to think that not every man on mumsnet must be "dodgy"

[OpinionSeeker]

A thread on mums net to settle an argument about mumsnet...
DH thinks that if a man is on mumsnet then he must have an ulterior motive, to chat up 'mums' - he wants me to add that he thinks they must be devious. I think, perhaps naively that there are probably some genuine male parents, aka dads, wishing to discuss parenting issues. DH believes men should be on dadsnet.
Genuinely looking for opinions.

Bizzare thought, although forums like this are predominated by females, some of whom will be vunerable.

Although, one would assume, 10 years on, Mumsnet could change its name to Parentsnet to encompass changing demographics of the family and be all inclusive. Or indeed, scrap Mumsnet/Dadsnet/Gransnet and become Familynet.

Well one thing I can tell you for sure is this - opinions are just like arseholes - every bugger has one!

HTH

How very traditional of him, does he fear your virtue might be compromised?
Or is he very old and easily threatened by the idea of debate between the sexes?
There seem to be few men posting on MN, but many that do are interesting to read (Yes Pan, I'm talking about the likes of you, are your ears burning?)
Or the anti-women trolls who poison the Feminist boards.
Haven't come across a flirty thread. Perhaps I haven't looked hard enough.

There are quite a few male posters who, if they do have sinister motives, do an excellent job of hiding them. There's at least one man who is a nanny and so I assume this place is a natural fit for him because it is so much about parenting. He always seems nice though I've not crossed his path much.

Thank you for comments so far
Riverside DH says 'am I traditional? Maybe; am I worried about your virtue? Yes, my little cherub'

Then instead of standing on the sidelines like a suspicious silverback with occasional chest-beating, he ought to sign up and try it out.
That way he'll find out that the greatest threat to your innocence is other female posters.

So, it couldn't be that they want to discuss topics on a site with a wider readership, as opposed to a niche section?

:o I suggested that to him, he says he has enough of a hard time with me

Jesse he says 'what, like mumsnet? There's nothing niche about mumsnet!'
Have a feeling I'm going to get tired of relaying responses...

I'm a man... I'm here 'cos I'm interested in my baby, I read the forums that are relevant to the stage I'm at with her so I can understand everything and AIBU 'cos it's fun and I get to be happy I don't have the same problems. Obviously I would normally flirt relentlessly with every woman on here and try and steal them away from their traditional DH's as I'm sure it's a lot easier to do that on a forum than at the school gate. Though I think DP figured out my name so now I just tell people if they're U or not, which is a lot more fun I think anyway.

Pervert ;)

Meant to do a proper there!
Seriously though, thanks for your input Fred

Tell your DH that MNHQ are very swift at acting on complaints about dodgy pm's, general sliminess, etc.

Some bloke from the city springs to mind

Oh I don't know, there are a fair few men who come on with an ulterior motive, to wind up the "mums" or chat people up or whatever. And the occasional bloke seeking a female perspective on a relationship issue, sometimes when they are being extremely U themselves! None of them tend to last long once they've been flamed to a little crisp. But the ones who stick around are generally okay. Of course not all men join for those reasons! If they join out of genuine interest I think they're more likely to stick around too.

I think there is a dadsnet but it's nothing like as active as mumsnet.

The men who post on here tend to be found within certain topic areas - their fields of knowledge if you like. They don't to stray too far, though may appear in more general chat topics or even risk AIBU from time to time.

I work in a female dominated profession, so being on mostly female chat board makes total sense. Where else would I meet people in the same/similar profession?

Thanks tall, Bertie - I told him that.

There are probably more dodgy female posters. Half of the ones who rant on the feminist boards aren't even parents and some of them sound like they are still in school as they are very black and white about the few issues they do comment on. I agree they should rename this parentsnet or familynet and get rid of those fruitloops.

There is no male equivalent that is like this place for variety and volume of posters, and there are a lot of good caring single and married dads out there who will have heard of this site, and know it is the best place to come for tips and advice.

Any site will get its trolls, and the bigger the site, the more well known (as this place now is) the more trolls it will attract, both male and female.

I asked Dh's opinion. His reply was

"I don't really think about the gender of your imaginary friends"

I asked if he would post on Mnet

"Urrrgh no, what if we ended up talking to each other of an evening in RL and on the net...thats waaaay to much communication".

He then went up to bed sniggering

As a single childless bloke I thoroughly enjoy reading and posting here. Probably more than half the threads on AIBU are not really relevant to parenting at all, so there's no need for an ulterior motive. I found mumsnet because I'm interested in adoption, I stayed because it's a laugh.

And I thoroughly enjoy posting the occasional silliness too, the name change facility is tremendous.

Honeydragon Me and DH roaring with laughter at your post - absolutely hysterical
:o

DP posted for a while but he stuck to geeky stuff because he was scared

at honeydragon.

DH calls MN the hive mind and is deeply respectful of your ability to solve any problem in about three seconds. However, although he has occasionally asked me to ask you a question, he has never ventured on here of his own accord. But I think he's just a giant wuss.

Honetdragon I shall now forever think of everyone I communicate with on MN as an imaginary friend....!