The Silent Majority

[IdaBWells]

The phrase has been used at various times and I think was popularized by Nixon when he used it to describe what he believed were conservative voters who though not making a noise politically would show up at the polls.

MNHQ may or may not have understood that the feminist boards were extremely popular with Mumsnet users. I think I read somewhere that they were clearly aware that FWR was driving a huge amount of traffic. By just simply asking why people come and why they remain at MN it seems pretty clear that there is an enormous group of Lurkers or in political parlance The Silent Majority. I clearly do post here but I often feel my contributions are extremely modest next to some of the incredible thinkers and writers that express themselves so fantastically well in feminist chat especially. The sharp wit and humour around these parts also set a high standard.

So I am not surprised that many women in particular are reading and keeping up to date and very likely spreading the word politically among their family and friends, especially as we are raising the next generation. I think the amount of women who attend the regular meetings such as those held at Leeds and Manchester this weekend are a very, very tiny tip of the iceberg of the amount of women who would love to attend similar. I have not been able to attend any of the meetings but I am contributing financially through crowdfunding which is a first for me.

So my question is, do you believe the biggest group on MN is The Silent Majority who although lurking rather than posting are supporters of feminism and the aims of various groups many of whom such as ManFriday were gestated and birthed on these boards? How can the power of the Lurkers aka The Silent Majority be mobilised?

Yeah, I hate to be all tinfoil hat but I think for example Man Friday's approach to how to stage a demonstration is just a teensy bit more effective.

ManFriday rock!

No need for tinfoil hats.

Lemon drizzle, Shopping lists with naice ham, Klaxon for those spots, also the orange one shopping for carbs with Claire.

Back to lurking.

I agree, I am a genuine regular poster and my whole point is how to engage those who maybe haven't been sure of how they want to proceed (myself included). A strike seems hardly realistic. Much more focused and straightforward actions are more of what I was thinking. So many women have lifes that preclude dropping everything anyway, like as if anyone's going to do anything that would have a negative impact on their kids for example.

The Leeds Spinners and other wonderful women in Leeds protesting on behalf of us all were fantastic and the way to go. Women are protesting very creatively and often quite simply but powerfully. If fact I find it incredible how much has been achieved so far when you consider that most media outlets are ignoring us and silencing us.

When I began this thread it was with the intention of encouraging more creativity and protest which I would like to be part of and asking what does that look like? Which kind of ideas would help The Silent Majority engage? I consider myself very much one of those who has been radicalized and yet has only put my toe in the water and was looking for more ideas and input.

Basically it’s going to look different when a large group of women engage like this who have most likely never done anything similar before, but a lot of us are so energized because we are so outraged.

As we can all agree I think ManFriday and Posie’s Poster are good examples of relatively simple actions that had an impact. I think they fall into the “but...but.. women aren’t supposed to do that sort of thing!” Bluster, bluster.

I do think for example a public gathering of women (such as in Leeds) is powerful because suddenly we see the very ordinary (yet fabulous!) women behind all the rhetoric thrown at us. Suddenly people would think “well she looks just like me, my mum, my sister, my best friend, my nan, the woman next door, my boss” etc. and this idea that we are crazed, violent T*s is shown for the complete nonsense it is.