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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Welcome to the Bluestocking! It is celebration time for everyone!

501 replies

MyrtleLion · 13/10/2026 18:05

Welcome to The Bluestocking, the best (perhaps only) online women’s pub. The sign on the door says CELEBRATION, in glitter, and the gerbils have been told they may use as much glitter as they like.

The champagne is flowing, and it is the good kind. Every bubble is perfectly fizzy, every glass is bottomless, and nobody wakes up with a headache or a vague memory of singing to a coat rack. You may toast as many times as you wish and remain entirely clear-headed, sharp-witted and ready to explain your point again, louder, with hand gestures.

The gerbil crew has gone all out. There are bunting-laden tunnels, a tiny brass band that knows many tunes and play them with total conviction, and a head gerbil in a waistcoat who will announce your achievement to the whole room if you hand over a sunflower seed. Several gerbils have been practising a synchronised pouring routine. Two of them have already collided with the canapés, and the canapés are fine.

Whatever you are celebrating, a win, a finish, a survived meeting, a Tuesday, pull up a stool and raise a glass. The corks are popping, the confetti is mostly staying in the building, and everyone here is on your side.

Any curious menfolk are welcome at the Staunch Ally down the road, where they are invited to cheer from a respectful distance.

Cheers, everyone. The next round is on the gerbils.

Previous thread is here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5582462-the-bluestocking-where-we-look-forward-to-good-things-happening-both-soon-and-later

The Bluestocking, where we look forward to good things happening, both soon and later. | Mumsnet

Welcome to The Bluestocking, the best (perhaps only) online women's pub. Nothing in the food or drink can harm you, everything is served by a very ent...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5582462-the-bluestocking-where-we-look-forward-to-good-things-happening-both-soon-and-later

OP posts:
Thread gallery
62
MarieDeGournay · Today 09:40

I hated having to go from knee socks to tights when I was at school.

I think like WAW it was a sign that girlhood was over - girlhood with all its flaws at least wasn't adult womanhood which felt like hell on earth to me at that point in my life.

Maybe that's why I have such a varied and carefully-curated sock-drawer now😄
And why I am tormented by this photo of Doc Stock with her red socks - 'a brave choice', but I liked it so much I wanted red socks too, but I cannot find red socks that are actually red red, not pinkish red.
Last time I kvetched about this here, kind Stockingers sent me links to 'red' socks but they all turned out to be a pinkish red, not scarlet or postbox red.

Socks-obsessed.moi? Socks Matter, and this is the Feminism: Socks and gender discussions board, isn't it?😁

Welcome to the Bluestocking! It is celebration time for everyone!
MyrtleLion · Today 09:42

I wear knee-high black compression socks so I'm in trousers mostly. I also have to wear boots to support my ankle and they have orthotics. I did wear the socks and boots with dresses in the summer and just styled it out.

OP posts:
EdithStourton · Today 10:08

@WearyAuldWumman 'I've got this terrible pain in the diodes... I don't why i bother really, nobody cares....'

Required reading when I was an undergraduate.

EdithStourton · Today 10:11

Marie, I totally agree about Doc Stox sox.

Given that my normal winter look is, due to leg length, that my trousers have had a row with my shoes, I reckon a pair of pillar-box red socks would shine like a beacon out of the usual shades of mud'n'denim.

ETA, I bet Doc Stock never thought she'd be a fashion icon. But she looks so admirably put together in that photo. What a legend.

MoistVonL · Today 10:14

I'm sorry about the diodes, Weary.

Marie, trying Patrick Grant's Community Clothing. They sell properly red socks.

Myrtle, I wear orthotics as well - in my case, very similar to a Girdle because they are compression shorts to support the hernia where my c section scar split. They are the most unsexy thing imaginable.

Premium Cotton Sock Rib - Red

Our ever-popular premium ribbed cotton sock, smart enough for formal wear or a great casual sock, they’re breathable, comfortable and very durable. Single pair. Knitted in Leicestershire, finished in Yorkshire using yarns from Portugal and Germany. Com...

https://communityclothing.co.uk/collections/unisex-socks/products/premium-cotton-sock-rib-red

EdithStourton · Today 10:18

MoistVonL · Today 10:14

I'm sorry about the diodes, Weary.

Marie, trying Patrick Grant's Community Clothing. They sell properly red socks.

Myrtle, I wear orthotics as well - in my case, very similar to a Girdle because they are compression shorts to support the hernia where my c section scar split. They are the most unsexy thing imaginable.

So that's two of you on here with split c-section scars.

I don't remember this ever being floated as a possibility back when I was bearing babies and being advised to write my birthing plans.

Fortunately my babies were cooperative and came out head first via the historical route. I shall count my blessings again.

And thanks for the sock link. Will check that out shortly.

MoistVonL · Today 10:24

It's just the one of me, Edith. I forgot to put on my Bluestocking attire when I entered the latest incarnation.

Magpiecomplex · Today 10:53

EdithStourton · Today 10:08

@WearyAuldWumman 'I've got this terrible pain in the diodes... I don't why i bother really, nobody cares....'

Required reading when I was an undergraduate.

The junior magpies benefitted from a subversive aunt who bought them both copies of H2GT2G when they were in primary school. Apparently the faces of the volunteer readers when either free-reader child hoved into view with their copy were priceless.

EdithStourton · Today 11:13

MoistVonL · Today 10:24

It's just the one of me, Edith. I forgot to put on my Bluestocking attire when I entered the latest incarnation.

