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Relationships

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Can we be supportive when posters are distressed and isolated and be a bit broadminded about cultural differences?

3 replies

leopardandspots · 28/05/2026 13:15

I realize this may be a thread about a thread but...there was a poor woman who'd accompanied her husband to the UK for work and was relatively isolated and asking us for help about a recently discovered infidelity.

I think posters should be better at reading context rather than immediately treating every unusual detail as proof of insincerity. If someone is clearly distressed and asking for support, can we maybe try more posts that are helping and less repeated cross-examination of details?

I felt we let an OP down where she was very obviously not a native English speaker and said from the outset she was living in London because of her husband’s work. She appeared to be using AI to help write in English, and described her marriage as a love match . It was fairly easy to read between the lines and see there were cultural differences and probably minor language barriers.
Instead of helping posts focusing on the fact she was devastated about her DH’s affair, I think there were more posts on the thread interrogating details about:

  • why her children’s ages/genders differed from previous posts
  • why the husband would book two hotel rooms if having an affair
  • why a woman would let a man pay for her STD tests
  • whether AI meant she was a troll
Some minor details were changed because she was clearly frightened of being identified. And the AI use seemed pretty clearly to be someone trying to communicate in a second language.

Its just a plea really that when some-one comes asking for help can we focus on that and be a bit broadminded and pick up on clues that affairs may present differently in other cultures.
In the end she deleted the thread because she felt the risk of being outed.
Obviously trolls exist, and if you think there is one then just report or skip that thread, don't cross examine details for some-one who is devastated and in crisis.

OP posts:
dotdotdotdash · 28/05/2026 13:49

I'm totally with you on this. There is another current thread with an OP married to an alcoholic. I'm shocked by the ignorant, vapid and judgmental comments made by some people. It gives Mumsnet a bad name, and it's shameful because the relationships board is a lifeline for people in real need!

leopardandspots · 28/05/2026 14:04

Yes I can’t really explain it fully but there were people sort of doubting that any self respecting 22 year old (that the DH was shagging) would have allowed him to pay for her sexual health check. As if that was a detail which undermined the wife’s account.
But it doesn’t take much research to figure out (a) that such a detail is unlikely to be made up and (b) it may be more common for men to require such checks in other countries.
I felt saddened that this betrayed wife was isolated here, and really reaching out to us, yet more than one poster kept querying details repeatedly. It was as if the only perspective that is believable was one where woman are high up on the equality index.
edited for typo

OP posts:
leopardandspots · 28/05/2026 14:05

Yes I saw the alcoholic one too. All you need to do is google the harsh realities of alcoholism.

OP posts:
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