Only on MN ...

[cathf]

Not a TAAT as such, but inspired by a response on a thread running at the moment.
It got me thinking of the differences between MN and my RL friends and acquaintances, and things that are accepted wisdom on MN that no-one I know in real life cares about at all.
I will start off:

1. Little girls who wear pink clothing, and gendered clothing in general;
2. Scented sanitary towels;
3. Fruit Shoots
4. People cuddling/touching/talking to your child;

The amount of threads and angst over these topics is staggering, yet no-one I know would even think any of the above were worth discussing, never mind getting worked up about. Anymore?

I really dislike long hair on little girls

I see this all the time on Mumsnet. Some poster comes on saying she has a daughter who loves her long hair and doesn’t want to cut it but could they recommend styles for school or swimming or give detangling ideas etc. Or the child had long hair and ex husband/evil stepmother/MIL chopped it all off and now the kid is distraught. Point is the kid loves/loved having their hair long. Then you get a flurry of posters saying that long hair is impractical/cruel/prevents them from playing/vain/weird/disgusting.

“Waist length hair is extremely impractical. I hate to see little girls with long hair. You should get it cut to a bob.”

Then the poster says that the child likes having their hair long and cutting it is not an option and they get resonates along the lines of;

“Why is your child so preoccupied with their looks/looking pretty. Young girls shouldn’t be concerned with their appearance.”

Or “Why are you projecting on to her? Cut it off and let her enjoy her childhood!”

I guess it’s not just on Mumsnet as I did actually have a couple of friends who had the enforced bob or pageboy as a kid and whose mum’s would make similar snide comments and roll their eyes usually at birthday parties where there were lots of long haired girls in pretty dresses. Their kids pretty much hated their mothers, they were seen by other kids and mums as “mean mums” and their daughters always complained about how their Mum’s wouldn’t let them grow their hair or wear dresses or have Barbies or how they were controlling in general. They had really low self esteem and always said that they felt ugly compared to the other kids. I actually remember finding one friend crying hysterically in the Wendy House on the first day of reception because she was the only girl with short hair and everyone thought she was a boy and her mummy wouldn’t let her grow it. Hilariously enough, she grew her hair out to her bum as soon as she was 12, dyed it blonde and became a model much to her Mum’s disgust. The other two girls I knew with similar mothers now barely see them and both have long hair, fake nails, wear lots of makeup, high heels, dresses and generally seem quite preoccupied with their looks (and they are all stunning I have to say!). So I guess it backfired. But it’s only on Mumsnet where it seems to be popular opinion that it’s better to chop all your child’s hair off against their will (or not defend them when thats already been done to them) than it is to...oh, I dunno, respect their wishes and bodily autonomy.

Yes, there is a funny thing about hair on here. There was a thread a while ago about long and short hair and, sure enough, it became a moral/class issue, even a hygiene one. Suddenly, very long hair or very short hair weren't simply personal preferences, but 'vanity' if long (I'm sure there would have been gasps of derision at it being 'attention seeking' too), and any length a poster didn't like was invariably described as 'common' somewhere along the line. Ffs. If you're obsessed with class markers, especially ones you make up, you're not posh.

One poster even told of how she decided to cut her long hair because she realised how 'disgusting' it was having 'all that old hair'. Apparently hair is not washable...who knew!

Oh yes and I’d agree about the absolute hatred of Christians or anyone that believes there could possibly be something beyond our ken. I always chuckle to myself when I see posts voicing the horror that a child has been given a Gideon bible at school or been told about Jesus or that a dead relative is in heaven. Especially when it turns out that the poster has chosen to send their child to a church school!

Yep on MN religious schools should be banned. In real life they are highly saught after. I am all for people holding their own beliefs as long as they are not trying to indoctrinate people. However anytime their is a religious/super natural thread the non believers come on aggressively hounding the believers on their own thread.

The fact that a huge number of MNs are middle class with money and they just cant comprehend at all that some people genuinely cant afford to just splurge that £100 on something pointless.

My good friend is on here thoigh i dont think she posts any more. She once started a thread venting at her financial situation only to be told she couldnt do any real work because her english was so bad. Shes disabled and not english but posters just went on for pages talking about how shite her grammar was.

What are fruit shoots?

