To wonder how representative MN is of real life...

[Oakenbeach]

Although there’s a huge range of posters on here, I get the impression it’s heavily skewed towards the professional middle classes.

Macosie

Thats the trouble. The majority diagnoses themselves to what illness/condition is affecting them that day. Then everyone piles on with advice as if they have had a formal diagnosis. Like you say, No love you just feel a bit sad/like cleaning/sometimes say the wrong thing to a friend/feel sick/whatever.

Note** I'm not dismissing the genuine cases.

The country is full of snowflakes. We need to think about our choices, accept responsibility, have some courage, aspiration and common sense. Some people will be upset and hurt but we can't and shouldn't please everyone at the expense of others.

One area where MN really suffers from London and SE centrism is discussion of social housing. So many threads where the OP makes clear they're not in the south east and that things are totally different where they are, but gets responses from people with an SE mindset saying the poster will never get SH because she's not disadvantaged enough, or she's being selfish applying for it when there are people with 5 disabled kids stuck in B and Bs in London for years. Or that nobody should be able to live in SH if they earn above a certain amount, ignoring that some types of SH in some areas are literally undersubscribed and any further limitations would lead to empty properties.

In terms of SAHPs, Harshbuttrue's last post is in itself unrepresentative of real life. Being a SAHP is not intrinsically a privilege, it can't be when there are people forced into doing it because they literally cannot afford to work.

@Neshoma I use to live within 10 minutes walk of a Boden shop!

Ok I was in my late 20s and went in because I thought this shop looks "interesting". I looked at the stuff, looked at the price tag and noted the mainly Japanese clientele and thought WTF. Only when I went online many years later did I realise some people thought it was aspirational.

I am neither professional or middle class.

I stumbled across the world of MN when looking for advice on the pregnancy/miscarriage boards.

I often don't feel smart enough to contribute on some posts for fear of my grammar being torn apart but I still use it to get different perspectives.

Everyone here seems to be in London or the South which may account for some differences.
In my world "it's grim up north"

I think definitely there are more richer people on Mumsnet.

Most of the children get level 9's in their GCSE's.
No one drinks alcohol or smokes, apart from a thimble of sherry at Christmas.
Lots of holidays a year costing thousands.
High salaries over 100k.

But also lots of lovely, supportive people.

It is now full of touchy working class with a giant chip on their shoulders.

Your cleaner steals from you?

How dare you have a cleaner and because she had needs you should give her more money you Satan!

The constant anxiety. We are all anxious at one point or another.

Agree @GrabEmByThePatriarchy I actually know/bump into SAHM who live in the SE.

I actually know/bump into 3 groups of mothers.

1. Those who don't work due to the cost of childcare who live in the SE but mainly outside London. I frequently work with men whose partners fall into this category.

1. Those who live in London but work part-time, and generally different hours to their partner so childcare costs are minimised.

1. Those who are high earning who frequently earn more than their partners. To be fair most of this group are actually my very large family and closer friends plus myself but a few are the partners of men I work with. Also without the help of the partners in terms of taking on childcare responsibilities e.g. they stay home if their child is sick, then we wouldn't be high earning.

Oh and how dare and snobby of you to call her a 'cleaner'! She is a professional executive woman.

Reading all this I wonder if I'm a stereotypical MN user.

I'm a SAHM, DH's salary allows for this. Really though I'm a carer as we have one DC with SN and another DC now showing signs of the same disability but not diagnosed yet. I had HG. I'm an emetophobe.

I had hyperemesis in pregnancy diagnosed and medicated, thanks muchly and it's shit. I vomited to the point that I was vomiting up basin-fulls of bile, to the point my oesophagus bled, I had sores in my mouth, my back teeth corroded, I pulled muscles in my stomach and back, I've permanently damaged my gag reflex and as a hangover from it I now vomit for 2-3 days in the run up to my period every month due to the hormone changes going on. Unsurprisingly, I'm an emetophobe also diagnosed and I have antiemetics on prescription Your remarks about HG are ignorant at best and compound the attitude of "suck it up, buttercup" that prevents many women from getting appropriate help and support.

