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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in the Independent thinks Mumsnet is shallow and self-interested... what do you think?

323 replies

JustineMumsnet · 19/09/2011 08:59

From today's Independent:

Look at the immensely powerful Mumsnet website and some other copycat ones and there is barely any mention of (or fundraising for) the famines in East Africa where mothers push dry breasts into the limp mouths of babies as they die. Jeremy Clarkson wrote an abominable column last week on these starving children. Where is the famous Mumsnet battalion to slap him down? Not much about domestic violence either, or any serious take on the policies of the Coalition government which are leading to unprecedented numbers of female redundancies. They are low-paid and therefore, I suppose, not part of the cosy circle, a Starbucks for the right kind of mummies. But if you want to know about skiing with babies, its all there, plus very efficient guilt cleaning for working ladies and buckets of advice for SAHMs (stay-at-home mums).

You can see the whole article here

OP posts:
levantine · 19/09/2011 09:55

It just sounds like she doesn't really get any of it. Why is it upto mumsnet to sort out Jeremy Clarkson Hmm. And actually I think mumsnet feels less and less cosy and middle class. That's irrelevant though really because she clearly doesn't really understand what it is

JustineMumsnet · 19/09/2011 09:57

@AyeBelieveInTheHumanityOfMen

No, nothing ever written about domestic violence on MN. No politics to see round here, either. Numpty.

You got her name wrong in the title, though.

Oops Blush. txs have sorted.

OP posts:
LadyBeagleEyes · 19/09/2011 10:00

I usually like Yasmin's columns and am disappointed that this is her opinion on MN. Yes it is an aspect of it, but she seems to have read it with blinkers on, if she read it at all.
As you are the OP Justine, maybe you could 'let her see' some of the threads alluded to above, or even invite her for a webchat.

Flowerista · 19/09/2011 10:00

Well you know I come onto Mumsnet for various reasons, initially just as a diversion but along the way my eyes have been opened to experiences others have that I don't. Many of the threads eg DV (precioulittlegems last night) and kids and mums tackling SEN are thought provoking for me, and engender so much support and advice for the OP.

It cannot however in one fell swoop cure all the worlds problems, even that of Jeremy Clarkson who, however odious, is allowed to write under our democratic freedom of speech laws.

I'm betting lots of MNers are supporting charities that are supporting Famine stricken nations. But sometimes just like Yasmin has done with this article just want to cruise for a bit and talk a load of crap. She may want to champion our Ideal School though.

SugarSkyHigh · 19/09/2011 10:00

Perhaps she should come on for a live web chat?

Tota1Xaos · 19/09/2011 10:01

I take it she's never seen the Politics, Relationships, FWR, SN or even AIBU boards Biscuit

MmeLindor. · 19/09/2011 10:02

Since she has obviously not taken the time to read Mumsnet, I don't see why we should take the time to read her article.

Just to take threads from the past few days

Death Penalty discussion with link to Amnesty International petition

Mumsnet Bloggers for Save the Children Campaign

Topman Tshirts domestic violence campaign

Not to mention the hundreds of posts on the Relationship topic, from women who are looking for advice on leaving abusive partners.

CMOTdibbler · 19/09/2011 10:03

If this was a political campaigning group, maybe she'd have a point. But it isn't - its a social group which occasionally uses its numbers to try and make a difference. Much like the WI or GGUK.

But what MN does is to support women (largely, though not exclusively) - just look at the women being supported to leave abusive relationships. To survive pregancy loss, stillbirth, neontal death. To cope through bereavement. To deal with mental health issues. You could go on and on. And also to have a laugh and enjoy ourselves.

And Jeremy Clarkson, for example, is an arse that I pay no attention to, in a but of a 'don't feed the trolls' way.

philmassive · 19/09/2011 10:04

How about telling her not to bother making her opinion known in public until she has actually spent some time on here?

SybilBeddows · 19/09/2011 10:08

do you think she condemns the WI for being obsessed with handicrafts? Wink

MmeLindor. · 19/09/2011 10:09

Ok, now I have read it, cause I like to actually know what I am talking about before putting words on the screen.

Was she perhaps on Netmums by mistake?

"Some political issue occasionally slips in. Not nearly enough."

There is a lot of politics on MN. Look at how hot the discussions were before during and after the election.

justaboutstillhere · 19/09/2011 10:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EightiesChick · 19/09/2011 10:13

Agree that she clearly hasn't read MN for more than about 3 minutes. Perhaps, MHNQ, you could send her a polite email summing up the points made on this thread?

How good is Yasmin's campaigning record? Perhaps she could send us a summary of all the change she's managed to achieve in the world by writing her columns? But apparently it's more appropriate for a journalism to berate a social networking site for their lack of political engagement than the other way around. No wonder the profession's in trouble. The Independent, in particular, should be very careful about throwing stones at the moment given their willingness to overlook basic journalistic incompetence and deception in the case of their star columnists.

CalatalieSisters · 19/09/2011 10:18

Ha! Yes, perhaps she is following Hari's style and just mentally substituting remarks mothers made on another website in place of their self-expressions here.

