This board is (wonderfully) much busier than it was even just a year ago

[RoBollox]

AIBU to say this board is much busier than it used to be? I'm really thankful for this sanctuary of wisdom and wit and so pleased there are more people here adding their two pennyworth.
Ive been here for about three or four years and very much a lurker. Would love to hear what brought other people here!

Am a very long time poster on FWR, and had a very difficult period at work (discplined) for tweeting TWANW. Peaked at the Hyde Park incident and been extremely GC since. Suspect the tide is turning.
Read here about once per month, very rarely post now, more tweets.

I started reading Mumsnet in pregnancy and happened upon FWR as something else to read while stuck under a newborn baby.
I lurked for a long time, dipped in and out of threads but started actively following this board with Maya's court case.
Catching up with the live tweets/commentary kept me awake when I was doing nightfeeds, but I was so sure that she would win. I was absolutely floored (as I'm sure many were) when she didn't, and that's when I signed up and started talking about it with my family.
I'm more vocal now more than ever, writing to my MP and putting my money behind this (both boycotts and crowdjustice/charities). I am so pleased that JKR has brought it right into the mainstream.
I feel like society has been sleepwalking into this and I'm thankful for those of you who have been here and elsewhere sounding the alarms.
Women are waking up.

I am very new here. I was bored during the lock-down and spent time idly surfing social media which I hardly do in ordinary times.

The 'trans women are women, no debate' mantra was something I had not seen before, and I got curious about the reasons why politically lefty people would tweet #nodebate not only on this but on many related issues. Why was debating the assertion a crime?

So I decided to 'educate myself' as the activists like to say. What I learned doing that made my blood run cold (the first time I actually felt that chill).

When I finally teased apart all the knots in the arguments gender theorists make (and made some sort of a temporary peace with the many internal inconsistencies and paradoxes in those theories which are an utter mess) I realised that the gender theory had taken over the control of language, repurposed the word 'woman' (I actually wasn't a woman anymore, based on the new definition), and was in the process of doing the same to the word 'female' so that we are going to be left with zero trans-acceptable terms to talk about the reasons why women ever were oppressed.

This makes feminism very hard. It is supposed to be a movement aimed at fighting sex-based oppression, after all.

I also realised that to express concern about all these losses or thefts is interpreted as sheer bigotry. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Mumsnet is the place to come for finding out more on these questions. Very smart and direct discussions, good links, and great humor.

Like others here I am so heartened to read these stories. So many posters here inspire me with their research, their action and witty repartee!

Do you have statistics for that? I've noticed days recently when the previous day's posts are still taking up a quarter of the page at tea-time. A couple of months back there were days when 4 days of posts could be seen on the front page. Then there was a trend for someone to go through "zombie" posts and reactivate them to make the board look busier than it really was.

The board is certainly busier than it was at the height of lock-down, but it still doesn't seem as busy as it was last year.

It would be fascinating to find out.

Maya Forstater lead me here, I followed a link she had posted elsewhere.

I love debate, I love reading everyone's thoughts and ideas.

Debate leads to understanding, learning and evolving imo. It is a relief to find a place where debate is permitted. There is a feeling that certain topics are taboo in most other settings.

It seems we are often told to educate ourselves. Educate ourselves but #nodebate how does that work then? Just indoctrinate ourselves?

Thank you to mumsnet for being a space for debate and discussion.

I started posting here about four year ago and it was far, far quieter then.

I had no idea at the time of what TRAs were pushing for, though I l had seen a channel 4 interview with Julia Long and Jack Monroe (I think...?) where Julia Long pointed out that trans women commit crime at the same rate as men. I remember thinking, "oh, that's interesting." I think I'd also seen some of Germaine Greer's comments which again, game me brief pause for thought. I didn't really have a strong opinion on it either way though. My idea of a transwoman then was Hayley Cropper, who patently was a woman.

It was a thread here about being called "cis" that properly opened my eyes and I suddenly saw the sexism of it, the reliance on gender norms. There were intelligent women pointing out how regressive it all was.

I found this place after leaving Twitter in despair and getting a heads up from a friend about MN . I feel like I’ve found my tribe x

I've been here since I joined a MN antenatal group years and years ago. Was interested to learn more about feminism; this board was an eye-opener because it wasn't all liberal choosy-choice feminism that I'd always struggled to articulate my discomfort with. It was an awful lot quieter in those days but I learned a hell of a lot.

I stay because women are centred here, and I can scream at what's been done to me - to us - when I need to, without being told to calm down dear.

It is good to see all the new names though. And though we shifted platforms many years ago, I know some of my group are still here and I'm bloody proud of how many of them will post under their own names about the issue du jour.

I’ve done a gradual MN progression, conception, pregnancy, baby, etc. Then as I gradually came out of young baby/children fug I ‘found’ this section. It’s my ‘go to’ now. I feel so strongly about the issues discussed (not just GC) but not as brave as many posters to express my feelings in RL. My DH knows though and supports me 100%.

Thank you fellow feminist posters for the journey.

I've been on MN for many years and sadly also thought this was an extreme board.
About a year ago, I started reading posts.
I am not able to express my feelings as eloquently as most posters do.
But the majority express how I feel.
I worry for my daughter.
I worry for women.

