I should've coughed up for a Mumsnet subscription ages ago

[GarlicAnything]

Having suffered the umpteenth browser memory failure of the day and reached meltdown point with pages jumping all over the place due to my ad blocker - I've subscribed 🥳 Thirty quid a year for a seamless Mumsnet experience.

I've only been a subscriber for 20 minutes or so, and my stress level has already halved! It's cheaper than Netflix, and I spend more time on here tbh.

Again, try going back ten years. Things were very different everywhere.

How so?

and you think Mumsnet is responsible for how different things are from…. 2016? Like what?

As I mentioned earlier, the academic Sarah Pedersen wrote a book about it - The Politicisation Of Mumsnet. And all articles about Man Friday or FWS mention Mumsnet as where and how they got together.

If you don't know your recent feminist history, that's in you.

It's been explained on this thread already but off the top of my head - Mumsnet allowed discussion on the subject when every other site was deleting and blocking people for saying true things. This enabled women to meet and connect which led to real life meetings. Out of those connections were born for women Scotland, women's place UK, let women speak and various other groups and movements. If you need to be told what those groups achieved I'm not sure you will grasp the significance anyway.

Not sure why you've asked me the same question twice without giving me time to respond to the first one, but see my and other posts above.

This book… I wonder how many sold. It’s not even available on… Amazon!

did you buy it?

You posted twice

I responded to both posts

You're clearly not responding in good faith 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes, why? With barely a minute between responses, with the same question? Very strange way to converse

Good for you. I couldn’t be bothered. The ads don’t register with me I scroll on.

Because I don’t agree that Mumsnet has has a pivotal / central or even important role is… well, anything if I’m honest

Goodness that has really piqued your interest. Responding to both your posts

I have it blocked. It’s a cesspit

Sometimes useful for a chuckle but mainly just… a bit depressing watching posters spend inordinate amounts of time spatting with each other and typing out incredibly long posts.

No issues here either and don’t get many ads at all. I’m certainly not paying!!

I paid £29.99 for the year.

You think Mumsnet is responsible for women's rights and freedom of speech. 🤣🤣🤣

Depressing isn’t it?!

Those of you who block FWR will have remained blissfully unaware of the many legal battles and related campaigning activity led by its members. It's possible you're not even aware that UK women now have more rights and more freedom of speech than most European and Australian women.

That's okay - feminism's for all (female) women, not just feminists. But, yeah, it is a bit depressing to see sneering hilarity at the very idea we made a difference. And it is thanks to Mumsnet. Aside from a bit of a bit of a wobble some years ago, when advertisers withdrew en masse because MN was allowing users to say that women are female people, they've permitted discussion that led to action.

This forum still stands out across the whole Web for female-centred discussion. With a core user base of mothers, you'd expect this to be obvious but, at this point in history, it isn't. I get that some people believe women can be either sex and female humans can be men, but meaningful sex-based discussion still matters. I'm grateful for Mumsnet's courage in providing space for it.

many legal battles and related campaigning activity led by its members.

can you maybe give a couple of examples that have had such a pivotal impact on women’s free speech?

so now you signed up to premium not to avoid the ads but rather to support Mumsnet battles for free speech for women?

It's possible you're not even aware that UK women now have more rights and more freedom of speech than most European and Australian women.

and you believe that is down to… Mumsnet?

That’s overly dramatic. I know it was one of the very few places women could discuss women’s rights at one stage. I would say without being abused but we regularly get ‘visitors’ who are everything from hostile but prepared to talk to outright threatening and dangerous. One, now banned poster, threatens corrective rape with a splintered baseball bat.

Freedom of speech is a broad social issue defended by many people and institutions. Mumsnet is just one of these, but one which, on certain topics, deserves specific mention.

And @Rockettstgif you would like a specific example the women of FWS met on Mumsnet. Their Supreme Court victory on 25th April 2025 means that women can have single sex rape and DV shelters (yes that was under threat before). More recently they have prevented the Scottish Government from housing (often violent) men in women’s prisons.

It’s common to laugh at and belittle women’s achievements and to assume that women achieve nothing but it isn’t true. These are significant legal victories. I don’t want to live in a country where women are regularly raped in prison and I’m pleased that particular vulnerable group just got a little bit safer.

I know, right? So many aggy fruitcakes on here just lately.