I really dislike long hair on little girls

Why? My hair would have been an unmanageable fuzzball if it was shorter than about shoulder or what I currently call boob length...

If someone invites a group of people somewhere, then that person is the host and they should pay.

Some of my favourites:

‘You need some time to yourself and a break. What about taking yourself off for a spa day/weekend?’ (Most people in the real world can’t just have a spa day or weekend because, childcare, money, time off work etc).

‘My husband has done something (insert fairly normal, trivial thing) what should I do?’
MN: ‘LTB’.

OP ‘I am struggling to get my food budget for a family of 5 under £100 a week’
MN: either ‘what on Earth are you buying, you could live off half that you know, a chicken can make at least 3 meals!’
The other half of mumsnet: ‘£100? That’s nothing- I spend at least double that.’

OP ‘London living is so so expensive, DH and I both work FT in jobs which are London based and can’t move, but we are struggling with the cost of living. Our jobs aren’t transferable. What can we do?’

MN: ‘move’.

I came on to MN a few years ago and now it's got me in its evil grasp. I am fascinated by others' views on things. I used to think of myself as a fairly easy going middle of the road type. Now the man hating, god hating, Royal family hating, DM hating, Tory hating, Brexit hating, MIL hating wedding hating etc has pushed me the other way.
For example I voted Remain but the demonisation of Brexit voters is pitiful. The constant calls to LTB if some poor sap puts a dirty plate in the wrong place. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!

Everyone either lives in London or some remote, desolate post- apocalyptic wasteland. No in between.

Oh, and the competitive not eating and moral outrage and indignation at anyone who lives on anything more calorific than fresh air and the odd lick at an ice cube.

Mey Mary - yep me too, that’s partly why it pisses me off! If I’d have had the obligatory Petit Filous French Bob of the time as a kid in the 90’s with my mixed race with a bit of Irish frizzy thickness thrown in for good measure hair, my hair would have looked so triangle shaped I would resembled a UFO and no one would have been able to see past my giant hair in assembly/the cinema. I have no doubt my mother would have resorted to shaving my head rather than let me go about like that!

some remote, desolate post- apocalyptic wasteland You know where I live!!!!

I loved the petit filous bob, I would still have dd (15) with it if she would let me 😂

Have an argument with your husband and he calls you a bitch? Divorce him. According to MN their dh would never ever call them a bitch and if he did they would split up the entire family over it.

I'm not actually sure what I'm supposed to do/like anymore.

It's because of MN

Don't get me started on the skinny jeans debacle.

@ShadyLady53

That's actually what my Italian mother used to say. "You can have long hair or a short cut!"

Whilst she was putting our hair (DSIS and I) in really tight dutch pigtail plaits. With the added help of water and her trusty comb.

She knew what she was talking about... I got a 'fashionable bob' as a YA. I really a regretted it!

I’m loving this thread

Mumsnet is great for a cf thread too

Anyone seen the burn pic?

Only on MN would they NOT go to a and e!

My God! I was planning on my youngest having a Petit Filous bob. Dh had actually suggested this. Is he controlling? Is he an MNer? Is he stalking me? (Screams)

I rl side with the majority of mn clichés listed here, not even sorry either, ha!

The money and the calories though, that's what gets me...my savings equal about 70 quid and I eat about 2500 calories a day, whereas I know a true mnetter would have 10k+ for a rainy day and survive on just a few snatched nibbles a day

MeyMary the sound of the squirty water bottle as my mother plaited my hair as tight as she could whilst cursing me and saying “this lot needs chopped off like a boy!” takes me back to my school days - we must have looked like twins 😂. At least she respected my wishes! The hairdresser saying “you can’t cut it, it’s the length that’s weighing it down, if you cut it it’s just going to poof up” probably helped 😂.

Mammy clearly there is only one option. You must LTB. Tonight if possible!

Am getting my ducks in a row Shadylady. I have photocopied a Petit Filous label and have gathered my daughter’s gogos in prep. He is now doing Lego without a care in the world. Heartless bastard!

Whats the burn pic? Remember the thread where the woman soaked through loads of pads an hour and was tired and dizzy and some posters genuinely told her not to use and e as it wasnt an emergency. She had sepsis and almost died.

mammy hide your passports too just in case and i hope his name wasnt on the birth certificate