"Why do men use Mumsnet?"

[KennethBakeOff]

Inspired by a poster questioning a male poster on another thread as to why he was on Mumsnet, this got me thinking.

For Me: Male, a father to a daughter, a husband to a wife, brother to several sisters, uncle to various ages of nieces and son to a mother.

Also father to young sons (important)

I first came to Mumsnet to search for advice when fatherhood was on the horizon, huge amounts of good advice on that front, then progressed to the wider forums. Parenting is still my primary purpose for being here.

Some of it has just been in the aid of procrastination, some fantastic pointers to music, literature and debates on the wider issues of the day. The mental health forums on here have also been enormously helpful.

Most important has been able to view masculinity through the lens of women. Toxic or otherwise it's helped (I hope) to alter my perspective and behaviour, certainly having reflected on some of my behaviour when younger. Hopefully it's helping me to change for the better across the board, particularly where I can look to influence my sons and nephews.

Like anywhere on the internet, extreme views can flourish but by and large the debate is healthy. I can however completely understand why many posters will feel threatened by masculine perspectives here.

Anyone who feels the need to announce themselves to the thread or post makes my eyes roll.

"Doctor here..."

"Teacher here...."

"Man here....."

Just because they say it doesn't make it true. I am more wary that you're just trying to win Internet debates by announcing your profession or sex and attempting to hush anyone with a different opinion.

Basically, don't say you're a man and it's fine and no one knows and that's that. But so many men can't seem to manage it.

This - it’s the need to announce their male status which is infuriating, because more often than not it’s irrelevant to the discussion.

Unless males announce it/have it in their username or make some reference to it nobody would have a clue they are male anyway. It's just people on the internet.

This.

I couldn't care less whether you're a man, a woman, or some sort of sentient goo unless its directly relevant to the discussion (e.g., someone specifically looking for a goo perspective). What is really irritating though is the men who announce "Man here..." or "As a man..." or "From a male point of view..." as if their big swinging dick gives their opinion more weight. Even more irritating are men who see a thread about issues relating predominantly to women and pop up to tell them that their views on that issue are wrong or to remind them that a Nice Guy has arrived and are they aware that Not All Men Are Like That.

I get annoyed by the "Man here" posts as well, not because they are men, but because they think we should all fall over grateful for their manly opinion.

Equally I get annoyed when women on here say "well I just asked dh and he said...." as if we are all just clueless brainless women having a discussion and hoping a bloke will show up and tell us his important opinion.

Other than that I never know, or care, who anyone is on here.

There have been many threads on this subject and a variety of reasons offered.

‘Man here’ doesn’t irritate me as much as the posters that start their post with ‘Hi ladies’ < not envy

How about-

'Hi Ladies, man here'

For the win?