If I say Mumsnet attracts a certain type of person?

[poptothetop]

Let me start of by saying that I've been on quite a few other forums and the opinion/views of them are a lot different/ diverse.

Things most MN members seem to agree on:

Ear piercing views

Schooling views

Baby showers (haven't actually come across a MNetter who hasn't labelled them grabby).

If I were to mention these subjects elsewhere, the comments would be a lot more diverse and lenient.

So, AIBU to say Mumsnet attracts a certain type of person (overall)?

Whether that's because of social class or personality, I can't decide. It's interesting to see what you all think

If you don't know what class you are, you're probably lower middle class or regular middle class.

I'm working class. I know a lot of huns in real life. Don't think some of them ever learned to write properly (and aren't interested in learning now, as long as they get their meaning across) or will ever pick up a book or read to their children.

Surely one thing we have common is we all like to read? My dp likes to read horrors and thrillers, but not true life stories or magazines, so forums bore him. I always did like chat, take a break etc. Only this is better as it's live and interactive.

My spelling is awful, but I try to google words I'm not sure about, to get it right (which is actually helping loads), but often they're words I would get this look if I used irl. In my social circle, if you're articulate you're either considered a geek or a snob. Apart from dp, and my mums side of the family (the "clever" side).

I'll never come to grips with the hommous-as-class-indicator thing on MN.

Or polenta. Or, erm, some other stuff I've forgotten all about. It's peasant food, for pity's sake. Wot poor people eat.

Hands My Mum thinks she is very MC because she teaches at an Independent school but she has me to bring her out of her arse

I love the faux Daily Mail hate. I wonder how many mumsnet posters secretly read it but dare not admit it on here......a bit like taking your kids to McDonalds or flying Ryanair!

Dylis.

I genuinely don't mix with anyone who say s what did she expect dressed like a tart

I'm nouveau riche. I observe lots of class indicators and differences of opinions (generalising of course) as i have a window into each camp, but feel as tho i belong in neither.

Gosh, i'd love to be nouveau riche. Or nouveau solvent.

What I get impatient with is the inevitable poster who claims to have no idea what social class she is and says grandiosely 'What does it matter, anyway? We're all the same' with an air of profundity.

You may not know or care, matey, but take one look at the Cabinet and/or UK life expectancy and health stats correlated to social class if you think social class is about irrelevant sneering about fishknives/buying your own furniture/saying 'pardon'.

Me neither Iced, thank heavens, but they do exist - especially on the Internet. I picked it as a random example of the very basic feminist positions that are unanimously held on MN - as you get towards the stronger feminist positions you get more diversity of views here but I'd say that the general tone of MN is noticeably more feminist than most other general fora, even female dominated ones.

Oh well I don't know what to say to that but I don't have fish knives had a baby at 18 and think we are all people with feelings.

It's peasant food, for pity's sake. Wot poor people eat.

Yes, but foreign peasants! It's hardly the traditional food of the working class of rural Yorkshire, which is more likely to be baked beans than hummus or polenta - which presumably, as cheap foods, don't have any middle class connotations in rural southern Italy or the many places that lay claim to hummus, but do in the UK, regardless of their cost.

I have never seen anyone use the word 'Hun' on here and I rarely see anyone with shockingly bad/poor grammar. I never have trouble reading any of the posts, they're all standard English. The same cannot be said for other parenting sites.

And I think that's a great shame. Not the 'Hun' thing, but the fact the grammar wankers (of which there are many), probably put some people off of posting/joining.

Yet this is supposed to be a support network by parents, for parents.

Thanks EatShit I think we all do the best we can.

Oh I know worra sometimes I'm tempted to spell every word arse backwards

I think the spelling/grammar thing hopefully balances out with posters with English as a foreign language finding the standard English used on mumsnet easier to understand.

And I agree with Pan about the faux Daily Mail hate.

I'd say regardless of what class people here are, or claim to be, the one thing many have in common is that they are Daily Mail readers.

"Oh but I only read it for the sidebar of shame", "Oh but I only read it so I can slag it off" blah blah blah....

You're still a Daily Mail reader, so why do you have a problem with simply saying so?

Honestly, EatShit, are you saying that your social class, whether or not you're aware of it on a day to day basis, has had zero impact on your upbringing, education, employment opportunities, income etc etc???

Are you suggesting that you and, say, our dear departing PM with his wealthy stockbroker and baronet's daughter parents/Eton/Oxford/Bullingdon/straight into Tory politics/family offshore bank account-benefiting/baronet's daughter-marrying etc etc background aren't differentiated by social class?

A

the fact the grammar wankers (of which there are many), probably put some people off of posting/joining.

I think the problem is more acute on another forum where people write in txt spk, never use ANY punctuation, spell every second word incorrectly and after ranting on for 1000 words ask "So wot du u lot fink?"

Then they get the hump because nobody responds, because nobody can actually understand what they are asking about.

I think that's a very optimistic view Strawberry

My guess is that there are far more people who would like to post here for support, but don't want to put themselves up for ridicule.

When I first saw it mentioned on here, I thought a "baby shower" was a contraption for hosing your infant down without having to bath it. Like something you might see being offered on "Dragons' Den" by some eccentric inventor who's forgotten to bring a financial person with him and doesn't get the difference between profit and turnover. Sounded like a good idea to me.

When I realised it was some sort of grabby cake-and-present fest where you get lavishly bestowed with gifts for the talent of having a functioning uterus, I thought people were making it up.

always the same. verbatim

question, is MN really Middle Class?
people: yes, it is quite
Indignant posters. I am WORKING CLASS , how dare you call me MC. I would piss on Waitrose if it was on fire. etc....