Cervix holders, mensturaters...
Bollocks.
Keep going. Please.
And thank you.

Most internet forums are quieter in the summer months. Not so much this year.
I thought we would see a lot of new members because of the GenderCritical page being closed on reddit, and while we do see some new members I am sad to report we are seeing many many more new trolls.
The admin team must be exhausted caught between the trolls and the troll hunting.

Another long term lurker. Have learned so much from women here.

This is now the only section of MN I frequent. I used to use MN alot for general advice, and learnt loads, but finding that over time and the changing demographics, this is the main board I actually want to read.

I discovered Mumsnet from a mention in a newspaper. I had just become aware of the conflict of rights from an article about Women and girls Scotland's report on how the new school policies on transgender pupils totally ignored female pupils'rights. I then discovered the GRA consultation the day before it was due to close; a consultation which I did scramble a response to.
Mumsnet was a true eye opener and I lurked for about a year before daring to post anything. I didn't do anything for Women's Rights the first time round and simply enjoyed the fruits of others' labour but not this time. Mumsnet has made me a bit braver. I have spoken to MP, MSPs and even a Lib Dem MEP; some have listened and others not but I have at least tried. It's not a lot in the scheme of things but just maybe..? So thank you all you erudite ladies on FWR for giving me a bit of backbone.

Just wanted to say that I no longer use other parts MN because I feel that the majority of the demographic are woke and many sees nothing wrong with cancel culture when done in their righteous, sanctimonious outrage.

I was a member here about 18 years ago and haven't posted since the heartbreak virus thing,when I couldn't log back in or re register. So a long time away. But I've bitten the bullet and I'm so angry about the way women are treated that I've managed to sign back up again. I wrote to our Tory MP about my concerns and received such a dismissive reply that it took a week before I could reply ,I was so enraged. She says that trans people pose no threat to her safety and liberty or mine! After I'd returned from orbit,I wrote back,slept on it,tweaked it and replied. I've asked her which women's advocacy and child safeguarding groups she'd consulted and if an Equality Impact Assessment had been carried out.
I also told her that she doesn't get to tell me if I feel safe or not ( the bloody cheek if it!) and as for liberty,I asked when enough would be enough,when men take places on women's sporf teams? When women can't meet without being threatened with violence? When men take women in business awards? And on and on.

I'm fully expecting another lecture on how tough it is to be a TW,( strangely she had nothing to say about the women I mentioned being threatened with rape and murder for stating biological fact,so we know where her allegiance lies). But I do want an answer about safeguarding/ women's groups . I finished by saying how impressed I am with Baroness Winterbourne fighting for women's rights. She can infer what she likes from that. Anyway, I'm glad to be back,there's no one in RL that I can talk to about this,do you lucky people get to hear my rant.

Good rant, Fnoz!

Thank you. I'm a very angry middle aged woman who needs a direction for my ire. I've found my cause.

I first read posts here 3 years ago or more, and backed out again thinking the women here were too harsh, seeing things too simplistically, just haven't understood etc etc.... Then a bit more than 2 years ago I came back. I think in between times the rules on language had changed and actually, though that must have been restrictive, it meant the wording & tone was less of a jolt, so I just saw the ideas and the clarity. I didn't stop reading. Was a while before I posted.

I started reading on this issue - the replacement of sex with gender identity - because 2 things happened at once. I somehow came across an essay by kathleen stock (possibly her first one on medium which I don't think is there now), and I was reading about various cases where freedom of speech was being hindered by the law/police - one was posie Parker who was questioned by the police. So I knew something was up with trans activism, and came back here. Thank you posters for setting out the arguments.

I've been on mumsnet a long time, since my first was a baby, I'm more of a reader than a poster but always found interesting and useful stuff. I had never been here until recently, for some reason thought mumsnet in general must be feminist given mostly women using it ha ha! And that the feminist board would be full of hairy man haters , sorry folks! I got here via AIBU - it felt like something big was going on with the trans thing which I didn't quite get so I followed some links and pretty soon I was starting to get angry! JKR and a good read of the 'break it down for me' thread and that was me fully on board, thank you so much! I'm always so impressed with the number of intelligent, rational, articulate and compassionate women on here, where are you all in real life?! You have given me the confidence to speak up.

I’ve only been reading this board in the last year or two because I was worried about a few things I’d seen reported on the trans issue in mainstream media. I’ve learnt absolutely loads from the women on this board and they have helped me put my somewhat bewildered and increasing anger into focus and given me arguments I can express in my day to day life if this subject comes up. There are so many intelligent discussions on this board on different subjects that affect women and I just find it really refreshing.

When I got the courage up to join in a few discussions, I found it wasn’t at all frightening! It’s just friendly and supportive.

Glad to have you here Fnoz.

I've lurked on mumsnet for years since becoming a mum. I would always browse the feminist boards out of interest. The issue of safeguarding of children is what really concerned me around the TRA ideologies. Eventually I posted once, then twice, I think this is my third post. There are smart, educated, compassionate grown up women here. I feel grateful to mumsnet for hosting a place to discuss.

@Pan2

Am a very long time poster on FWR, and had a very difficult period at work (discplined) for tweeting TWANW. Peaked at the Hyde Park incident and been extremely GC since. Suspect the tide is turning. Read here about once per month, very rarely post now, more tweets.