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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

aibu to think mn should be for mums and not dads.

882 replies

2hot2cook · 06/10/2007 12:39

id like to think that when i come on here for a quick chat im talking to other women. ive noticed some men on here and thats actually putting me off. some of the topics we talk about are very intimate. i cant understand why men would want to come on this website, maybe the name should be changed to parentnet. aibu.

OP posts:
lilolilmanchester · 07/10/2007 16:07

2hot I AM FEMALE!!!

lilolilmanchester · 07/10/2007 16:07

2hot I AM FEMALE!!!

lilolilmanchester · 07/10/2007 16:08

(didn't mean to post that twice, sorry!)

Nightynight · 07/10/2007 16:10

2hot, have you noticed though, that many mumsnetters never post on the sex/intimate threads?
it is the internet, it is a whole new way of communicating and sometimes traditional rules can't apply. It doesnt really replace traditional friendships, but it certainly complements them.

mellowma · 07/10/2007 16:10

Message withdrawn

2hot2cook · 07/10/2007 16:12

lmanchester;
oh thats ok, you dont have to pretend to be female anymore, ive got over it

OP posts:
lilolilmanchester · 07/10/2007 16:17

I really am female - 2 episiotomies to prove it!

MyTwopenceworth · 07/10/2007 16:21

Glad to hear it 2hot. Now I can tell you I'm a 48 yr old hairy trucker called Eugene and I live with my mother and her 17 cats.

2hot2cook · 07/10/2007 16:54

MYTWO;
thats alright. im really a 52 yr old motel owner. my mother lives in a big house next door.

OP posts:
wildpatch · 07/10/2007 16:55

to the opost: you are being unreasonable

MyTwopenceworth · 07/10/2007 17:26

I like you. Stick around.

WorkingClassScum · 07/10/2007 17:58

Has anyone actually been on a forum where every member belonged to the target audience?! I guess those picky places must be out there, but the best forums I've belonged to have been much more diverse and the community has benefited from that, plus those "outsiders" obviously felt really comfortable there to post so frequently.

Then there's the where does it end thing? I mean you want to say fark off to all those ttc women who don't even have a child yet cos they're not mums you know!

Plus these boards are open to anyone to read whatsoever!! I'd be more worried about the people who don't post, you don't know what kind of sicko might be getting pleasure from reading about women's issues with their vaginas.. but you can be pretty sure the dads that post aren't one of them!!

Habbibu · 07/10/2007 18:22

Agree with my two, and apologise for telling you to get stuffed before. I think you've got guts, actually.

tribpot · 07/10/2007 18:35

2hot, your relationship reminds of my grandparents' (not in a hideously "you must be in your 80s" kind of way, I'm 35). My grandad never helped out with the kids in terms of nappies, washing, etc. He went out to work and he worked hard. Ironically in the winters he was unemployed (he was a brickie and in those days they didn't work in the winter) and I think he still didn't do anything in the house. Personally I would have murdered him but - hey ho - each generation is different.

They have very fixed gender lines. I remember my grandmother telling me about a telly prog about a lifeboat crew, the captain was female. She said "I really can't imagine a crew of men following a woman". Me and my mum just died laughing.

The most hilarious thing for me is, my grandmother always says to me "I don't know how you manage everything" by which she means: how do you manage a full-time job, a 2 year old ds and a disabled husband. Obviously it ain't no walk in the park, but compared to a dh who was completely uninvolved, a house without electricity, rationing, two kids under two (all of which she endured) - it is a walk in the park!

My grandmother could literally not conceive how a woman could have male friends. She probably doesn't realise I have tonnes. I would guess that by upbringing and by dh's influence you find it deeply weird that men and women can interact as friends, as we do every day on MN, and that's why you wish MN was women-only.

You've already accepted that you have a minority viewpoint, and you're perfectly willing to continue to hold it. If the dynamic between you and dh suits you and dh, then fine and dandy. A lot of us want a different thing, but it's not for us to say you are wrong, just to say you won't find what you are looking for on MN. We are men, we are women, we are parents, we are friends. We're all different, and yet the same.

lilolilREALLYISFEMALE · 07/10/2007 20:20

I probably relate to 99.9% of the men on here, vs 75% (or likely much lower %) of the women. The men who come on here are most likely trying desperately hard to understand their DW/DPs. OK, so we all know that THAT is never going to happen!!! BUT they (you, if you are a male and reading this!) should be applauded and supported for at least trying.

UnquietDad · 07/10/2007 21:19

To be honest, speaking for myself, I don't come on here most of the time to try and understand DW. Very occasionally I have asked a "what does this female behaviour mean" question and have got some useful answers. But mostly it's been to discuss parenting/schooling/child matters.

PanIsAGirl · 07/10/2007 22:03

with UQD....I never come on to 'understand' any woman better.....I only come on to check stuff about dd, and to wind Desiderata up. It's about a 50/50 split.

hunkermunker · 07/10/2007 22:04

Haven't read thread.

To the OP:

Oh, fgs.

Tortington · 07/10/2007 22:06

i dont understand why they do

but they do

and they have a right to. equality and all that

2hot2cook · 08/10/2007 10:23

WORKINGCLASSSCUM; have no problem with women on here that arnt mothers. it was mentioned early on that there are women on here ttc, childminders, etc etc, that was never my issue. it was a male female thing.

but has all been (pretty much) sorted out, and the majority of men have taken my comments firmly on the chin..

unmoisturised i hope!

OP posts:
prettybird · 08/10/2007 10:39

2h2c! Glad you've come to terms with the raqnge of mumsnetter contributers.

But I want my dh to continue using his moisuriser - he still looks great at 48!

lilibet · 08/10/2007 10:40

rofl 2hot2cook

2hot2cook · 08/10/2007 10:59

prettybird; you dont want him looking
too good.

tribpot; just read your post. my upbringing the same. my mother cant understand how a woman can go out to work and have a family. i could have 6 children, but as long as i didnt "work" she would think it ok. as for male friends, forget it. but my dh only 40, im 37 so i know silly to still have such outdated ideas.

OP posts:
DoctorFrankenSquonk · 08/10/2007 11:02

apologies, apologies, can't face reading nearly 600 posts, so am sure this has been said before, but YABU.

Tis a parenting site. The home page says "by parents for parents" Parents being mums and dads.

And people who aren't parents also use this site. If you have an intimate topic to talk about, you could always do a quick namechange so nobody would know it was you.

And sometimes, tis good to get a bloke's pov when you wouldn't ordinarily ask a bloke for one.

pneumalifenewname · 08/10/2007 11:03

Why can't men talk about intimate stuff??