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Original poster

A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2

988 replies

Boiledbeetle · 29/05/2023 23:25

Thread 1:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4776556-a-mumsnet-thread-about-a-book-about-a-mumsnet-thread-under-the-duvet-of-darkness-written-by-the-women-of-mumsnet?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

You do not need to have read thread 1 – this is not that sort of thread.

But to recap… Over Christmas and New Year after the passing of the GRR (Scotland) Bill a thread was started with a poem about Nicola Sturgeon. Eventually on that thread (and a couple of other threads) over 80 poems were written.

“Under the Duvet of Darkness: Poems written by angry women for angry women because WOMEN WON’T WHEESHT” was published as a paperback on 31st March 2023.

Available on Amazon only: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C129WKDD

In a rather bizarre turn of events at one point it reached No 2 in poetry best sellers and No 5 in Feminist Criticism best sellers. No one will be surprised to discover that a book that is in the main about people, especially men, claiming to be something they are not was kept off the No1 spot in poetry best sellers by a crime novel, identifying as poetry, written by a man ;-)

E-BOOK:

Some people wanted an e-book rather than a paperback, but for that we needed someone who could actually make an e-book and some extra poems.

FairyKindleMother came to the rescue with regards the e-book and posters wrote enough poems that we could add 20 more poems into the e-book.

I pressed publish on the e-book a few hours ago. It can take usually up to 3 days to appear and populate all the info etc on the various sites, and there is always the chance they knock it back for some reason. But I've done all I can do at this point. We just have to wait and see who spots it on sale first! It will appear on the Amazon link above hopefully soon, (or I'll get an email asking me to change something).

MONEY FROM SALES OF ALL FORMATS:

In honour of Magdalen Berns, who co-founded the Scottish campaign group For Women Scotland, 100% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to For Women Scotland.

“It’s not hate to defend your rights, and it’s not hate to speak the truth.”
Magdalen Berns (1983 – 2019)

As I started work on the e-book posters continued to write poems. So we had a choice: leave them there, languishing on the thread, unloved, forgotten, never to have their words uttered again OR we could just do volume 2.

Posters voted for Volume 2 but we still need more poems!

And that’s the gist of thread 1.

A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
OP posts:
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Original poster
Boiledbeetle · 18/09/2023 18:50

😍And you can personalise it!

A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
OP posts:
IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 17:51

Love it, foiled beetles.

CervixSampler · 18/09/2023 17:15

Boiledbeetle saw this and thought of you

A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 15:49

The ones who rent our wombs and take our babies.

Ramblingnamechanger · 18/09/2023 15:47

Please feel free to add to this…I realise it is more rant than poem but…
Joining the dots
What do the following have in common , let me see…?
The man telling me I should be speaking about something else.
The man standing in front of me, defying me to tell him he is male.
The man who says it’s just a joke when talking about the appalling things he has done to women.
The man claiming special status because he wears a bit of lipstick.
The politicians who deny that women’s concerns are an issue
And who never reply to womens’ letters.
The policemen who fail to take action when women are raped or killed,
And the ones who do the same
The ones who tape our mouths
The ones who shoot us if we disobey
The men who just don’t think it has anything to do with them
The purveyors of porn,
The users of prostituted poor women,
The men who take it out on their families and partners in the privacy of their home.
Yes there is a recurrent theme, and I am too angry to make it rhyme.

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 13:40

Roisin Murphy
Judged, found terfy.

Anyone want to do another two lines?

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 13:33

Sorry, a slight diversion from the poetry! But to bring it back on point, the power of the spoken word is amplified even further when it's clear just how close to the bone* it is.

*I just about managed to resist the urge to add a pun. Ahem.

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 13:31

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 13:12

I think you're right. I think there may have been an element of that in the Guardian review of Roisin Murphy's new album. I am usually prepared to give people the benefit of the doubt. But sometimes they sound so ignorant! 😠

I hadn't thought about that WRT to the Guardian review. Potentially so.
We're at an interesting point I think when lots of folk who have never considered this beyond "we need to be kind to these marginalised people as they don't impact anyone else and are hit upon continually" are starting to realise there is more to it.
Isla Bryson was very niche, women's sports brought it a little more in to a relatable focus... and now kids... I think it's the kids thing that will really tip it. The more the concept of the "trans child" is pushed, the more people will give their own heads a wobble and realise that children just aren't in a position to make choices about their bodies, thinking that they will keep a belief in gender identity their whole life.
It was at the point when the children issue started bubbling in to the public discourse that I joined Twitter to add my own voice to the mix, as this is what I feel most strongly about.
More and more people are starting to join the debate. The more it snowballs, the more it's very clear that it will go only one way.
The conversations I'm having IRL at the moment are much easier than they were even 6 months ago. People actually seem to be relieved to be having them.

