Childfree Mumsnetters' Board?

[musixa]

There's been some discussion on this thread about the idea of a childfree/life without children board, so I thought I would raise the suggestion on Site Stuff

[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4811166-to-ask-why-so-many-child-free-people-are-on-mumsnet?reply=126404125

My thinking is that the board would be a safe space for Mumsnetters who, for whether by choice or making the best of the hand they've been dealt, are embracing the childfree life, to discuss the issues that uniquely affect us - some examples I can think of are discrimination when it comes to workplace holidays; planning for old age and inheritance issues, how to cope when your friendship group only want to meet in child-friendly venues; family pressure to have children.

I would also hope it might stop so many threads like the linked one popping up, which often attract goady posters.

I hope you don't feel this is a step too far as a board suggestion and will give it serious consideration.

And yet there's a Dad's section already 🤔

Agree with this.

What would be the uniting favour? Not mothers, not just women, not a specific ethnicity or region or even interest or hobby. Why here?

TBH I'm sick of the "I'm childfree on mumsnet, look at me I'm so different to all of you parents!!!!" posts on every thread it's so tedious, if a board means less of that shyte up and down the busier boards then great. But in practice I don't think the type of attention-seeking posters will want to actually post on their own board as they wouldn't be able to remind enough of the rest of us that mumsnet is for non-parents too. I mean realistically what topics would you even post about that aren't relevant to people who also have kids?

There's a big difference between childless and childfree by choice even if the end result looks the same. Two separate viewpoints and would need two separate places.

It's moved on a lot since it was started.

Then we'd have to define what a woman is - can opened, worms everywhere.

Great idea!

And some of those people who came for pregnancy threads may not have had children but not dealt with infertility.

Should people get chucked off when they haven't met a suitable man by 45 or when they decide that actually children aren't for them or when their relationship breaks down?

And a gransnet

I cant see the point tbh. Why a parenting forum if you dont have children by choice.

Shite, I didn't think about that!

Oh FFS. I clearly didn't imply that in any way 🙄.

I've already stated how valuable contributions from non parents are on parenting threads and clearly they are of value on general threads too where parenting doesn't even come into it.

I was talking about some very specific types of posters who target parents (usually mothers) in an aggressive and belittling way. They do target this site for obvious reasons and there was a time not that long ago when there was a particularly nasty cohort of anti-natalists on here who HQ really couldn't do much about. It was similar to how some MRAs operate on here occasionally too.

My concern would be that a childfree board would attract similar posters and it would affect the whole site.

I wasn't thinking it would be exclusively for the 'by choice' people - more that it would include what you could call the 'practical' issues affecting people without children (examples in my OP), which are common to both groups.

By parents for parents is MN's motto.
You want to be childless, fine by me. You want a childless section on a parenting forum, ... just weird, and really what next, antinatalism?

I dont have children but love MN. I dont see the need for a child free section. I hide the parenting section, I can't contribute to it. I also hide the sections about pets.

Surely if you want to avoid the child sections you hide them. I genuinely can't see the benefit to a child free section

From my point of view, I don't have any wish to avoid the parenting sections. I just think it would be nice to have a community space to discuss the sort of issues I mentioned.

Ultimately, MNHQ are the experts on what will work on their site, and if the feeling is that it would be detrimental to their 'By parents ...' branding, I respect that. I wanted to suggest it because there seemed to be support for the idea amongst some users.

QED.

It doesn't matter how many sections you open people are just going to post everything in AIBU anyway 😂 it literally seems to be the default and people will shoehorn their thread title into AIBU in the most convoluted ways possible!

Fwiw it wouldn't bother me if there was a child free or child less section. I don't have to look at it.

I am a Mum but I've been coming on here for years prior. Many subjects aren't necessarily child related.

I think clarity over thread titles is always good so it's easier to skim past stuff we aren't interested in rather than vague, almost clickbait thread titles.

Your point about AIBU is very true @Wavescrashingonthebeach 😃

To be honest, people with kids have many of the same issues as people without kids. So there’s always lots to read for a child free person.

And as a child free person I like peeking at the lives of people with children. It helps me think what life for them is like.

I think a child free section would be nice just to see how it pans out.

Board. Not forum. Big difference.

I think this is a good idea. I found Mumsnet when TTC and that didn't work out but have learned so much about so many topics from the posts on here. Would be nice to have a section where issues related to not having kids can be discussed without immediately being questioned about why you're on the forum in the first place.

Because topics other than parenting are discussed?

No, it doesn't help.

Exactly this - so often threads get derailed by non-parents having to justify why they are here.