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

can we enclose a print out of this thread with justine's response to her? She needs to see how offensive and downright incorrect her opinion is! I'd not trust her to find this thread for herself, given the 'research' she has conducted into the website so far....

Don't forget the myriad of threads supporting women with health problems such as incontinence due to childbirth injuries, breast cancer, mastectomy, etc.

Or is that all just shallow chit chat too?

Ok, who is going to own up to being the DW of Bogwart:

Then she turns her attention to Mumsnet. Never been there, due to being neither a mum nor a fisher, but people of the female variety known to me like the site and find it useful.

Good response, he should join MN.

The crackfox,Jugglingwiththreeshoes - You have it , Spot on! We are doing things in reall life that are important and compassionate and involved with complex issues - if we are doing why should we necessarily want to be talking about it on here too. Some people who are very active - DBF in The doghouse - for example do bring it onto the forum, because they think that in so doing they can increase their chances of making a difference. We can prognosticate all we like on Jeremy Clarkson, but I doubt he will change.

I have been using the special needs section of mumsnet for about 3 years now, its my life line.

All the ladies on there are very knowledgeable and supportive. They have guided me through the lengthy and complicated processes of disability. They have kept me sane. Without their support i would be lost.

I never realised that by lurking and sometimes posting on Mumsnet I would somehow make myself responsible for solving

a) famine in Africa
b) Domestic Violence
c) the policies of the coalition government
d) Jeremy Clarkson

But now some lazy stupid journo has told me that I am, clearly I will jump to it and by the end of next week all of the above will be sorted.

Or not.

In which case I will continue the exchange of useful information to help myself and others with the details of life.

she has a point.....

but what the fuck is she doing about east africa???? nothing, just slating uas for doing nothing

Anybody else reckon she has just put us in in order to generate traffic for her article?

Yorkshire pudding week, and this women chose to write a whole column on a naff film - says it all.

Am really a bit too excited about a whole week being dedicated to my fav food. But also agree with all of the above!

Agree Norma.

Come on ladies, she's had a busy week getting her daughter ready for university, rushing around doing last minute preparations etc and no time to write her paid column. So she just dashed out any old vitriolic claptrap at the last minute and hoped for the best.

The difference is between average mum in that situation is that she gets an audience of 100s of thousands even in an off week. Most sensible people would have either got ahead in the preceding weeks or found a deputy if unable to do their job properly.

Yeh porcamiseria, she could have stayed on "East Africa" rather than rapidly and rather randomly turning her attention to other matters, if she wanted to make more of a difference herself to things that really matter.
Thanks for the encouragement higgle - much appreciated - I'm sure our paths have crossed before ...
Have read Justine's response now and whilst pleased to see SG's Mum quoted I wasn't so keen on the biting your arm off stuff either. What's wrong with being educated and articulate huh - or middle class - I'm pretty much right there in the broad middle myself and think it's lovelydarling !

God, the more I think about it, the more I wish my life revolved around Starbucks and skiing.

OK, maybe not. But I'm sure it could be fun for a bit.

What a load of self-indulgent toss that "article" is.

Justine, good response, only issue I would take with it is that you haven't mentioned the several men who post on here as well - I know the "article" is aimed at the fatuosity of women on this site but still, you should probably add something about the menfolk on here too for the sake of equality.

"thousands of women (and men!) are debating the issues..." - something like that.

No I'm not one of them but I do think they should be represented as well.

Ah Yasmin, bless her.

D'you think the Independent doesn't like Mumsnet because Justine's husband works for the Guardian, or is it the usual misogyny that says a mother who does anything apart from look at her baby, is a harpy who needs to be slapped down?

You'd think she'd know better, given the sexism she's been subjected to in her career. But no, victims of sexism are just as liable to imbibe patronising attitudes to mothers as everyone else....

Well, for me MN is where I spend time when I've done everything I need to do in my real life! After I've done my job, looked after my family and home I come and read what's going on here. It might be serious stuff, or it might be some light hearted mickey taking.

I'm not making any apologies or justifications for what I do in my spare time.

It's an internet forum.

I am not low paid, have never skied with a baby and don't feel guilty for being a WOHM. Shall I leave now?

Hmm. It's a bit of a scattergun article - I think linking the 'I don't know how she does it' film to MN (and to her daughter's education) is all a bit muddy. I'm happy to admit, I don't want to go and see a film of the book because I find it hard to sympathise with the dilemmas of a very wealthy professional mother. And you can find plenty of threads on MN about 'how to manage nannies/domestic staff' and other 'luxury' dilemmas.... so I see where she's coming from in that respect...

That said, you can also find, if you look for them, threads that are not just political, in the way that she mentions, but are about stillbirth, bereavement, infertility, mental health, that carry a huge emotional weight and are invaluable for the people who use them.

The whole middle class thing.... well, MN does feel very middle class to me. Before anyone gets irate - let's remember, online forums need you to be (a) online, and (b) literate enough to type clearly. The most deprived and excluded mothers in UK society don't tend to have internet access at home, nor can they all type and express themselves like a graduate. So you won't find them here discussing their problems.

I think it's as well to recognise that, whatever you think about it. Personally, I can't stand seeing a MNetter mocking some 'netmums' type poster with 'hun' and 'lolz' and mispelling for comic effect etc - it's bullying snobbery, and from grown women, it's fucking grim.

That aside, do I think in that MN is broadly skewed towards the lives and problems of the mostly middle class? Well, yes. It's all very well saying it's open to all mothers from all backgrounds, but in practice, that's not how it works. Do I think that middle class bias is a problem? Not sure. Except when it becomes crowing at the less literate and less well educated. Then yes, it's bloody horrible.

(Slightly off-topic, but) Thousands of men don't post here though- I'd be surprised if there were more than twenty active male posters.

Thousands of women (and some men)then - but it's too late anyway so pure semantics at this point.

WHY IS SHE SO BOTHERED BY IT THEN?

HereBe - I was once told by a female consultant (doctor) that if I thought the sexual harassment I was experiencing at work was bad, I should try being a junior female doctor some 30 years previously and see how hard that was! No support at all - just "I lived through it so you can just suck it up". I didn't though.

Equality for all life forms and all that

What a load of shite. We're always discussing DV. Has she even looked at Mumsnet?