Page 2 | Anti-Dementors : The AD’s

MinkyGreen · 2023-03-15T04:40:33+00:00

Anti-Dementirs. These are a long running group of threads on Mumsnet. I’ve recently been on a Covid thread and felt attacked by a group of posters for stating a consensus science view. I then looked into who this group are - and they have formed threads called the ‘Anti-Dementors”. Dementors being those who wore masks/followed lockdown rules. The groups they perceive as ‘dementors’ are dismissed/ridiculed as putting ‘cheese in coffee’, - or sitting in their garden with laptops during lockdown. The fact is that many were vulnerable/protecting the vulnerable. There us also support/links to publications like ‘Unherd’ and ‘State of Fear’ which are bordering conspiracy theory territory. While I think the discourse is important - it makes me very uneasy when people form ‘echo chambers’ and ridicule/attack/make snide comments in a group towards those with opposing views. I look forward to your response!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 09:58

OP "While I think the discourse is important - it makes me very uneasy when people form ‘echo chambers’ and ridicule/attack/make snide comments in a group towards those with opposing views."

Were you on MN during the pandemic, OP? because as some people have said upthread, echo chambers attacking those who even vaguely questioned the official narrative was exactly what happened. I can recall one poster who said how viciously she was attacked when she posted that what the govt was doing was exactly like being in an abusive relationship.

AD threads were the only ones I dared visit during the pandemic. I'm not sure why you're so concerned about them and their 'opposing views' now, but it sounds to me like an attempt to manipulate the discourse and suppress anything that doesn't and didn't support the official line.

MarshaBradyo · 15/03/2023 10:01

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 09:58

OP "While I think the discourse is important - it makes me very uneasy when people form ‘echo chambers’ and ridicule/attack/make snide comments in a group towards those with opposing views."

Were you on MN during the pandemic, OP? because as some people have said upthread, echo chambers attacking those who even vaguely questioned the official narrative was exactly what happened. I can recall one poster who said how viciously she was attacked when she posted that what the govt was doing was exactly like being in an abusive relationship.

AD threads were the only ones I dared visit during the pandemic. I'm not sure why you're so concerned about them and their 'opposing views' now, but it sounds to me like an attempt to manipulate the discourse and suppress anything that doesn't and didn't support the official line.

The site was horrendous. Probably not much better in other ways now.

But anyone saying this isn’t a good idea was absolutely hounded.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 10:05

But anyone saying this isn’t a good idea was absolutely hounded

Yep. 'Granny killers.' 'Covidiots.' Being told 'just stay at home and watch Netflix.' 'Just wear a damned mask, it isn't hard.' 'Get used to having your life on screens from now on.' The abuse and rage was frightening sometimes.

alloalloallo · 15/03/2023 10:05

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 09:58

OP "While I think the discourse is important - it makes me very uneasy when people form ‘echo chambers’ and ridicule/attack/make snide comments in a group towards those with opposing views."

Were you on MN during the pandemic, OP? because as some people have said upthread, echo chambers attacking those who even vaguely questioned the official narrative was exactly what happened. I can recall one poster who said how viciously she was attacked when she posted that what the govt was doing was exactly like being in an abusive relationship.

AD threads were the only ones I dared visit during the pandemic. I'm not sure why you're so concerned about them and their 'opposing views' now, but it sounds to me like an attempt to manipulate the discourse and suppress anything that doesn't and didn't support the official line.

Yes, I agree.

I posted on them back in the first lock down, but I haven’t seen any of the threads in active for a long, long time.

This site was awful back then and those threads saved my sanity

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 10:06

You're joking right? People disagreed with you on another thread, and so you spring to the conclusion that they must be a conspiracy? You are complaining to MNHQ about threads two years old and older, and want them to be pulled? Really?

How paranoid.

I took part in your other thread, before I got bored with your relentlessness, and actually didn't recognise a single name from the others who were regularly engaging with you (granted they could have name changed). Some of the most determined anti lockdown posters back in 2020/21 (and I have to say their posts I saw on the subject were scientific, rational and very thoughtful) never even appeared in the AD threads.

I wrongly thought on the other thread before I stopped posting on it that I understood your position after you made a few personal details clear. I was wrong clearly

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 10:08

You are complaining to MNHQ about threads two years old and older, and want them to be pulled? Really?

I wonder - if that's the case - why this is an issue now. I've noticed a couple of articles in papers recently where there's an attempt to re-write history (DM saying it was critical of the govt line when in fact it attacked anyone who wasn't 100% for lockdown). Perhaps this is part of that process.

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 10:12

I hope the OP is ok. I see they made this thread around 4am so may have been struggling to sleep. I also saw them make a post a few days back about their own circumstances that suggests they need huge dollops of compassion.
There can't be many people who have got to this point unscathed. It's been horrendous all round and for many still ongoing.

Springconcerts · 15/03/2023 10:15

particularly if you feel posters are ganging up on other threads rather than just having opinions in the same place, as it were

This was all over the staffroom at one point.

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 10:16

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 10:08

You are complaining to MNHQ about threads two years old and older, and want them to be pulled? Really?

I wonder - if that's the case - why this is an issue now. I've noticed a couple of articles in papers recently where there's an attempt to re-write history (DM saying it was critical of the govt line when in fact it attacked anyone who wasn't 100% for lockdown). Perhaps this is part of that process.

This is why the AD threads need to stay. They capture the nitty gritty as it's unfolding and the reality for the people posting. There will be other threads from people who were hugely supportive and scared that are also valuable for understanding the experiences of the huge cross section of women's lives during the past three years.