LRDTheFeministDragon · 19/09/2011 10:29

Damn! I forgot when I signed up here I promised to spend my free time saving the world ... I'm so ashamed now. Hmm

I particularly love this misinformed bit: 'Not much about domestic violence either, or any serious take on the policies of the Coalition government which are leading to unprecedented numbers of female redundancies. They are low-paid and therefore, I suppose, not part of the cosy circle, a Starbucks for the right kind of mummies.'

Go.and.read.the.feminism.section.you.silly.person.

Personally, though I know Xenia et al exist, one of the reasons MN is a good place for me is that there are loads of people who earn similar amounts to me and DH (min wage), and plenty who have less disposable income, and it makes me aware you don't have to be some rich 'yummy mummy' (boak) to do it right.

purits · 19/09/2011 10:31

Can someone remind me why I an supposed to give a stuffing chuff about what YAB says or writes.

As to the accusation of 'self interested': I refer you EightiesChick's comment about throwing stones.Hmm

SybilBeddows · 19/09/2011 10:48

AFAIK YAB is an active campaigner; I don't consider her comments hypocritical, just ignorant.

AmberLeaf · 19/09/2011 10:52

MmeLindor beat me to it!

I think she has us confused with Netmums.

I dont like/agree with some of her views anyway, I think she genralises way too much.

KRITIQ · 19/09/2011 10:57

My first thought was that she got Mumsnet and Netmums mixed up.

TheCrackFox · 19/09/2011 11:08

I gave up reading anything published by Rupert Murdoch ages ago so I wouldn't have a clue what Jeremy Clarkson spouted off about last week.

There is a good mix off threads on Mumsnet. Some of it serious and some of it shallow so I really don't get her point.

Facebook isn't lambasted in the same way as Mumsnet. But, then Mumsnet is mainly used by mothers and it suits the media to portray us as always hanging around Starbuck (liz Jones comes out with the same guff about mothers) and having pushed our brains out with the placentas.

Another lazy and cliched riddled artice in Britain's press is hardly a shocker. The readership for the Independent has plummeted and that is not just because people are struggling financially but because it isn't that good anymore.

LRDTheFeministDragon · 19/09/2011 11:10

Btw ... just an observation like, I know I'm as ignorant as she is ... but surely, erm, your work/life balance will be a wee bit easier when you've just sent your child off to university than it was 18 years ago when you were juggling babies and the job? Is it just me who read her suggestion that things had got easier with employers and thought, um, maybe so love, but your child is an adult now, it's meant to be easy for you at this point!

TheRhubarb · 19/09/2011 11:12

When Mumsnet made a forage into politics we were hammered down with the press calling it a Mumsnet election and politicians were criticised for spending too much time here. Then of course some journos chose to ignore the very relevant and pertinent questions to say that we just talked biscuits with these politicians.

I have a feeling some journos have their own agendas.

Mumsnet is never going to be popular as it is full of opinionated women who will not back down or shut up. And that makes some commentators uncomfortable.

Jeremy Clarkson has been rightly criticised many times on Mumsnet and the guff he writes is generally considered meaningless.

As for charities, Mumsnet teamed up with female cancer charities for a month, Mumsnet has supported Every Disabled Child Matters and I remember the huge campaign on maternal mortality.
Plus the campaign for Let Girls Be Girls which had a lot of media interest and forced some shops to do a u-turn on its products.

Recently TopShop were forced to remove 2 offensive t-shirts thanks to Mumsnetters highlighting how inappropriate they were in glamourising DV.

The support threads are fantastic and offer a vital link for women going through DV.

As for Starbuck mummies, as a working class mum living in an ex-council house I take huge umbrage at the media reports that the whole of Mumsnet is full of Desperate Housewives. There are a wide range of mums on here, from all backgrounds and all walks of life. I've personally met other working class mums, single mums, proud gay mums, disabled mums, middle class mums, older mums, very young mums, professional mums and SAHMs and they all had one thing in common; they weren't afraid to speak their minds and all had received and given support to other mums on Mumsnet.

When strangers send your kids Christmas presents, when you come across a random act of kindness, you are reminded that there are some bloody good people out there that breaks down the class boundaries. So shame on her for joining in the media resentment of Mumsnet.

purits · 19/09/2011 11:17

I have read the article now, where she berates us about the "domestic irritations of the privileged" and tells us to "keep [our] problems in perspective". This is an article that starts with the story of My Daughter Is Going To University. ARE YOU LISTENING? She's going to Read Engineering dontcha know. Let me give you a back story (again, in case you haven't heard it the billion other times that I've told it) of how I had to live in t'shoebox in t'middle of t'road etc etc.

caramelwaffle · 19/09/2011 11:21

(Ewwww. What the heck has happened to this page. It looks completely different to all the others?! Awful.)

Oh. Has she actually read Mumsnet, or participated for any length of time? There are very strong political voices (on a range of issues) on this site.

strandednomore · 19/09/2011 11:22

Mumsnet has just become too tall a poppy. This keeps happening because it's "easy" journalism.