To leave MumsNet because it's becoming RadFeministNet?

[SigmundaFraudina]

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.

Remember that time we had a poster who came on women's issue threads and made comments about how he could find anyone of us and joked about raping us and stuff?

He would pop up all over the place making creepy remarks and he got cheered on and encouraged by loads of people. I couldn't quite believe that people couldn't see he was a troll and an intimidator. The number of regular/nontroll posters saying that they agreed with him, etc was quite odd. I think even his rape joke got defended IIRC. Most perplexing.

The thing is that the bullying claims are a distraction or a reversal.

The issue really is (and the title of this thread gives it away) that some people don't want rad fem posititons stated here. In fact most of the radical feminism on Mumsnet is of the most uncontroversial kind - being against the sex industry, standing up for rape and DV victims. It's kind of motherhood and apple pie but people still want it silenced.

Nyac... I suppose if it matters to you, you'll keep asking for a response.

If you use the phrase, "you come across as a , you run the risk of getting reported yourself depending on your tone and whom you post to. The "you come across as a" is superfluous. But then you know that.

That was someone different from the nice chap who kept saying that he would push people down the stairs, I think?

All fun and games

I'm not really following you LyingWitch.

I would say that the vast majority of people on Mn are pro-feminist. There'll always be a few inadequate twats hanging about. The fuss they create is disproportionate to their number and influence.

Lyingwitch most of the nasty attacks I have encountered with regards to being a feminist, have been on the feminist board.

Then you get these big massive moany threads - are you suggesting that the people being attacked on on these threads should just quietly sit in the feminist bunker, lurking, until it is over? At which point they could peep out meerkat like and report all the abuse and attacks to MNHQ?

I just don't think I'm that meek .

Yes SQ, and the thing is loads of them did get banned as trolls in the end, but it too ages for it to happen and caused huge stress in the meantime. Hence the quietness of the feminism section now, because so many people have become disheartened.

Weirdly though it hasn't been populated by the people who were on the "rad fems are big meanies" crusade. They seem to have left it alone. It's almost as if they weren't really interested in feminism or the feminist section, just in shutting some of us up.

TBE.. of course not, that free speech comes with (hopefully) some personal parameters. There are things that I might think but would never, ever say. Don't most people have a modicum of self-control and awareness of others? Sometimes I can be sharper than I intended and when I'm called on it - or aware of it myself - I apologise and mean it.

Free speech is a privilege that we have in this country and I'm very glad we do have it.

That's true nyac. Good point.

I've been reading this but not really wanting to post. However I do feel strongly that the feminist threads invite a more heated debate than some of the other threads on Mumsnet. From what I've seen this is because we all have very strong views on it either way and it seems to descend into a thread where everybody wants to have their say and they want their opinions acknowledged. So everyone wants to feel that they are listened to and that their opinions are valid right? But because of the strong views that are being bounced around, the only way some posters feel they can be acknowledged or heard or listened to is by attacking the views they disagree with in such a personal way as to make that person feel patronised, stupid and belittled.

It's kinda like a power struggle. Reasoned debate is thrown out of the window as a few posters battle to be heard amongst the rabble.

This is only my view borne from my own personal experience on such threads and from reading this one.

I suspect that everyone has a valid point to make and that their anger and the personal attacks stem only from the fact that they just want their opinions to be acknowledged.

We are all women and therefore feminism is something that runs quite strongly within us all to a certain extent. It defines our very beings and if we had never been oppressed in the first place, it simply wouldn't exist. But it does and it provokes strong feelings either way. Some women don't like to be seen as any different to men, they feel that way segregation lies whereas others feel that because of the oppression that still continues against women, we are very separate and they want women to remain separate. This is not mean they are men haters, they just embrace their separate identities.

If we all took a moment to try and understand each other, we'd realise that we all actually have more in common than we realised.

I just wanted to say that hoping it would make a tiny difference to the way this thread has gone. I'll naff off again now to my own little Utopia were everyone is holding hands and singing.

Women don't have free speech in this country. We're attacked a great deal when we speak up for our interests and are denied platforms.

Most of the media is male dominated and ignores women's issues and interests.

Mumsnet is great because that isn't what happens here.

I don't think that's true, nyac. Loads of people stay away from fwr because they say they felt/feel intimidated.

Beachcomber... No, I didn't say that. You referred to personal safety, attacks and so on. If those are really issues that affect someone they would be foolish to make it so easy for people who, having free access to this site, wish them harm. It's nothing to do with being 'meek', it's to do with commonsense and personal choice and responsibility.

What choice do you have other than to report? You have no access to the 'big red button' to delete these people. Whatever you say is unlikely to be listened to/digested and pondered on because those people don't care what you say. Your call.

When I say it doesn't happen here I mean in the widest sense. Women's interests and issues are central.

There is still a lot of attacking and dislike of women putting certain views across (see the thread title and OP).

Look what happens whenever a woman expresses herself forcefully in the House of Commons. "Calm down dear" says Cameron, gets a laugh and the point is lost. Even I can't remember what she was talking about!

And I agree that the radical themes explored on MN are actually quite straightforward and standard feminism really. There is very little that pushes boundaries of thought/comfort zones.

We are not very radical.

TBH I probably wouldn't start a thread on some areas of feminist analysis on MN. Not the right place for it as it is neither a radical space, nor a safe space (light moderation). Which is fine and fair enough. MN is an open public forum and that is its strength.

Well, the battering I have recieved on here has been revealing. I'm off to take issue with MNHQ about a number of things. FWIW RadFeminism is extremeism and should be treated as such.

Laters.

Yes that's true Hully, I have stayed out of the feminism section after being attacked comprehensively by other Mumsnetters who didn't like my style or opinions. Not the feminists mind you.

I also pretty much left Mumsnet and lost my name which I'd had for four years, because I could be guaranteed to be zoomed in on by people who saw my name and would have a go (one of them actually promised that that's what she'd do).

When I post under different names it's a much more peaceful experience although the opinions are still the same.

I feel intimidated on the feminist board; so I don't go there. I don't attack people who post there, I hope I don't attack anybody, but it's not a place that I want to post because of the 'putting people in their place'. That's how I feel about it but I'm happy to post alongside anybody anywhere else.

And yes, I keep changing my name because I keep getting locked out. Freedom of speech eh?

And Adele, told to shut up so Blur could perform.

well I just think we all need a lot more love

and wine

last post coming...

wheeeeeeee