Mumsnet Says They Are Trans Friendly; What do you think?

[quote TheChampagneGalop]Seems like OP hasn't been impressed by the responses here.
twitter.com/Nightinghawk/status/1368216021253906441[/quote]
I appear to be blocked on Twitter by the OP 😬

Mumsnet mobile (and, to an extent, the desktop site) IS an accessibility nightmare and also just a really poor user experience - it's why I very rarely ever reply to comments that reply to mine, because how the fuck are you supposed to find them again? PARENT/CHILD COMMENTS ARE A THING, MUMSNET.

Also I feel it's FWR at its finest that I commented on this thread when it was at a few pages, come back and there's been 700- comments focusing on one specific aspect of what OP said 🙃

My problem? No problem, just a straight question. People lie in their bios for various reasons - because they want to identify with particular group/wishful thinking/wanting to ensure anonymity/grooming etc etc.

Not everyone can be familiar with all cultural references. It's something I knew and could describe, but I'm also of the Extremely Online generation (and joined MN when I was 21, so I'm still going to be amongst the younger cohort).

I don't find it reasonable to draw conclusions about someone's attitudes towards disability from their familiarity with spoon theory though.

This op is 20
I just find it strange that a 20 year old would refer to young people in the way they do. Surely a 20 year old is themselves a young person?

I don't think the theory is 'weird', now I know what it is. But I don't think it's 'hugely common' either. Maybe on some internet platforms/groups it is.

Do you believe everything people on twitter put in their bios StrangeLookingParasite?

NB, this information is quickly and easily available from entirely public sources. Posted on their twitter bios, in fact (in case I am accused of some level of doxxing).

This forum is pretty unusual in finding "spoons" theory weird. It's hugely common - I've heard it repeatedly, and a simple Google sees it's referenced on a bunch of medical sites and Wikipedia as a "popular way od describinf chronic illness".

The original story it came from is here - butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

I've definitely seen it used on MN before as well.

I knew the analogy which is why I asked them to reply when able but this was discounted in their "report" along with the fact that they had not declared they had a health condition until posters who didn't understand the spoons reference queried them on what they meant. They took this as proof that MN is disablist.

That link to the definition of multigender is quite worrying. Obviously it’s easy to take the piss, but the level of self policing required, the enforcement of hierarchy and deliberate othering of people who don’t follow or know the rules (which don’t seem to be consistent) is not good.

Although some of the posters on the current chronic pain threads in General Health say they would prefer the analogy of using batteries, as in 'I have five batteries per day, and today I've already used four, and I've still got to do x, y, z', as they find the 'spoons' analogy a bit annoying.

I think if someone wants to convey how they are feeling (and why they might not feel up to something because of chronic pain or illness) it would be far more helpful to use words that are already in use and are easily understood by people.

You can’t really get annoyed with people for not understanding your situation if you describe it using words that are only understood by a small minority of people.

I can see it may be a useful metaphor but it's really not in widespread use.

I've got a funny feeling that 'spoons' to describe chronic fatigue and chronic pain conditions might have started on Mumsnet! It was certainly popularised here.

Although some of the posters on the current chronic pain threads in General Health say they would prefer the analogy of using batteries, as in 'I have five batteries per day, and today I've already used four, and I've still got to do x, y, z', as they find the 'spoons' analogy a bit annoying.

These are posters with some of the most serious health conditions I've ever read about.

It’s almost like people want to deliberately “other” themselves by using arcane language.

I think you're right - and lay a trap for people to be accused of not respecting this 'otherness'.

It was years and years ago. Someone with a disability discovered that her friends got it for the first time why she said she couldn't do two strenuous things in the same day, when she used spoons as a currency. She handed her friend nine teaspoons and told them that getting dressed cost one spoon, and so on and told them to budget an imaginary day.

The friend ran out of spoons before lunchtime when planning the day and had an epiphany about the ill woman's life.

So why don’t people use the term “energy”, which is understood by everyone?

Why introduce a new word for something which already has a perfectly good word to describe it?

It’s almost like people want to deliberately “other” themselves by using arcane language.

I think spoons is something about energy.

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Spoon

Its used for chronic illness as well as disability

It’s the idea of how many spoonfuls of energy you have to give at any one time.
People with disabilities will apparently use this term as they will simply run out of the energy to deal with people who don’t understand their disability or the best way to help them.

I like it as a term in general, and I see how it works but a simple ‘I don’t have the energy to deal with this right now’ is easier to understand I would think.

With NH used it and said it was a term from the disabled community it was said that people shouldn’t appropriate terms.

Have read the whole thread and my takeaway is that Nighthawk must be really, really hard work to have as a friend

cor ain't that the truth

It is family 😀

Spoons is a chain of pubs, right?

I do know about spoons

But i dont think NOT knowing is ableist