Tell MNHQ why you use Mumsnet

[EllieMumsnet]

Here at MNHQ we would really like to get to know our users better and would therefore love to know why you use Mumsnet and if Mumsnet has managed to help you in any way.

Is the main reason you use Mumsnet for the advice from other users? And if so, what advice do you look for in particular or is it on everything and anything? Do you use Mumsnet as a place to browse the funny threads and have a bit of ‘you’ time? Is it more the product/service reviews and recommendations that you use Mumsnet for? Has the support of fellow Mumsnet users helped you get through a tough time? Or maybe you have created long-term friendships with other users and come on to chat to them.

Whatever the reasons you use Mumsnet and any stories you have on how Mumsnet has helped you, we would love to hear them so please share them on the thread below.

Thanks
MNHQ

I joined initially for the adoption board then I found it amusing and useful
I've stayed because I am concerned about the erosion of women's rights and the risk of losing woman as a sex category
So I'm here now because of FWR

Another Christmas section lover here😁
I like to read the threads when it's cold and dark, and it makes me feel cosy inside.
As I said though, for daily "use" its FWR. I've been lurking and reading for years, it's frankly insulting to suggest I and the many others like me heeded a clarion call for "transphobia" and hot footed over.
I don't read AIBU or chat so much now because its a bit like facebook comments section😁 but MN has taught me so much about the lives of other women, not MN itself, but the experience of listening to women just be and talk and respond and laugh and cry and swear and argue and more has improved my life. The very exsistense of MN is feminist. Social media is a battleground for women, MN and it's format is a sanity saver to me.

I name change a lot so my history looks short when I've been around for a number of years.
I like books, education, chat & feminism chat. Christmas is awesome and has saved me a fortune some years.

As a result of this thread, I'm off to explore the Christmas section . That's what I love about Mumsnet. It's so huge that there are sections I've never even been in. It's like a big village with windy little alleys to explore. I've only recently started exploring the menopause one, and have already learned a lot. MN can support women as they move through different stages of their lives. This is the only place I feel I would be able to ask for advice about menopause, since nobody talks about it in real life.

Joined in 2006 when pregnant. Stayed for AIBU and Style and Beauty (shallow, moi?)

90% of my time now is spent on the Feminism Chat board, mostly lurking. As others have said, it is an eye-opener.

I read a whole variety of boards, from food, to travel, to style and beauty. The best education for me was found on feminist chat. I was oblivious, and now I'm not.

Weirdly, I first found Mumsnet when I tried to clean an enamel bath with chlorine bleach. It turned brown. I searched the internet for a solution and landed on the Mumsnet page - the solution worked! I never looked around though because I assumed it would be all fluffy baby talk. It wasn't until the trans issue that I came back. I'm now disappointed that I missed out because if I had looked around I'd have met Dittany and others!

Feminism chat is the original and main reason I come to mumsnet (although I had visited on occasion previously to help with parenting issues)! It is the reason I check in every day to catch up on what's been happening. Thank you for allowing discussion of gender critical feminism in the current climate. Since I've been coming to mumsnet I've been branching out and learning from the housekeeping, parenting and style boards. All fantastic!

I've been here a very long time, I still flick through active convos, but rarely post nowadays.
I stay for the FWR boards.

Oh yes, the anonymity is an essential part of MN. After being the victim of abuse on the internet for many years, MN was a welcome relief from that. It helped contribute to the collapse in confidence in myself. Its difficult to break out of and does disportionately affect women.

I am very concerned about moves to stop anonymity on social media.

It would be the death of MN and women's ability to speak freely.

I skip about, picking up threads on AIBU, Chat, Relationships and occasionally Step-parenting. Oh, and Active.

But the overwhelming majority of my time and energy goes on FWR.

It's been very moving to read this thread and learn how many women find Feminism Chat inspiring. I belong to other feminist groups online but none of them offer anything like the interaction and openness of Mumsnet. It's unique.

Like others I regret the new FWR specific guidelines, but on the other hand I very much appreciate the tone of MN - an enforced courtesy that means trans rights activists cannot employ their normal online tactics - relentless abuse and threats. We welcome debate but neither TRAs or MRAs can hold their own against polite, factual and well supported feminists.

I have become an activist through MN and I've now met a number of Mumsnetters in person. I'm proud to know them.

