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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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:
Thread gallery
190
UrinaryLeash · 19/06/2023 19:46

Sick and tired

I’m sick of the slurs,
the lies and the threats.
I’m sick of the insistence
we owe them a debt.
I’m sick of the silencing,
and all of the sackings,
just because some men
feel something is lacking.

Boiledbeetle · 18/06/2023 22:36

Thank you! I have arisen from the bed of blghh. Although I will admit I am currently wearing the dressing gown of doom.

And God do I need a shower even the cat is going cross eyed when he gets too close.

I still feel like shit but more normal levels of shit. So that's a plus!

And having not long got up I think it might now be time to go back to bed!

Sighs heavily and shuffles off back to bed. (I can't help it, it's the dressing gown of doom, it just makes me come over all manly and pathetic when ill.)

WINNER TAKES ALL

Woman is not a hobby,
it’s not a feeling, nor a game.
Woman is not the way
you find your fortune or your fame.

Woman is a state of being,
not something that we choose.
Woman is what we are born as,
and a word we’ll never lose.

OP posts:
Waitwhat23 · 18/06/2023 21:53

Blech. Sounds horrible Beetle - hope you feel better soon

ArcaneWireless · 18/06/2023 21:44

Loved Alf…

get well soon hen 🌻

TheBiologyStupid · 18/06/2023 15:57

Yes, get well soon.

ArabellaScott · 18/06/2023 14:21

Hope you're feeling better soon, beetle. Take care.

RealFeminist · 18/06/2023 14:20

CALL NHS 25

Boiledbeetle · 18/06/2023 12:52

God knows. I've finally stopped with the sweating and shivering and they look less prominent today. But i do feel like someone has filled my arms, legs and neck with concrete.

In other news there was a late purchase last night taking us to 79 books this month.

And we are sitting at around 40 poems collected for volume 2

More poems people we need more poems.

I was going to get a shower but I think I'm going back to bed.

So illlllllll. Woe is me!

Sick 1980S Tv GIF by absurdnoise
OP posts:
SinnerBoy · 18/06/2023 07:16

Oh no - is it viral? Have you been to the doctor?

Boiledbeetle · 17/06/2023 20:14

We've had a slow two days but so far we have sold 78 books this month!

And now I'm going back to being horizontal.

Anyone got a cure for lymph nodes the size of plums in my neck. I've had a day of intense blghhhhhhhhhh!.

Shoot me! Shoot me now!

I feel so illlllllll!

OP posts:
Larpingasapoet · 16/06/2023 00:02

Do It Yourself

Oh God You’ve gone and done it Wickes.
You've only gone and pissed off the chicks.
And no, I don’t mean the ones with the dicks.

You’ve nailed your colours to the mast.
I’m sure you thought it all a blast.
Whilst those who watched, watched aghast.

When the COO threw out a line,
I’m sure he thought it would go down just fine,
With those whose thoughts do not align.

He made a crack about a boycott.
Thought his words mattered? Not a jot.
Instead, he just seems quite the clot.

Your customers aren’t the one you think.
Your thoughts and customers are out of sync.
It’s not the TRA’s that will cause a stink.

So, if our custom is not welcome
We’ll go elsewhere. And take our mum!
We’ll not let you think of us as docile and dumb.

We’ll not stay and remain complicit.
Being meek is not our remit.
We’ve had enough of all this shit.

So, take you bricks, and mortar too.
We'll go elsewhere for a brand-new loo
You’ve lost the custom of this pissed off shrew!

Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 22:47

TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 22:40

Your mask slipped there, er, Nic - according to my notifications!

Maybe it's Larkins poems softening her around the edges!

OP posts:
TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 22:40

Your mask slipped there, er, Nic - according to my notifications!

RealFeminist · 15/06/2023 22:26

TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 17:07

Larkin's most famous lines are probably from This Be The Verse:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

Anyway, here's Aubade:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48422/aubade-56d229a6e2f07

Aubade is great, thank you!

Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 21:54

And now i've got that out of my head I am going to go and click on the larkin poem links.

Wait, ah, "you'll have had your tea then?" a refrain I know well from my youth.

OP posts:
Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 21:43

This took a while

THE FOUR MAGIC WORDS

“I am a woman!”
He pronounces to all.
And in that moment
the predator becomes prey.

The oppressor the oppressed.
Means that the man
holds all the aces.
Women only: now entered.

The women fall silent.
The man just gloats
at the glorious intrusion
into female only places.

Rape group? Free entry.
Toilets? Come on in.
Prisons? Take your pick!
Changing room? There too.

These ‘women’ are men.
“Known since aged four.”
Says the autogynephilic man.
That is not true.

Do not dare retort,
or even make waves.
If you say NO!
Then: hate crime report.

“I will bloody huff,
and, puff! Your life?
Blown up into chaos!”
Wolf in grannie’s dress!

The men now rule.
Though, was ever so.
But this is now.
Two thousand twenty three.

This is not right.
We women must fight
to keep men out
of all our spaces.

Men cannot just demand
things so not true.
We do not consent.
We will not relent

on these four words.
For they are ours,
and our words alone.
They belong to us,

not to a man.
Man has no right
to utter those words.
Only we can say

“I AM A WOMAN”

OP posts:
TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 20:01

ArabellaScott · 15/06/2023 17:27

Another good one. The old misanthrope was pretty prescient with Going going, too:

Things are tougher than we are, just
As earth will always respond
However we mess it about;
Chuck filth in the sea, if you must:
The tides will be clean beyond.

  • But what do I feel now? Doubt?

https://www.thepoetryhour.com/poems/going-going

The Poetry Hour

https://www.thepoetryhour.com/poems/going-going

Waitwhat23 · 15/06/2023 18:40

Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 13:14

Oh hello, two poems. I was expecting Ritas to be here, but Wait has added a historical context poem as well.🤗

Oh joy of joys.

No sales today so far. we were sitting at No5 but have been overtaken by Philip Larkin. so at this point we are sat at No.6.

I need food now.

I actually meant to add a footnote that the line 'You'll have had your Enlightenment then?' is sadly not mine but a very clever parody of the 'You'll have had your tea then?' Scottish culture satire by a Twitter user whose handle I cannot remember. It's just so absolutely spot on.

TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 17:07

Larkin's most famous lines are probably from This Be The Verse:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

Anyway, here's Aubade:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48422/aubade-56d229a6e2f07

Aubade by Philip Larkin | Poetry Foundation

I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48422/aubade-56d229a6e2f07

Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 16:00

I honestly don't think I have knowingly read anything by Philip Larkin. I think he's managed to pass me by. (And I'll be buggered if I'm buying someone elses poetry on Amazon at the moment!).

OP posts:
TheBiologyStupid · 15/06/2023 14:12

Larkin was a horrible person, but a great poet. Aubade is my favourite, but Church Going, An Arundel Tomb, and Ambulances are all great.

Boiledbeetle · 15/06/2023 13:14

Oh hello, two poems. I was expecting Ritas to be here, but Wait has added a historical context poem as well.🤗

Oh joy of joys.

No sales today so far. we were sitting at No5 but have been overtaken by Philip Larkin. so at this point we are sat at No.6.

I need food now.

OP posts:
SinnerBoy · 15/06/2023 07:50

Boiledbeetle · Yesterday 22:12

We have had two sales today an e-book

Guilty!

Waitwhat23 · 14/06/2023 22:38

XY or XX?
Blackman can't tell which one is her sex,
A person who has birthed two humans,
Is so indisputably a woman,
The UofA must be shaking their heads,
Rejoicing she went into politics instead.
A nation previously known for its' intellectual ken,
'You'll have had your Enlightenment then?'