I'm not sure I've ever met anyone in real life who would miss the point as spectacularly as Macosie on this thread. I mean I've never met anyone who would say such ridiculous things so they can't exist right?

Oooooo I'd kill for a spa day

I would say it is heavily skewed towards the professional middle class. I must admit that if I am reading a post and I come across the dreaded “should of”, I stop reading. Other grammatical errors have a similar effect.

MN has extremes, but it's not that bad! Fairly reflective I think.

yesyes oh I know, the comments on the rude cleaner thread were ridiculous, a bit like the woman on that other thread who said she only noticed other professionals at the school gate.

This. I hardly know anyone in RL with children with SEN and I have three children.

Me too. Except that my son has SN. This means I know no one in real life whom I can ask advice, ask if schools are allowed to do this, ask what steps I should take next. According to our school DS is the first child they have ever had with ASD and they are doing their best...

So I can see why there might be a higher representation of SN parents here than you would necessarily know in real life.

I find it not representative of RL at all. No one I know in RL would tell someone to grow up, yet you see it all the time.

Mnetters children never have tutoring for the 11+, and seem to be genius children who are reading at age 13 level in reception. In RL my DC is a pretty high level reader compared to their friends and nearly all class mates but on here they would probably be behind.

Loads seem to be highly educated, in high paid professional jobs with some sort of nanny/cleaner/au pair. I've never met anyone in RL with any of these.

I am finding there are more, less educated around, which you can tell from the poor spelling, grammar and punctuation. There seems to be extremes on here.

When people say, “Remember, you can be anyone on the internet” that makes me laugh. It is very hard to hide your ability to use decent English. Try it sometime. 🙄

It is similar to accusing another poster of being a troll just because you disagree with them. Again, it is cause for mirth!

@MacosieAsunter
Your comments regarding hypermesis are just ridiculous.

1. Unless you know the full medical history of everyone you meet then how can you be sure if someone was hospitalised for hypermesis or not? I was hospitalised and suffered terribly throughout all my pregnancies but it isn't something that I mention to everyone, mainly because it was a very dark period in my life that I don't like to dwell on.

1. Even if you had genuinely only met one person that was hospitalised for hypermesis, what does this actually prove? I personally have never known anyone (who to my knowledge) has had a brain tumour, does this mean that anyone that says that they have a brain tumour online must be a snowflake or liar?

I'm not a typical Mumsnetter and I count myself fortunate.
I'm 50.
I don't have children through choice.
I'm a part time GP Receptionist. My basic wage is £10k pa and I love my job.
I have no debt or mortgage.
I drive and have my own car.
I don't suffer from anxiety, there may be a few worries but that's all.
I don't have pets anymore.
I don't have toxic family or shit friends and none are vegetarian or vegans.
My neighbours are lovely and there are no parking problems.
I have no drama in my life.
I have never had a spa day, and would never want one.
I leave cooked food out overnight and never worry if it's going to kill me.
I don't worry about Brexit or stockpile corned beef.
I do hate seeing should of etc etc but keep my mouth shut and I sit on my hands.
I don't have a cleaner as I half arsed do it myself.
In fact why am I on Mumsnet anyway? I could do more with my time if I wasn't but of course it's the kitten and cat pictures that keep me hooked.

I find it pretty representative. Of course there are some people who spend a lot on holidays, others who have kids at private schools, others are SAHP. But they aren't all necessarily the same people - each prioritised their spending.
In terms of there being a lot with kids with SN, I'd imagine people come here to specialist fora and then find these boards as a result.

It must make those posters who are not very affluent, feel better about themselves to imagine no one else is affluent either. What a sad way to be.

Why in God’s name would anybody invent a persona for Mumsnet?

I know some people lie totally, say they are Jane with 2 kids but are actually waiter Paul.

And some people embellish a little bit, exaggerate, like in RL.

But don't most posters tell the truth? I assume most do.
just about everything I've ever posted on MN is the truth.