My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Chat thread - come chat, rant, or celebrate, here!

433 replies

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/01/2013 22:48

With thanks to the lovely timetosmile - here's the new and rejuvenated Chat Thread.

Space to yak on, rant, post any of the good and bad stuff ... just basically any chat that you don't feel fits into a specific post. With a side order of reclaiming the word 'gossip'.

OP posts:
Report
StewieGriffinsMom · 23/01/2013 22:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/01/2013 23:00

A bubble bath? Shock

Are you sure that's feminist?

Wink

I would love to have a space where we can just yak on a bit. Now, what newspaper would we get in the feminist chat room? I'm assuming we have nice comfy big sofas and plenty of coffee on tap - but I can't quite see the Guardian being the paper of choice! What should I be reading?

OP posts:
Report
StewieGriffinsMom · 23/01/2013 23:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StewieGriffinsMom · 23/01/2013 23:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/01/2013 23:11

Oh, I will check out the blog, then.

I don't get any papers but I enjoy blogs.

I am only having sour grapes about the bath. I don't have heating atm so am wishing I had anything nice and warm!

OP posts:
Report
kim147 · 23/01/2013 23:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnyFucker · 23/01/2013 23:22

I have recently been reading the New Statesman online at work

Report
LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/01/2013 23:27

True, kim. I do like a nice large newspaper. I don't 'get' tablets.

Come the revolution, we shall all have good newsprint as we desire.

AF - I should do that. I think what I find difficult is that with newspapers, you get them delivered through the door so you remember to sit and read them. I get too easily distracted from blogs/online versions. Blush

OP posts:
Report
doyouwantfrieswiththat · 23/01/2013 23:30

I'd bring Private Eye for the cartoons and The Week for the property porn.

Report
LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/01/2013 23:44

I don't know The Week - I quite enjoy a lot of Private Eye, while being uncomfortable with some of it too.

OP posts:
Report
Sunnywithshowers · 23/01/2013 23:45

kim I don't do tablets either. But I am on the sofa using my laptop :)

Report
TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 23/01/2013 23:50

The Week is good - get your news in one handy format without too much "Comment" to rile you up! Plus posh properties and a recipe of the week.

Report
doyouwantfrieswiththat · 23/01/2013 23:50
Report
AbigailAdams · 23/01/2013 23:52

I'd bring Gardner's World

Report
doyouwantfrieswiththat · 23/01/2013 23:54

Abigail Grin I like a bit of gardening myself. I just spotted a link to the Fortean Times on the other website, now there is an odd read.

Report
TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 23/01/2013 23:56

PS MNHQ has started a Science and Nature Club which I requested a while ago on the back of a discussion thread about physics for girls that lots of feMNists took part in - short topic plug!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/science_and_nature_club

Report
AbigailAdams · 24/01/2013 00:00

I didn't know that. Mumsnet can be pretty amazing sometimes! I'm off to check it out. Thanks Doctrine.

Fortean Times, now there's a blast from the past!

Report
doyouwantfrieswiththat · 24/01/2013 00:07

I'll have to have a look over there tomorrow Doctrine, there was an interesting programme on R4 last Wed about how Visa issues were discouraging top scientists from joining UK research groups when the same stringent criteria weren't being applied to (for instance) football transfers.

Science feels so undervalued in the UK, if I were a chemistry teacher I would have to convince people to love the subject because the financial rewards aren't proportional to the work required.

Report
TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 24/01/2013 09:23

I do think governments try various initiatives to value science (eg current program on Alzheimer's Disease) but somehow the perception down in schools is "boring, hard, geeky" etc.

'Twas ever thus, though. My mum, at an all girls' school, doing Maths/science A levels, was forced to do an afternoon of "arts" each week. Were those doing arts subjects made to do an afternoon of science? That would be a "no".

Right, back to the feminist chat Grin - how was your bubble bath, SGM? I tried one on Tuesday but it wasn't so relaxing with DS1 getting out of bed every five minutes and coming in to check how many bubbles I had left.

Report
TerrariaMum · 24/01/2013 09:27

I want to have a look at that too.

Science isn't just undervalued in the UK, I was thinking back to my own science education in secondary school in the States and it was rubbish.

I'm more interested in the basics of the various STEM fields as I feel I never got a good grounding in them at all.

On a more random note, DH pointed out something about the Disney Mary Poppins that I never noticed and now it is really bothering me. He pointed out that Mrs. Banks being involved in the suffragette movement is portrayed as this terribly frivolous unimportant thing that keeps her away from her REAL duties of being a 'proper' mother. Anyone else notice this?

Report
timetosmile · 24/01/2013 09:41

marking my place at work

Report
LRDtheFeministDragon · 24/01/2013 09:43

I feel the same terraria. I wish I'd been taught more science/maths.

doctrine - ah, we did. We had the dreaded 'general studies' lessons where all the sciency types had to sit and listen to someone pontificating about arty-farty crap and all the arts students had to do bits of basic maths. I don't recall it taught us anything, though.

OP posts:
Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

MiniTheMinx · 24/01/2013 10:06

I think the problem starts in primary school with no expert teaching of science.

I always liked maths, still do and have run maths clubs for primary. So many girls lack confidence, why? who is telling these girls that they can't "do" maths? where does it start?

I have been reading the New Statesman, would never have found it if it were not for the feminist section on MN, thank you. I don't read bloggs, I can't get into it.

Report
doyouwantfrieswiththat · 24/01/2013 10:20

I suppose my bugbear is that I would be paid more to teach science than to practice it,in my experience the majority of grunt work in labs is done by women. I've worked on production sites and the warehousemen were paid almost twice as much as the quality control analysts. It sends the message that the job has no value.

Why work your socks off to do a science degree if you can't earn a living wage from it?

Report
LRDtheFeministDragon · 24/01/2013 10:21

I'm interested in the maths issue. My mum tutors maths to people who're struggling and she's really interested in the theories about why some people don't learn well, and what's happening with maths teaching, so I end up listening to a lot of theories despite not being a maths person at all!

I think quite a lot of children of both genders aren't very confident, are they? And I do think it's true that lots of people feel quite happy to admit they're rubbish at maths when they would feel really embarrassed to be bad at basic English-language skills.

But something that bugs me is that I've heard a fair few people saying that the woman off Countdown is a great 'role model' for girls wanting to do maths. Don't get me wrong, I know she's really clever and is a proper mathematician - but what she does on Countdown ain't maths!

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.