I've been saying for years now that the medical transition of children will be a far bigger scandal than Thalidomide. When the truth is fully reported, Mumsnet will be the only forum that is able to say they stood with so many worried and, in some cases, desperate parents trying to protect their DC from ROGD and the propaganda put out by dangerous lobby groups.

I joined for, and browse only, FWR.

RedToothBrush completely agree with your post

It only really hit me how society still oppresses women based on their biology after having children, and FWR helped me to put words to the feeling of unease and unhappiness I had. I felt my choices were so constrained and narrow after kids. I hadn't expected that. I really hadn't expected that my earning potential would actually decline after time out (despite inflation in cost of living etc).

It's amazing how the attitudes toward being a SAHM in the UK have eroded my confidence. When I was younger I got the top grades / marks / class in all my academic qualifications, I'm the same person, but I realised I do now often see myself as without an opinion worth listening to. And I have no confidence in my academic abilities anymore.

That's one thing the FWR boards have helped me with - confidence. At first I was scared to post because some of the women on there are so incredibly clever and articulate but I found that the women were so welcoming and supportive (and challenging too - but in a good way). By beginning to speak about issues OTHER than nappies and children on there, it's helped my confidence in real life. Something I was sorely in need of if I was ever going to get back into the workplace.

I originally came for baby advice. I stay for the feminism boards.

Firstly, I am not a parent and admit to feeling uncomfortable visiting here when much younger as if I wasnt entitled to do so, though I accept the forum was already becoming more diverse (do wish it wasn't 'mumsnet' though 😀).
I visit frequently now and am extremely grateful to all the posters who share their lives and views. Apart from the light entertainment of AIBU, telly addicts and so on, and the home/style/shopping tips, I browse and consider more serious and sometimes challenging threads. As a result, I feel more educated in social issues and no doubt far more tolerant and respectful of people and the different lives and obstacles they have. And yes, I also have a keener insight of what it is to be a mother (and I salute you all 😀) I appreciate that Mumsnet has enabled a community of (mainly) frankly inspiring, articulate, humorous and passionate women whilst gatekeeping and treading a very difficult line in moderation. As a result, not only is Mumsnet my go to for everyday distraction, it would be my first port of call if I had a problem or wanted to understand about something more. Arguably its the blend of everything that keeps people coming back. If you are currently taking stock and evaluating your future direction, and perhaps reflecting on how to navigate some difficult FWR issues after a difficult year, can I just say that I feel strongly that this is a reflection on society in general and not Mumsnet in particular and that your role in providing balance and articulate debate amongst women is even more important than you may think ❤️. Now, I am also off to find the Christmas section 🤣

I want to talk about the experience of being a woman. This is one of the few places I can do that without being shut down or no platformed.

Christmas in bloody September. I don't know. :)

I started lurking for advice on breastfeeding around 13 years ago, when my now looming teenager was a teeny, endless hungry newborn. (The "endless hungry" bit hasn't changed, at least.) I joined properly after I had my second child a few years later.

Over the years I've read the parenting threads, style & beauty, relationships, and feminism. Now I spend time here enjoying all the rational, considered chat on the Westministers threads, the consciousness-raising on FWR, and Style & Beauty (it's not all about the politics, after all!)

There is nowhere else on teh interwebs that has this large a cross-section of women talking about all sorts. And I like that the many, many agist, sexist people out there who like to talk down to "mummies" get short shrift here.

Been on here about 12 years and namechanged a couple of times. I have used Mumsnet for pregnancy and mc advice now mainly lurk on the FWR boards.

If I was doing analytics for MN I'd want to know where all the new FWR visitors were coming from, whether they were going on to explore other bits of the site & how often they were coming back.

Originally lurked on AIBU. Check MN for advice on products/services and recently holiday recommendations.

Came across Feminism, to my astonishment was 'peak trans'd', now lurk there most days. Am astounded by its relevance to women who have nowhere else safe to discuss the far reaching effects of proposed changes to sex self id.

Safe place

Came when TTC 10 years ago.

Left.

Re-joined solely for FWR.

I joined many years ago when my first ds was a baby after a friend mentioned the site to me. I was immediately drawn in to the chatty threads, although I picked up plenty of invaluable advice about navigating the early years with children as well.

These days I’m almost exclusively on feminism chat. I mostly lurk as I’m not as articulate and informed as the regular posters, but I’m there every day (sometimes for far too long 😳). It’s made me feel more empowered to stand up for myself IRL and I’m really glad and thankful that we still have this place to keep the many and varied discussions going.