Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Mumsnet in the news

54 replies

ThoRAVENomiki · 25/10/2013 10:51

There have been several articles in the news, lately (Thanks to Penis-Beaker, no doubt) about Mumsnet regarding members discussing sex and suggesting that it is a negative thing. Why the outrage?! There are hundreds (thousands? millions?) of sites dedicated to Porn, promoting the more misogynistic acts of sex, rating women on their performance in the sex industry. There is porn on the shelf in corner shops and lads mags in supermarkets.

As far as I can tell men of all ages, job descriptions and parental status are allowed to indulge in their base instincts but mum's are not. Bit of a Madonna-Whore complex by the media in general. It's ok to like sex if you are pretty and discussing it in the realm of men, for men, and in a way that men like. But it's not ok for women to discuss sex in a forum mainly frequented by women. Especially one mostly used by mothers.
I just don't get it. There are constant jokes and criticisms about how all mothers lose their libido after children and yet when an opportunity arises to dispel this myth people don't like it. We should all go back to just discussing child-rearing and the many uses of baking soda Hmm

So, men can divulge and indulge in deviant ideas but women shouldn't ask their friends if these things are normal...
One article said these things are private but their not really are they? We have sex aimed at us by the advertising industry and media in general but we're not allowed to discuss it? We are supposed to listen to what men and the media want - shave your armpits, wax your genitals, make them smell like flowers, have a skinny waist and massive boobs, make sure they're pushed up and in etc. without checking with other women if they think this is all normal.

The reason all this bugs me so much is because I grew up in this world and my DD is going to have to as well.
I grew up seeing lads mags (and the Sun) on coffee tables read my the fathers of my friends, my brother, all my boyfriends and their friends. Objectification of women was normalised and I suffered for it.

The thing is I look like I turned out ok and I'm sure I did for the most part so people will say "ah well, it didn't do you any harm" but I think it did.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
KittyFucker · 30/10/2013 15:24

ThoRAVEN - wtf are mumsy boots?

grimbletart · 29/10/2013 15:27

Bugger, wrong thread for a pint. Thought I was in the pub for a minute.

grimbletart · 29/10/2013 15:25

Well, they've all stopped writing about false widow spider bites now so need to turn their attention to a (slightly) more recent novelty.

Not to worry - the attention span of the average hack is pretty slight (I should know as an ex-one Grin. The caravan will move on....

Mine's a pint of Caffrey's please.

MurderOfBanshees · 29/10/2013 13:26

It's getting really really dull now isn't it?

SunshineSuperNova · 29/10/2013 13:23

I saw that Yoni and sighed. I mean, FFS, aren't we done yet?

HowlingTrap · 29/10/2013 12:16

Whats penis beaker?

Bearfacedchic · 29/10/2013 11:47

Agreed on him probably being a fairly alright human being, but he's backed himself into a corner now just by being so defensive and arrogant that his position is the correct one and we are all hysterical wimmen.

A little bit of humility would go a long way.

StainlessSteelBegonia · 29/10/2013 11:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kim147 · 29/10/2013 10:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StainlessSteelBegonia · 29/10/2013 10:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kotinka · 29/10/2013 10:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

emcwill74 · 29/10/2013 10:17

Sorry - MN nutters, fuckwits and tedious fools.

emcwill74 · 29/10/2013 10:14

This is the problem. I'm sure if I met him in a normal situation in RL before the article I'd have thought he was a nice guy: funny, probably quite like a lot of my mates - educated, liberal, certainly not a woman-hater! And he can't understand why he writes a tongue-in-cheek lighthearted, fluffy article like this and a load of crazy loons who are professionally offended and take things too seriously all pile in on him. But all I see now is how normal it is to be casually sexist. Without meaning to be. Without meaning to cause offence. He is totally unable to accept that what he did was wrong, to think about it in any broader context. He wont learn anything from this - except not to cross the MN nutters again. Which I find supremely sad.

mignonnette · 29/10/2013 07:29

Hear hear Bear. I had a few things to say too. I grew very weary of yet another man-ostrich.

Bearfacedchic · 29/10/2013 01:11

I was involved in the chat with the journalist who wrote the Indie article too and he said that it was intended as humorous. He also refutes that his article is in any way irresponsible, slap-dash or misogynistic. I think this tells me everything I need to know. I think he is genuinely ignorant to what he has done and of course it's my sense if humour failure that is at fault.

mignonnette · 28/10/2013 21:19

Yes, there is some sense of proportion in that article Ruby.

RubyrooUK · 28/10/2013 20:26

I thought this article on Mumsnet - someone mentioned it earlier - made some good points about the other coverage of Mumsnet recently in the media.

mignonnette · 28/10/2013 20:09

Zing

Digging himself deeper into the pit of stupid - Love it.

SplitHeadGirl · 28/10/2013 19:55

That was like a car crash. He just dismissed everything everyone said and finished by throwing in an insult from his ludicrous friend.

Hideous, insidious little man.

ZingWantsCake · 28/10/2013 19:45

kim

and he is digging himself deeper into the pit of stupid

kim147 · 28/10/2013 17:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SplitHeadGirl · 27/10/2013 22:21

'Sold out' is right, Juggling. It seems that a number of female writers have done that...Samantha Brick, Liz Jones, of course are the two obvious woman haters (dressed up in the sheep's cloak of feminism). I like to think they are desperate for money and totally hard up...but really I know they are fame mongers who want to be talked about, and will sell their souls to the devil to achieve that.

Sad, sad, sad. And a huge betrayal of women.

AuntieStella · 27/10/2013 21:50

I think (hope?) it's a silly 5 minute wonder during a slow news week.

After all 'adults are interested in all sorts of things, including sex, and can talk about them in whatever terms they like' isn't really incisive news, is it?

ZingWantsCake · 27/10/2013 21:43

picking on the conception thread is insensitive and pathetic.

that tosser should be ashamed of himself.

and for that Jenni woman - if she's wearing het eyebrows as a hairband over the weirdest places that people have sex she is probably in the wrong job.

anyway, 20 threads in a month with explicit content - MN is slow, we must do better!Grin Grin

Swipe left for the next trending thread