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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave MumsNet because it's becoming RadFeministNet?

999 replies

SigmundaFraudina · 21/02/2012 17:56

Had enough of their agenda being forced down my throat whether I want it or not. Major recruitment drive going on lately, and serious opression of other posters views. Just gets worse and worse. This was not what I believed MN was supposed to be about.

I'm off.

OP posts:
seeker · 22/02/2012 17:17

'm not telling women what to think. I am saying what feminists think. You don't actually have to be a feminist, you know. I could tell you what you have to believe to be a Tory or a socialist or a Christian if you like. That's not telling you what to think. It's telling you what people who are belong to those groups believe. You can then decide whether or not you believe those things too.

catgirl1976 · 22/02/2012 17:17

Nyac you seemd ever so eager for me to answer your question

Now I have done so, are you going to let me know why it mattered to you what my view was or what you have done with the information?

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:19

But seeker, it seems that there is no clear definition for what those groups believe. You have your definition and I have mine.

And as long as you are typing away on your coltan-infested laptop/computer/ipad/phone, you really are no better than anyone else at being a feminist.

seeker · 22/02/2012 17:21

So do you think you can be q feminist and think that women are responsible for being raped?

Nyac · 22/02/2012 17:23

I think it gets us somewhere to be able to briefly explain various feminist positions. It helps clarify the argument YRC and takes us away from obfuscation and attempts to muddy the waters.

Although this thread in general is probably going nowhere useful given that it's a bash radical feminists thread. Yawn.

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:23

Do you think you can be a feminist and think that you can support women being raped?

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:24

I've seen bashing on both sides to be honest Nyac. If it's so dull, why are you posting?

seeker · 22/02/2012 17:26

Ion't understand that one, yellowraincoat?

Nyac · 22/02/2012 17:27

The bashing is dull.

The defense of radical feminists is important.

OTheHugeManatee · 22/02/2012 17:27

seeker - In terms of what Christians believe, are you describing Catholics, Evangelical Baptists, Greek Orthodox Christians, Anglicans or something else? Differences within Christianity have historically caused some epic disagreements (including a civil war in the UK at one point). So personally I'd struggle to define precisely what Christians believe.

The same is indeed true of Tories: do you mean One Nation Tories, neo-conservatives, old-fashioned countryside Tories, something else?

The devil is all in the detail. The same applies to feminism: it's a broad umbrella term and there is plenty of internal debate. I think that's the point people are trying to make here, that 'what feminists think' may be quite a broad church.

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:28

Then maybe you should read up on coltan and the Congolese civil war seeker. I find it a bit odd a radical feminist wouldn't know about it, but there you go.

ClothesOfSand · 22/02/2012 17:29

I don't think it is essential to have narrow definitions of feminism, but is can't be used to mean anything whatsoever, otherwise there is no point in the word existing. Believing that the victim is responsible for rape can't be a feminist belief in the same way that believing that 500 people should own and profit from all of the world's resources can't be a communist belief. Words have to mean something, or there is no point in having them. You may as well just say that you are a person who has beliefs.

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:29

Your bashing is my discussion Nyac. Some people bash and it is not nice. Others are just trying to discuss/defend their own views.

At any point any of us can walk away.

JerichoStarQuilt · 22/02/2012 17:30

'Surely all this stratifying and classifying is an entirely patriarchal thing to do.'

How so?

I'm prepared to believe it might be - but as I understand it, we wouldn't be able to think if we couldn't distinguish one thing from another (which is the basic thing we're doing when we differentiate one set of beliefs from another).

Can you explain?

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:31

I can try Jericho but as a wishy washy funfem feminist, I don't know a huge amount about radical feminism.

I will come back to it though, don't think I'm running off, but I've been on here all afternoon and have other stuff to do.

sternface · 22/02/2012 17:31

The point of this is that no-one has yet been able to prove that feminists have been rude or bullying towards posters.

People have confused the odd rogue fuckwitted post or OP, with an entire political movement or with an imaginary group of people who seemed to have been labelled 'feminist posters'.

The main thrust of this seems to be that a minority of one or two posters would prefer to take away the rights of feminists to post right across the site and that is never going to happen, nor should it.

I'd prefer not to see hate speech against women, but it's often allowed on this site in a way that other forms of hate speech are not.

seeker · 22/02/2012 17:34

What makes you think I'm a radical feminist?

I am also fully aware of the situation in the Congo and am happy to debate it. Is this an appropriate place? Are you going to say that you can't be a feminist and shop in Primark next? Or any other dodging the point tactics?

JerichoStarQuilt · 22/02/2012 17:35

Fair enough yellow - though, by your argument, surely you don't need to be a radical feminist to have a strong argument ready to justify this claim?

I mean, you must have known what you were arguing when you said it, or why say it?

ClothesOfSand · 22/02/2012 17:35

OTHM, Christians belief that Jesus, either through his person or through following his moral and spiritual teachings or through both, provides salvation. They may disagree on pretty much everything else, but if you don't believe in Christ the Saviour, then you probably don't consider yourself a Christian in the religious sense.

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:36

How is it dodging the point at all seeker? Your point was feminists don't do x. My point is there are things we all do to fuck women up so it's a bit rich to try to act like you're a better feminist than anyone else.

How on earth is that dodging the point? It's entirely the point.

Whatmeworry · 22/02/2012 17:43

m not telling women what to think. I am saying what feminists think.

No, you are saying what you think and asserting that anyone who doesn't agree is not a feminist.

It's just Your bog standard Fundamentalist mindset.

As someone pointed out upthread it is perfectly possible not to believe the MN Feminista creed but still be a feminist.

seeker · 22/02/2012 17:45

You're right. We all do things that fuck other women up. Some of us try very hard not to, and keep ourselves aware of the issues.

I asked if you though it was possible to be a feminist while believing that women can contribute to their own rape. You answered with a questions which turns out to be about human rights abuses in the Congo.

Whatmeworry · 22/02/2012 17:47

The point of this is that no-one has yet been able to prove that feminists have been rude or bullying towards posters

The testimony of many MNetters across multiple threads over the months being conveniently ignored, of course.....

PattiMayor · 22/02/2012 17:51

I have been bashed massively on here for being a WOHM. Do I have a list of who those posters were? No. I've been bashed for leaving my DS alone. I don't know who had a go at me about that either. And do you know what? I don't care.

I don't care if some of you disagree with me. So why on earth do some of you care so much if a woman whose opinion you disagree with disagrees with you? I really don't get it.

This is a place for debate and discussion. Yes, sometimes it gets heated. But if you can't take the heat, get out of kitchen. Don't try and shut down intelligent adult discussion.

yellowraincoat · 22/02/2012 17:52

A pretty relevant question, seeker, or don't you think so?

Because buying mobile phones actively contributes to the rape of women whereas people just being shrug about rape probably doesn't.

And before you try to label me, no, I am not shrug about rape and no I don't think that anyone asks to be raped and no I don't care if a woman goes out wearing a bikini she still shouldn't be raped.