Am I being unreasonable to thinks MN has become full of blokes lately?

[hopelessmum1]

I have been absent for a while and I am suddenly seeing lots of blokes usernames. Could yous not go and create a Dadsnet or summat so women can talk freely and openly without being monitored by men? @mumsnet

Except it isn't... And for all anybody who is talking about this being a safe space for women know, 90% of posters could be male. Nobody actually knows, despite people declaring that they do.

MN is clear that it is a website for parents ( Dads and Mums) but is happy to be as inclusive and supportive to everyone including those who are child free
From the website

Our aim is to:
• Make parents' lives easier by pooling knowledge, advice and support.
• We try, as far as possible to let the conversation flow and not to over-moderate. Mumsnet is a site for grown-ups.

I understand now that personal abuse is largely tolerated on this site

This is definitely not true.

I know, I don't get it either. But this is the internet and everyone is an expert on everything so they know it must be a man. WTF?

The men who post on the sex board are the grimmest though. They don't post anywhere else and it's clear why they're here. Bog all to do with 'parenting'.

There are plenty of women posting with an agenda, too.

I disagree. Sure mumsnet themselves want to make money so have no interest in policing participation. But it's mumsnet. Men have the entire rest of the internet. Why do we have to share everything? There's absolutely no reason for a man to be here.

So you'll need to find some clever way to exclude the men or drive them away?

Given the number of times I've been accused of being a man , perhaps the problem isn't what you think it is ?

True, I'm just saying the only men I dislike on Mumsnet are the ones who have an agenda. I'm thinking in particular of the House Price Crash website where they joke about sending men to Mumsnet to take the piss and push the house price crash agenda. They quote our threads for their entertainment as they seem to think mums are stupid.

Men who are genuine posters not here to cause trouble are fine with me and I think the site should be inclusive.

There's a certain type of man who can't bear women gathering with other women and freely expressing their opinions/organising.

A few have left reddit and come here. Probably best ignored.

There often seems to be quite a few replies on threads about abusive relationships that very obviously blame the victim or encourage them to just be 'nicer' to their husband. It feels like an anti-woman agenda being deliberately pushed.

You don't need to be a parent to be here either!

Yep. That board is just a haven for creeps and perverts.

But there have always been complaints about the "hand maidens" and "kool wives" - how do you know it's not just them rather than men?

No. They should take personal responsibility and police themselves. But they won't because, men.

@Oliotya doesn't matter if it's 'mumsnet' or not....the strap line is 'for parents by parents'

And plenty of non mums post here too!
Its not just for mums at all

This! Especially in the Relationships topic -lazy posting style and "explain yourself further" posts in response to people trying to help 😒

😂😂

My point is that the men who post on the sex board weren't attracted to MN for its parenting advice. There's only one reason they're here and it's not to discuss teething or potty training.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but when I preface quotes with the fact I’m a man it’s so that other posters know it’s a point of view being taken from a male perspective.

I couldn’t care less if you think my opinion is worthwhile or not, but context is important.
I don’t do it on every comment - just those where it’d make a difference. 🙂

Ignoring the twaddle pointlessly argued about in the endless comment war, quite frankly we don’t have to ‘police ourselves’ because MNHQ has made it clear we are indeed welcome.

If you don’t like how the boards are run, feel free to find somewhere else to post.
Aside from the endless bitterness towards anything with a penis, I’ve found MN a helpful and handy resource / social arena as a parent.

Despite the name, mumsnet isn’t exclusively a site for women any more than it’s exclusively a site for parents.

I don’t know how many men post here tbh, as it’s not something I particularly pay attention to. I do think there is a tendency to paranoia and seeing gorillas in the mist though, with the propensity for anyone with an opinion that contradicts someone else’s idea as to what a woman would believe, being accused of being a man as a way of discrediting them. It’s perfectly possible for someone to hold an opinion without being a man and/or part of a wider conspiracy against mumsnet/women.

And as for the topic of the chat - I’ve noticed a lot of men posting with an agenda, but I’m not one of them.
I’ve been made to feel welcome by 99% of posters here and it’s a great community - I won’t apologise for being here.

Some topics are so ridiculously anti-man that a bit of balance is needed (some things said towards men would cause WW3 if someone said them about women or an ethnic minority).
Amazingly, we’re not all cheats with some crazy agenda to come on here and cause a ruckus - some of us just want to talk to people about parenting related matters regardless of gender.

Anyone else wishing the mythical Mumsnet spreadsheet really did exist?!