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 10:18

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 10:12

I hope the OP is ok. I see they made this thread around 4am so may have been struggling to sleep. I also saw them make a post a few days back about their own circumstances that suggests they need huge dollops of compassion.
There can't be many people who have got to this point unscathed. It's been horrendous all round and for many still ongoing.

I think that's a very charitable way of thinking about the 4am posting. My mind was going in another direction.

Overthinkingnotdrinking · 15/03/2023 10:19

The power of the state was pushed behind silencing dissent during the lock down. The idea that there is an echo chamber, that two years down the line needs silencing is offensive. It seems only one type of suffering is acceptable and requires empathy. The other type of suffering needs silencing.

PretzelKnot · 15/03/2023 10:22

My friend’s foster daughter is having her second gynaecological surgery next week. The girl was raped by her father during a lockdown when she was 4. He was meant to be in prison but got released two years early because… Covid. The prison did inform social services to make sure he didn’t go home to where his daughter was. They sent a registered letter to the local social services post office box. No-one saw it because…Covid. The prison service didn’t follow up because….Covid. It took months for the already overstretched social workers to work out the man was back where his 4 year old daughter lived. Family was meant to be having monthly checks by social workers but hey ho….Covid.

This case will never make the lockdown fallout statistics.

Lockdown was a disaster that will reverberate through generations. Those who supported it were so wrong and that is becoming more and more clear. The frothing little authoritarians have had their day in the sun and are currently going through an extinction burst.

The ADs are normal people supported each other through lockdowns and saw through a lot of the toxicity.

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 10:31

@PretzelKnot that is beyond horrific. That poor girl.

What I find is that many people now who are intent on defending lockdowns look at anecdotes like that, and somehow and unbelievably dismiss them. They have dug themselves so far into to the "it was worth it" position, they just cannot get out of it.

MichelleScarn · 15/03/2023 10:31

@PretzelKnot that is absolutely fucking horrendous. Horrificly there were those that would have felt that this was an OK 'risk' as long as they all 'stayed the fuck at home' and 'masked up' as a 4 yo would be a

MichelleScarn · 15/03/2023 10:32

Disease vector as children were called by some.
Absolutely horrific how some groups were discarded and treated appallingly under the guise of being called selfish killers if they didn't comply.

User47328976 · 15/03/2023 10:38

The ADs seemed to be the normal threads, I wasn't on them but they always seemed perfectly reasonable when I read them. Some of the Covid threads were nuts with posters screaming Granny Killer at posters

alloalloallo · 15/03/2023 10:58

MichelleScarn · 15/03/2023 10:32

Disease vector as children were called by some.
Absolutely horrific how some groups were discarded and treated appallingly under the guise of being called selfish killers if they didn't comply.

Yes!

My daughter has a disability that stopped her from wearing a mask.

The attitude on here (and in real life) to those who were exempt was appalling - they shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house, shouldn’t be allowed to go to school/access medical treatment/go in a shop/go to work/etc, called selfish, blamed for people dying, it was their fault the pandemic lasted as long as it did.

It was appalling - and MNHQ allowed these types of posts to stand again and again.

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 11:03

I recall more than one thread of single mothers trying to work out what to do with young children so that they could go to the supermarket. They were told to leave them at home or in the car but on no account must they go in the supermarket.
It was properly crackers (and depressing).

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 11:13

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 10:16

This is why the AD threads need to stay. They capture the nitty gritty as it's unfolding and the reality for the people posting. There will be other threads from people who were hugely supportive and scared that are also valuable for understanding the experiences of the huge cross section of women's lives during the past three years.

Show quote history

Absolutely this.

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 11:13

Remember the single mother who wanted to take her autistic child to the beach for a run around, which was a short car ride away?

Her response on here was astonishing.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 11:16

Overthinkingnotdrinking · 15/03/2023 10:19

The power of the state was pushed behind silencing dissent during the lock down. The idea that there is an echo chamber, that two years down the line needs silencing is offensive. It seems only one type of suffering is acceptable and requires empathy. The other type of suffering needs silencing.

I will admit to being unduly cynical, but after I posted it did occur to me that with an enquiry in the planning stages, it might be very useful for the govt to be able to claim that a very influential parenting website frequented by many, many parents was 100% supportive of lockdown and schools closing and the govt line generally.

I'm sure that isn't the agenda, though.

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 11:20

My mind went the same way with the 4am posting, then I thought, insomnia? Illness? Small children? I tried not to think it.

Lockdown made me a far more distrustful cynical person. I don't trust government or any other big organisation one inch.

MarshaBradyo · 15/03/2023 11:23

Even the current PM has said we went too far on certain things, especially wrt stopping children’s education

That topic was a hell pit of hounding though on here which is probably still similar, I just avoid those threads now.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/03/2023 11:23

I know. Probably should try to be less cynical but it's depressing how often it turns out to be justified. Especially since March 2020. As they say on twitter 'didn't that <whatever thing that has just happened> used to be called a conspiracy theory?'

Buzzinwithbez · 15/03/2023 11:27

WestwardHo1 · 15/03/2023 11:20

My mind went the same way with the 4am posting, then I thought, insomnia? Illness? Small children? I tried not to think it.

Lockdown made me a far more distrustful cynical person. I don't trust government or any other big organisation one inch.

Well I was also awake at 4am worrying about one of my children who has struggled since their life completely changed in 2020 and trying to think if I've done everything possible to help, then tried not to beat myself up that I didn't do enough at the time to avert it.