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

[JustineMumsnet]

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

What's most depressing about the ignorant, generalistic & ill-informed opinion that's thrown out there by well-paid columnists about Mumsnet is that it frequently seems to be women doing it. Poor show ladies!

I was once berated by a friend for not considering our finances before having children as I cannot now, selfishly, afford to pay for either of them to go. I reminded her that I didn't plan to have children at which she said - and this is not a lie - "Well if I couldn't have afforded children I would have had an abortion."

She is no longer a friend.

to go to University that should have read, otherwise that sounds like a rather random comment!

Ridiculous!!! Has she ever atually read mumsnet, there are many daily threads on domestic violence, government, redundancies, what has she been reading!!!

caramel - if you followed the link from twitter, it looks odd, but if you go directly from active convos, it's fine.

Talking of Active Convos - she'd only need to look at that page for 20 seconds to find that it's full of a very wide variety of subjects and debates!

Lisatheonewhoeatsdrytoast, I think it's fair to say she hasn't. The idea of having her on for a webchat is worhtwhile. Let's see if she's brave enough & if she is, is also considerate enough to do some proper research this time. Heaven knows the Independent's reputation for properly-researched journalism has been pulled down recently & Yasmin, on current form isn't doing anything to help.

Am curious, in a masochistic sort of way, to see the Clarkson article. Can anyone find a link to it? Trying to navigate the Times website makes me want to poke my eyeballs out.

I'm actually very disappointed in her article. She's a journalist whom I admire and I read her column often. Though not always agreeing with her, she normally puts her case very well and at least leaves me with a feeling that, if I do disagree, at least I understand why.

This article is very much off the mark and strikes me that she has chosen an easy, obvious target and has planned her words to fit her premise.

I would like her on for a webchat as I think splashing middle-class nonsense across MN's reputation is deserving of further debate to be honest.

Thanks for input all, we agree and have sent this to the Indy

Letter to Editor
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown doesn't really understand the nature of Mumsnet and sites like it. Mumsnet is about pooling information and knowledge to make parents' lives easier. It isn't a top down institution that chooses what it's members should care about.

That said Ms Alibhai-Brown hasn't done her research very carefully either. Yes there are threads about the myriad of personal decisions women make every day - some of which are relatively trivial, many of which are very funny - but elsewhere on the site, thousands of women are debating the issues of the day, supporting friends through relationship crisis and campaigning for a fairer world.

As one Mumsnetter puts it "did she miss the Feminism section, the Politics section? The thousands of threads on domestic violence or the zillion fund-raising threads? The never-ending debates about the failure of the government to actually enforce the disability discrimination act? The chronic under-funding of social services? The ineptitude of the CSA? The chronic under-funding of healthcare?"

Mumsnet has recently backed campaigns by Refuge, Save the Children and End Violence against Women to name a few. In the last month Mumsnet has contributed to policy discussions on advertising and body image, child support services, libel reform and improving support for families with SEN children.

Not every woman has an Independent column at their disposal, and that is one reason why Mumsnet has grown in popularity, giving all parents (many of our members would rather chew their right arm of than describe themselves as middle class) a public place to air their views, support each other and to have a laugh, as well as to campaign on the issues they very much care about.

Yours, Justine Roberts, Co-Founder Mumsnet

Some typos:

incorrect apostrophe in 'its' in your first para (its members)

And "chew their right arm OFF" (you've typed of)

Excellent Justine, nicely to the point too.

I'm also interested in the Clarkson article but couldn't find it.

@Wickedwaterwitch

Some typos:

incorrect apostrophe in 'its' in your first para (its members)

And "chew their right arm OFF" (you've typed of)

txs

Plus, Justine, 'a myriad of...' isn't English. It's simply 'the myriad personal decisions'.

Thanks nickelbabe - all looking as normal now.

Good reply Justine.

"Mumsnet has grown in popularity"

arf. Is this a subtle dig at London-centric newspapers, run by out-of-touch chatterati, which are lessening in popularity.

Another vote for inviting her to a web chat.

Good reply Justine. I'm getting tired of all this MN bashing...

Although, FWIW....

a) I can't stand YAB at the best of times

b) I read the JC article last week and found it thought-provoking and insightful, poking fun in a snide and pointed way at celebrities visiting deprived parts of the world, being photographed standing in slums/on rubbish tips/with starving families, then staying in a 6-star hotel for the rest of their stay, gossiping about how best to save the world without venturing out again.

Shit do we all have to be thinking about worthy and serious topics ALL DAY LONG? There is plenty of serious stuff on here and plenty of people who do care. There are also lots of posts where people seek advice about minor day to day stuff, and why not? It is a parenting website, not a political website.

My facebook page does not go on and on about my political beliefs and opinions about what is going on in the world because I use it for light entertainment and keeping in touch. I also use Mumsnet for advice and light entertainment, whilst making the odd contribution to serious threads too.

They're always so threatened by us, aren't they?

A group of mothers, discussing things and trying to influence society. We must call them foolish and stupid immediately.

Handsoff that is a particular pet pedentic hate of mine, well spotted :)

Hmm, yes because all newspapers are full of Important News aren't they? There is no gossip,no amusing stories or pictoral light relief, or horoscopes or letters from the public or coffebreak games or columns....oh wait, hang on!
How DARE they stop talking about Important Stuff for even a second.

When did the evils of the world all collectively become the fault of a bunch of parents on the internet anyway?

Is she unhinged?

What a lazily written and poorly researched article by a reporter I usually have cause to respect and admire.

Justine, I agree on the whole with your letter to the Indie. What disappoints me is 'many of our members would rather chew their right arm of(f) than describe themselves as middle class'. I had been in the middle of writing a post lamenting the fact the 'middle class' has almost become a term of abuse & there you go falling in line with it. How did we reach this point, as if the 'middle class' (another apparently homogenous entity) were almost a criminal group. It's preposterous & as lazy as that article YAB wrote.

Oh good, another journalist who doesn't know how to read properly and just talks crap instead of representing the truth. Just what this world needs.

Please invite her on for a webchat so she can explain herself.