Lurkers of FWR, pop in and say Hi!

[SophoclesTheFox]

I've just been reading this thread and I am utterly blown away by the number of women who say they are lurking here.

It's quite, quite wonderful to read that thread and I wanted to acknowledge it and roll out the red carpet if any of you wanted to post. I know it can feel a bit intimidating, like you have to have the right vocabulary, or some huge knowledge of feminist theory, but you don't.

Your words are valuable, and your unique view is important because together we're powerful!

We're also rude, funny, and most of all DISRESPECTFUL in all the ways that matter. Don't just lurk: join in you are very welcome.

Lurking for a long while, reading and learning. I never feel confident enough in my opinions to post either here or in real life. Maybe that's female socialization!

I remember my sister saying something very gender critical a few years ago about the whole trans debate and me thinking she was clueless and feeling very defensive of a lovely transwoman I work with. However my eyes have truly been opened over the last we months on here and I have completely changed my point of view.

Hello, been reading along for years - I am a Guide Leader and put my name to The Times letter in April, have been trying to not leave an online footprint that can be linked to me apart from that though!

Another lurker and only very occasional poster. I’ve lurked here for more than a decade, I don’t post because invariably someone has already said it.

I take enormous comfort and strength from knowing I’m not alone in being angry and worried. I will make more effort to join ❤️

Another delurking big wave. I too work in an environment where the new orthodoxies can’t be discussed let alone challenged. This board is a breath of fresh air. Solidarity!

I'm an avid reader but rarely post. I have shown my ds (17) and my dd (13) the Piers Morgan/SG and the Sky News PP clips this week. Ds' response was "That's bonkers!". Dd's response was "I want to be like Posie, she is amazing". I have been able to articulate my thoughts so much more clearly thanks to these threads and salute all of you who are already so articulate.

I usually lurk as I don't feel as eloquent as pp, but I' m reading fwr daily. I'm in my fifties now and finally finding the language to assert myself, yay!

I rarely post on mn at all these days, and the fwr boards are pretty much all I read now. I am so grateful that there is somewhere these discussions can be had - it's not stuff that generally comes up in conversation in my rural backwater. I'm tentatively starting conversations about this in rl and find most people have no awareness of the issues but get it pretty quickly, or at least start thinking about it. I would be just as ignorant without you lot, so thank you.

VelvetGreen - I'm also in a rural backwater. No woketopians to contend with - the issue here is persuading people that such clearly ridiculous things are happening at all!

I have also been lurking and learning and am very grateful for all the thoughtful, articulate women who post here. I discuss this frequently with my family and now starting to discuss it with a colleague and your words have helped me articulate how I feel about this. I have had numerous heated and emotional debates with my 21 year old feminist dd who I am slowly trying to bring onside with this.

Hi long time lurker here. I don't post as I am not as articulate as most of you wonderful women but I have learnt so much and have come out as GC at work (local authority).

Yay! welcome all the lurkers

Oh my goodness, I am actually crying here.

It feels like that bit in lord of the rings where they light all the beacons all these little lights in the darkness, linking together.

Proper powerful, this.

I'm here. I posted once or twice under my old name where I rejected chocolate eggs 😉 But I have learned a lot here - like so many here I am a typical leftie live and let live type. Seeing trans activists tell women to stop discussing periods and female biological issues because it's exclusionary was my road to Damascus moment.

I mostly lurk. I'm out leafletting every weekend and going to meetings and crowdfunding, but I'm a bit nervous about posting on here and dazzling you all with my atrocious spelling and ignorance.
This morning I've been trying and failing to be brave and start a thread about the Sport and Recreation Alliance consultation which closes on Oct 5th and seems to be about gathering input for them use in their own submission to the GRA consultation. I've had a quick look and there are at least two questions that would benefit from our input...
www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/pages/consultation-in-focus
Has this already been discussed in a thread that I missed and if not is there someone who would be happy to start one?

I lurk a lot and as a result of all the info from threads here I have filled in the forms and sent them in and have spoken to friends and family about the self ID situation and encouraged them to find out more about it.
I'm an old gimmer who came through the 1970's waves of feminism.

I like to lurk on here, read things, then go and search for them on twitter and repost there in order to reach a wider audience. I am quite careful not to retweet things which are too radical, as I think it's more useful to drip little bits of info slowly. I've got a lot of followers on twitter, so far I haven't lost any (and they're mostly political rather than gc ones). I'm on the block list for no reason i can see except that I follow/repost feminists on there.

I lurk a lot, and post occasionally. I don't feel that I have the level of knowledge that many posters have in order to make meaningful contributions, but I am really concerned about the current direction of travel, and MN is the only place where I have really seen any open and honest debate about it. I cannot talk to people about these issues in RL, as I would be putting my job and livelihood at risk.

I am grateful to all of the articulate and well-informed posters who are giving their time to raise awareness about these issues. I have a daughter, and I'm worried for her future.

I have SwearyG's tshirt I love it

I swear there needs to be a section of the board for, Things We Need to Fill In, Letters to MPs and Organisations, Complaints about Programmes etc.

Yes! And things to boycott or support.

NotAnotherFeckingMuftiDay thanks for the link to the form. Have completed and submitted it. DD plays a sport which is already risky enough without adding in male bodies.

Long term lurker but have recently posted a couple of times. I have learnt so much and doing my best to spread the word. Only wish I could do this as eloquently as the ladies on here.

Hi! Lurking here everyday - disseminating information in rl. I love seeing the different posters working out their thoughts on the boards.

Hi everyone I've just created a MN account to post on this thread. I have always considered myself to be a feminist but since finding this board during my pregnancy I realised how little I actually knew about the current state of affairs. I lurk here everyday reading all your posts and I'd just like to say a big thank you for the wealth of information, thought provoking debate and amazing bravery.

Constant lurker, very occasional poster.

Am in awe daily of all these wonderful women on here. DH has recently peaked with the Posie video, DM and DDad very gender critical and majority of mums at DDs special school are also quite outspokenly GC which is very heartening.

I may feel emboldened now to perhaps just post "I agree" or "like"....we could do with a thumbs up emoji!

Hi I read the forum most days, have learnt a lot and reignited my feminist sensibilities. I'm not a poster, but do follow links and fill in consultations, donate etc, I've started to talk about gender issues in real life, most people are shocked as they didn't know what is going on. Women definitely get it quicker than men though.