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)

I have no issue raising the profile of this cause it's one I have a lot of sympathy for. However I have lost a lot of respect for the celebrities who chose to single out an individual and target them with an open letter. I don't want to live in a society where people can bully like that

Astonishing about of whatabouterry, but this posts by Gjill summarises my longer OP.

None of the luvvies who signed it were approached in public.

JR has been.

And of equal importance mumsnet has influence because of its diverste range of users. That is the real power.

JR in enabling discusion to happen is a skill, but it is not, anything to do with her as an individual representing the diverse range of opinions of however many users there are.

And yes, in terms of campaigning "ettiquette" you just do not, put someone on the spot in public. Although it is the tactic of those for whom politics is just performative.

There is some obsessive poster who obviously thrives on conspiracy theories.

But just to be clear I did start a post on FWR about this attempt to trap JR and it made me uncomfortable.

But these nut jobs who now seem to haunt mumsnet and make many threads just silly, seem to think there must be a "motive".

So sorry to disappoint but like many I use this discussion forum to get feed back. And as a result of that I first thought, because the luvvies riled me so much I would publish an open letter to them complaining about their rudeness and tell the media I had done it so they could puff it up bigger that it really was, and ask anyone who agreed that what is effectively door stepping isn't very sisterly.

But then someone suggested site stuff, because as I said in the OP, this isn't about the politics of the cause, but the behaviour of these self regarding individuals.

So I took up that situation.

It is becoming a creeping negativity on MN that so many poster immediately jump on a thread and presume it isn't a true post by whoever the OP is, but some conspiracy or something.

Of like the repetitive posts on this thread going on and on about it must be part of a conspiracy, a bit like someone on a thread on FWR saying posters were only saying what they were saying because they had been paid by russian dollars or something.

Just to illustrate the danger for JR, who I am sure will handle the crass behaviour of this group very well, look at the uproar to today about JKR.

She posted about what has been happening in Iran.

So now she is being deluged with posts / tweets about why is she posting about this when she has never posted about Gaza?

If you are in the public eye you have to watch your step.

After all, most of us on here have, thanks to JR, the comfort of being able to hide ourselves behind user names.

Who mentioned conspiracy theories?

Not saying its true but Big Issue have reflected concerns about public door stepping, but has allowed the luvvies the last voice to make it look like they did nothing wrong.

Quote:

While many were in support of its goals, others objected to Roberts and the UK-based Mumsnet forum being publicly asked to take a view on an international conflict.

The organisers told the Big Issue that they contacted Roberts privately before the letter was officially released, and that Roberts has agreed to meet with the organisers to discuss the issues raised.

https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/famous-mums-jessie-buckley-judi-dench-mumsnet-maternity-gaza/

And of course glosses over the real issue which asking JR to sign as a sucessful woman, is totally different to get her to sign so that they can say mumnet(ters) are behind their campaign.

So it was blackmail after all. What a surprise.

Great idea! They’ve all got a fan base and influence after all.