified that she had to send her photos of her outfits so he could approve it. People online were baffled by his controlling behavior.
"Absolute toxic behaviour," tweeted another.
These rules were a lot similar to this next story by TikTok user @ccarollynn. Her now-deleted video showed the list of "rules" her ex-boyfriend sent her before she left for college.
In the vid, she read through each individual rule and provided her thoughts on them.
For instance, one rule read, “Do not come in contact with boys by 25 or more feet.”
She'd need to be in a very, very big bubble to have that happen.
Another said that all outfits had to be approved by him and her mom.
Another banned her from wearing crop tops and tight clothing: “No more sports bras I guess, because they’re a little tight," she said.
“This is not just insecure this is abusive," one wrote. “This whole thing breaks my heart, I’m glad you got out of that," added another.
A third couldn't get over the outfit rule: “I can’t decide which one is the worst, but it’s got to be the fact he would be rating your everyday outfits with his mum.”
For instance, "Absolutely no drinking, no frat parties, house parties, or dorm parties, and no wearing other boys’ clothes." She also had to be in her dorm by 9 p.m. every night so she could FaceTime him to prove she was alone.
“I can’t decide which one is the worst, but it’s got to be the fact he would be rating your everyday outfits with his mum.”
“IM BY NO MEANS GLAMORIZING CONTROLLING RELATIONSHIPS*** I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY HE THOUGHT HE HAD THAT MUCH CONTROL," she wrote in the comments section.
In a follow-up video, she apologized for coming across as insensitive.
“I was not trying to glamourize anything. I know that I was kind of joking and laughing." She also stated that her ex's behavior was abuse.
She also offered support to other abuse survivors. "If you are in an abusive relationship, domestic violence, anything like that."
If you are a victim of domestic abuse or are looking for more information and resources, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline online or at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
