Why Justine Roberts should not give in to demanding celebrities

[IwantToRetire]

Please note this post is NOT about the politics of the letter itself but about the ill advised attempt by celebrities to put one woman on the spot in public, and misunderstanding what the power of mumsnet is.

Irrespective of whether anyone does or does not support the letter written by self regarding luvvies https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XJv6qEHsa8XAQHfc_wjzUvNTqI2uCrvU0k45uk8H-UM/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0 they have no right to put one woman in the public spotlight by demanding Justine Roberts works with them.

So this was my first reaction to this situation. It is about as rude and unsisterly as demanding that Starmer's wife joins their campaign. Or like those immature tv presenters who long for a gotcha moment and go on and on asking the same question to try and get some celebrity or politician to make a public statement.

Secondly, with all due respect to Justine Roberts in her skill and willingness to create such an important forum for "mums", what makes mumsnet important is the wide range of contributors who do not look to JR like hive bees do to their queen!

So if these self publicists want mumsnet to get behind them, have the decency to sign up to mumsnet or request a guest post and then be prepared to respond to what will be a wide ranging and no doubt intense debate.

So not only should they not have put JR on the spot in the public domain, if they suceed in getting a "mumsnet" response via MNHQ then it leaves mumsnet open to any number of no doubt sincere campaigners demanding that they to get MN recognition.

So stop the public bullying of JR.

It is not a very nice thing to have done.

(for those who want to discuss the campaign itself there are a number of threads, one on AIBU and one on FWR)

And thirdly it seeks to suggest that women are primarily responsible for solving a problem and that was largely created by men. Everyone male or female should care about these issues and want to see change. There's a whiff of misogyny whenever women's issues are reduced to being a problem for only women to solve.

Absolutely. Incoherent really.

Yes 💯

Tumbleweed…

There's a whiff of misogyny whenever women's issues are reduced to being a problem for only women to solve.

We’d still be disenfranchised if everyone shared that view!

Surely it is up to Justine (and Justine alone) whether or not she decides to sign this letter. Not someone who is obsessive enough to start multiple threads about it across different boards.

She has been asked to sign, now it's up to her.

I believe all the threads regarding the 'MN moves to Reform' have gone down like a gallon of cold sick. It would appear that MN users do not seem to be going to vote Reform at all.

She hasn't been asked to sign anything.

She hasn't been asked to sign it. I don't understand that understanding has come from. If they had politely and privately emailed her to ask her if she would like to sign a letter that would have been a perfectly acceptable thing to do

Ok fine, she's been asked to do something.

Now it's up to her.

There's a whiff of misogyny whenever women's issues are reduced to being a problem for only women to solve.
It's worse than that. Apparently this is a problem that only mothers understand and only mothers can solve. ("Together as mothers, we can help.")
Considering that luvvies are some of the worst for spouting that TWAW, it's funny how they can suddenly recognise a female when it suits them.

What is it she has been asked to do exactly?

I suggest you refer to the OP or the many threads she has started in this issue.

You've missed the point spectacularly . Women's suffrage would have happened even sooner if men had understood it to be their responsibility too

And actually there were plenty of men supporting women suffrage indeed one of my relatives was a prominent male figure in supporting the campaign.

It's worse than that. Apparently this is a problem that only mothers understand and only mothers can solve. ("Together as mothers, we can help.")

Considering that luvvies are some of the worst for spouting that TWAW, it's funny how they can suddenly recognise a female when it suits them.

Great point. They’re all so hypocritical. Nothing new. No risk only see aren’t I a kind person points.

I don’t think I’ve missed the point in the slightest. For every man like your ancestor there were ten who opposed women’s suffrage. How many men went to prison or starved themselves? It’s blindingly obvious that the people who care most about any cause are those with skin in the game.

I'm asking you, you seem to think she needs to 'do' something as a result of this letter so what is it?

I read this post on Substack recently. I can’t find the original but the gist is this, and it’s so so painfully accurate!!!

‘Celebrities never pay the price for being wrong

Most celebrities are as wealthy and influential as they are catastrophically misguided. They can afford to be both because they pay no price for their ignorance – indeed, they profit from it in an industry otherwise baffled by reality.
The same is true for academics who championed puberty blockers. They still have tenure. The journalists who dismissed grooming gangs still have columns.

Meanwhile, detransitioners live with ruined bodies and girls in Rotherham live with trauma. The hostages died in tunnels. The women in Iran were beaten to death. The useful idiot faces no consequences for ignoring or sanitising any of these things. Someone else always foots the bill.

This is why they can afford to be so certain. When you risk nothing, you can champion anything and earn status points, which is really what most of this is about.’

Then you have severely misunderstood my post. I don't think Justine needs to do / join / sign anything.

I think it's up to her and her alone whether or not she does / joins / signs anything. Not posters who apparently have an axe to grind.

I think they should join and start a thread about this if they want our support.

But that should have been a decision for her to make privately not something that was pushed into the public domain by celebrities

No axe to grind here- I'm just appalled to see an open letter misused in this way.

I am actually sympathetic to the cause and further I don't really follow the trans issue debate which people seem to keep trying to connect this to- I don't really understand why

But I would be equally cross if any similar private individual had been made the inappropriate target of an open letter. It's a grotesque misuse of the format

Very likely after the insults aimed at them over OP’s three threads!

The letter just wants to off load the resonsibility of sorting out all maternity issues in Gaza onto JR and MN so that they can preen themselves on 'dealing with it'.

And posting 'I signed a letter' on Instagram.

You take the rough with the smooth if you have a just cause you believe in.