Ah, okay.
ETA, I also use my Bluey identity outside the pub, but I have another I dust off sometimes.

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 11:42

Magpiecomplex · Yesterday 20:29

I have another cardigan with beetles on.

Where do you find these wonderful garments? Is there a Christmas store just for scientists?

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 11:46

WearyAuldWumman · Today 00:18

So did I until stockings cropped up here. Not only did they slide inexorably downwards, but they left an imprint on your thighs - well, at least on mine.

I recall wearing spotty stockings.

Prompted by seeing some vintage lacy white tights on ebay, I remembered some lacy dark brown ones I had as a teenager. It was the 70s, after all.

Magpiecomplex · Today 11:51

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 11:42

Where do you find these wonderful garments? Is there a Christmas store just for scientists?

Disclaimer, they are not cheap, but they are very well made and have good ethics.

https://palava.co/

Palava Clothing UK | Official Website & Online Shop

Colourful vintage-style clothing for women, children and home. Ethically made in the UK using organic cotton, tencel & linen - with plastic free packaging.

https://palava.co

Magpiecomplex · Today 11:53

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 11:46

Prompted by seeing some vintage lacy white tights on ebay, I remembered some lacy dark brown ones I had as a teenager. It was the 70s, after all.

I was a teenager in the 80s and remember having a selection of pastel coloured tights in very low deniers. They accomplished nothing in terms of warmth, they just made your legs look an odd colour!

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 12:01

MoistVonL · Today 08:48

I wore stockings when I was in 6th Form. I loved them because of you laddered one leg, you could bin it and still keep the other one.

There was a snag in the desk in English Lit class and I was forever getting a ladder on my right leg. Cost me a fortune in tights. It cost me only half a fortune in stockings.

Girdles still exist, only now we call them shape wear.

To quote Alice from the Dilbert strip:

I am currently wearing leg coverings that can be destroyed by a stick!

😂

MarieDeGournay · Today 12:07

MyrtleLion · Today 09:42

I wear knee-high black compression socks so I'm in trousers mostly. I also have to wear boots to support my ankle and they have orthotics. I did wear the socks and boots with dresses in the summer and just styled it out.

Fashion Hint: I sometimes have to wear those black compression socks too Myrtle.
I don't mind wearing black socks with some outfits, but sometimes I just have to have something sillier, so I have some colourful patterned thin cotton socks which I wear over the compression socks - they are toeless so the extra thin layer doesn't make shoes too tight.

Thank you for the link to proper red socks, Moist. I'll have a look.

I really like Doc Stock's style. I've gone off her a bit in other ways but style icon? deffo. Elegant.

Magpiecomplex · Today 12:15

My last pair of compression socks were a rather fetching dark teal. Set off beautifully by a pair of bright red (Marie would approve) slipper socks over the top. This was orthopedic surgery attire.

MoistVonL · Today 12:15

EdithStourton · Today 11:13

Ah, okay.
ETA, I also use my Bluey identity outside the pub, but I have another I dust off sometimes.

Edited

I used to name change a lot. i mostly can't be arsed now because I'm clearly going dotty forgetful, as is clearly demonstrated by not getting my username right here. Again.

MarieDeGournay · Today 12:15

MoistVonL · Today 10:14

I'm sorry about the diodes, Weary.

Marie, trying Patrick Grant's Community Clothing. They sell properly red socks.

Myrtle, I wear orthotics as well - in my case, very similar to a Girdle because they are compression shorts to support the hernia where my c section scar split. They are the most unsexy thing imaginable.

Thank you for the link but they only 'ship' ['deliver' please🙄] within the UK.
Hey ho😏
The quest will continue...

MoistVonL · Today 12:22

Magpiecomplex · Today 12:15

My last pair of compression socks were a rather fetching dark teal. Set off beautifully by a pair of bright red (Marie would approve) slipper socks over the top. This was orthopedic surgery attire.

I have both black and what is a sort of toned down American Tan. Bloody hideous things, but awfully useful.

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 12:28

Loving the Palava knitwear: the vintage styles as well as the animal ones are great!

And here's Boily's Christmas present sorted.

Welcome to the Bluestocking! It is celebration time for everyone!
inkymoose · Today 12:42

Boiledbeetle · 16/10/2026 15:07

Lovely living quarters you have there. Very blingy.

Took me awhile to discover roughly where my location is at the moment ...
///guides.flashing.unicorns

MarieDeGournay · Today 12:43

ifIwerenotanandroid · Today 12:28

Loving the Palava knitwear: the vintage styles as well as the animal ones are great!

And here's Boily's Christmas present sorted.

Lovely! are those cockroaches alongside the beetles??😮
Still lovely, though..

MoistVonL · Today 12:48

And I found Puffling's!

Welcome to the Bluestocking! It is celebration time for everyone!
Magpiecomplex · Today 12:56

MoistVonL · Today 12:48

And I found Puffling's!

I'm waiting patiently for them to do a magpie one!

WearyAuldWumman · Today 12:57

Magpiecomplex · Today 12:15

My last pair of compression socks were a rather fetching dark teal. Set off beautifully by a pair of bright red (Marie would approve) slipper socks over the top. This was orthopedic surgery attire.

I was told that I'd be able to wear normal shoes after my orthopaedic surgery. Nope. One toe is now set wider, so I have to wear wide-fitting trainers or boots all the time.

On the other hand, I can walk so...