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 13:12

I think you're right. I think there may have been an element of that in the Guardian review of Roisin Murphy's new album. I am usually prepared to give people the benefit of the doubt. But sometimes they sound so ignorant! 😠

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 12:55

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 12:47

I think the NetNeutrality comment might have annoyed me more. 'Everything they stand for'? Child safeguarding and women's rights!

Yeah, agreed.
That's why there's a very back handed thank you, to the back handed defence of "TERFs".
However, it's still interesting to see a divided moment in Team TRA. Normally no level of depravity seems too low to embrace wholeheartedly or silently scroll past.
I presume the venom with which the "defence of TERFs" was posted was the right level of RightThink to make a sort of attempt at calling it out. Just enough to avoid a Friendly Fire pile-on.
That's the trouble with being on a side of the debate that has to speak with one approved voice.... you're forced to accept that voice embracing.... anything at all.

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 12:51

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 12:44

Does edit allow retroactively adding sensitive?

That would have been a very good call 👍👍
I just tried to do so but it's timed out.
Sorry again folks if it should have come with more of a warning.
The words he has used are not offensive on their own but obviously the context in which he is using them is very grim.

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 12:47

I think the NetNeutrality comment might have annoyed me more. 'Everything they stand for'? Child safeguarding and women's rights!

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 12:44

Does edit allow retroactively adding sensitive?

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 12:42

Not sure if I should have marked those as sensitive? Apologies if that's a fail on my part.

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 12:41

Screenshots. Not sure if they are in the right order..

A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet THREAD 2
BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 12:39

Good to know!

In a beautiful moment of Life Imitating Art (you really couldn't make this stuff up), look at the following exchange on Twitter, pretty much in parallel with this thread....

https://twitter.com/BonfireLady/status/1703729327437668574?t=nCLIiCniRZAMfL6sbfI-aQ&s=19

Despite the poster thinking he had somehow got the power, he really missed what he's actually done here. While he's busy cleaning himself up (🤮) the people reading the thread will be seeing the "poetry" in motion, just as @Swashbuckled describes (although not as eloquently, obviously).
Far from being intimidating, it's probably even opened the eyes of the TERF hater just a tiny little bit more...

And the most important thing is that online exchanges like this, getting exposure, slowly reduce the risk of it happening in real life as more and more people start to realise what's happening.

#OperationLetThemSpeak

https://twitter.com/BonfireLady/status/1703729327437668574?s=19&t=nCLIiCniRZAMfL6sbfI-aQ

IcakethereforeIam · 18/09/2023 11:49

It's brilliant isn't it. I think it's time limited, you get a few minutes before your post 'sets' and you can't edit it anymore.

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 11:47

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 11:45

*the need

Oooooooh! Exciting! I've just spotted the edit button on the 3 dots.
No more typo correction posts needed 👏👏👏 A moment of joy for me and my fat fingers to behold 👏👏👏

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 11:45

*the need

BonfireLady · 18/09/2023 11:44

@Swashbuckled I fully support the needs for all variations of pissed on this subject 🍸🍷😡

Your poem is especially powerful because it claims back the hold that any aroused AGP feels they have over the women they disrespect in this way.
It really is a phenomenal piece of writing.

I'm wondering if I need to go on more holidays myself, and drink more gin, to help with articulating my own musings. In the interests of contributing to this important world debate, I'm willing to give this approach a go 🍸⛱️

Original poster
Boiledbeetle · 18/09/2023 00:53

Ramblingnamechanger · 18/09/2023 00:49

Have you finished collecting yet Beetle or will you still have room for latecomers? I have been too bloody angry of late to put in any effort but vol I was soo good…

I reckon another week and then I'm going to have to draw a line. as I have to stop at some point.

It's going to be huge, I reckon we will be sat between 130-140 poems!!

There was 80 in the first one!

OP posts:
Ramblingnamechanger · 18/09/2023 00:49

Have you finished collecting yet Beetle or will you still have room for latecomers? I have been too bloody angry of late to put in any effort but vol I was soo good…

Original poster
Boiledbeetle · 18/09/2023 00:39

This whole shit show is very rage inducing! I think for a lot of us writing the poems has helped dissipate the internal levels of about to explode, just a tiny bit!

If it's gin pissed I doubt it was the dog that was listing!😁🐩

OP posts:
Swashbuckled · 18/09/2023 00:16

@Boiledbeetle

Gin pissed. Also anger pissed, but not as in American pissed. Rage pissed (off). Woman in 50s pissed (off). Really am
struggling to coordinate thoughts to keyboard, and my dog seemed to be listing when I took him for a wee just now.

Original poster
Boiledbeetle · 18/09/2023 00:02

Swashbuckled · 17/09/2023 23:38

@BonfireLady

I know what you mean. When we drill down to what is driving this shit, in articulating the driving force, we arouse them. Because that’s what we’ve drilled down to (sorry, bit pissed….)

Bit pissed... Anger or vino pissed?

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