Feminism is Over according to NetMums

[WorraLiberty]

AIBU to think that given the reoccurring threads on here, if they had asked MumsNet to take part in the poll, possibly more than 28% would have said, they find the radical feminism of Germaine Greer too aggressive towards men, and no longer view it as a positive label for women?

Or do you think a MumsNet survey would have thrown up similar/completely different results?

Link to Daily Express story

Surely in any online forum targetted at mothers, there is going to be a higher than average representation of non-working mothers, who are hardly likely to be radical feminists?

It is a ridiculous story.

What kind of 'research' is that - based on a survey taken on a parenting website only. All it tells you is the feelings of NMers about feminism, not about women in general.

Fewer than half of the 1,300 women polled still felt feminism should be about ?equal rights and equal pay?,
but the majority (58 per cent) wanted the philosophy to ensure women have ?real choice over their family, career
and lives?.

Yes, and ask 1300 non mums that question and you will get a totally different answer.

And bringing up the radfem stuff again is a bit provocative, no? Can we just let it rest?

It's not a representative sample so it means diddly squat. Apart from confirming the reputation of Netmums for being fluffy and into ickle kittens and tickers saying '12 hours since baby's last bowel movement'.

geegee that's an interesting point. Do you think there are more non working mothers using parenting websites than working Mothers?

Was it an online poll of Net Mummers or was it a proper randomised survey of women drawn from the female population?

Yes, I do Worra - when I'm at work, I'm not allowed to use sites like mumsnet. If I worked full time, I would never be able to use it. I should imagine that for many professional women, its the same story -many jobs are very pressurised and strict, and afterwards its a rush to get everything done.

Thats certainly my perception of internet forum users in general, not just mumsnet - there must surely be a higher than average number of non-full time employees on them.

Possibly geegee but then I would have thought that especially with mobile phones having internet access, they might find the odd moment to log in during the evenings and weekends.

I suppose it depends on individual circumstance.

Yes, I agree GeeGee. On days when I work out of the home, I only check MN on my lunch break.

It was a poll of 1300 NMetters, Enim, so hardly random.

I agree that any poll of any forum is likely to give skewed results - members of forums are self-selecting to a greater or lesser extent, eg most (though not all)members here are parents, and geegee's point about access to social networking sites in work situations is also valid. That said the point that SAHM are by definition not radfem's is based on what, exactly???

"More than two-thirds (69 per cent) believed feminism?s biggest fight was now to reinstate the value of motherhood"

Well, they would, wouldn't they? They are (almost) all mothers.

"Just nine per cent of those aged 25 to 29 identified with it and only eight per cent of women aged 20 to 24."

I don't know about you lot, but I didn't identify with feminism at that age. I have become more informed in the past 10 years or so.

Non-working mothers ? There ain't no such thing sister.
( Well p'raps in the lands of very rich nannied ladies who lunch ).

How many anti-feminists does it take to change a lightbulb ?
None, they don't like change.

I am a feminist SAHM.

I think a poll of MNers would have thrown out different results but probably not want the Express wanted to fit their "feminism is over" story.
Utter bollocks and lazy journalism. The only surprise is that it isn't the Daily Mail.

I agree about being more informed as you get older, definitely.

I don't understand either why SAHMs would be less likely to be Radfems?

What a load of rubbish. It's not 'feminism over say women' it's feminism over according to a survey on one bloody website.

Why are they trying to spin it as though every woman on the planet got surveyed 1300 women from netmums do not speak for the entire female population and I object to the story trying to make it so. 28% of british women my arse. 28% of 1300 women on netmums. That's all.

I take it there is no comments section? I would LOVE to bloody comment on this!

worra I'm not allowed a mobile phone at work. I have to keep it in a locked cabinet. And even then I barely get a signal. If I was working full time, I doubt I would have much time for posting at work. And while not everyone's workplace is like this, I should imagine that many women working in the professions, such as law and medicine, don't have much spare time for a quick browse of mumsnet during their working day or time at home, and therefore most of their views are completed unreprsented on internet forums.

Internet forums must have a disproportionate ratio of non or part time workers. Just to read some of the posts on here would give me the notion that being a working professional mum is unusual, whereas in real life, most of my friends are working mums or will continue working after maternity leave. And out of those friends, few of them have even heard of mumsnet! A lot of busy people just don't use internet forums at all/have never been on them.

In what way are SAHM less likely to be feminists?

This part says it all to me about the "seriousness" of the women who took the survey:

But in a major contrast to their 60s and 70s counterparts, modern women no longer believe being feminine or looking glamorous was a barrier to being taken seriously.

Just one in 200 thought dyeing their hair was wrong while 93 per cent believed fake tan and false eyelashes were acceptable on women. Over three quarters (78 per cent) also backed women who have breast enlargements.

Almost two thirds (63 per cent) also believed topless modelling was acceptable along with 67 per cent who backed cosmetic jabs such as Botox.

Oh sorry and this:

Activities that Netmums members find acceptable for FeMEnists:

Highlights 99.5%
Be a stay at home mum baking cupcakes 98.8%
False nails 96.4%
Hair extensions 95.2%
False eyelashes 95%
Fake tan 92.8%
Showing your cleavage 91.8%
Mini skirts 90.6%
Flirting 89.2%
Breast enlargements 78.1%
Pole dancing 71.3%
Vajazzle 70.6%
Botox 66.8%
Topless modelling 61.7%
Escort work 40.3%
Marry for money 22.4%
Prostitution 17.4%

Cut and paste journalism from the NM press release

And of course you can't possibly be a feminist if you aren't in full time employment outside the home. Oh dearie me no.

Of course the survey is rubbish and totally unrepresentative. But I do think that Mumsnet has shot mothers and women in the foot a bit by making huge claims to be able to represent parents and women, just on the basis of selective thread quoting and non-randomised surveys from a very eclectic and unrepresentative demographic.

This has always seemed a danger with all the huge and efficiently milked publicity MN wins -- that it feeds a really shallow, media-led cherry-picking of illusory trends. That might (sometimes) seem great when it is Mumsnet they are milking, but it means we can't object when they milk a site with a different slant.

71% think pole dancing is fine

and

17% think prostitution is a valid career choice for women

I think we can be glad that only 28% thought that modern feminism was too aggressive. Jeez, that is like going back to 1950.

We should do our own poll! I bet the answers would be quite different.

Hecate
Only if we get to ask the same questions.