A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of linguistic transphobia on Mumsnet

[IwantToRetire]

By Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics

It has been suggested that the forum-style parenting website Mumsnet is a hub for ‘gender-critical’ feminism, which directly opposes transgender rights, to be practised with little moderation (Livingston, 2018). This presentation reports on the initial stages of a project aiming to investigate that the potential intensification of linguistic transphobia on Mumsnet may lead to further marginalisation of transgender people offline (Powys Maurice, 2021). Though studies of non-linguistic transphobic rhetoric on Mumsnet (e.g., Pedersen, 2022; Mackenzie, 2019), and discourse analyses of other radical online communities (e.g., Krendel, 2020) have both occurred, this project is the first to analyse linguistic transphobia on Mumsnet. It also contributes to existing literature surrounding UK-based ‘gender-critical’ feminism; linguistic transphobia; and radical online community discourses.

The presentation explores the rise of potentially ‘gender-critical’ linguistic transphobia on Mumsnet over time through the corpus linguistic (CL) analysis of the ‘Feminism: Sex & Gender Discussions’ board, using three corpora comprising a fifteen-year timeframe: 2008-2013; 2013-2018; and 2018-2023. As the project is still ongoing, preliminary findings will be presented, namely a comparative overview of trends yielded in frequency analyses. Overall, this presentation provides insights into the growing commonality of potentially ‘gender-critical’ feminist rhetoric on Mumsnet and its effect on increasing transphobic discourse on the site.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-corpus-assisted-discourse-analysis-of-linguistic-transphobia-on-mumsnet-tickets-880795271367?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

(I had just finished my favourite tea time treat of catching up on FWR and was going to get back to the grindstone when this popped up on my feed. So have come back as it is too good not to be shared. Enjoy!)

I’m quite looking forward to Thursday - hope there is plenty of time for the Q&A.

I don't, but that's brilliant.

Poemai.net has had a stab at it.

'A student sets out to research
The internet forum known as Mumsnet
With a preconceived notion in mind
That it's full of transphobic threats

They scroll through countless posts
In search of evidence to prove
That the people of Mumsnet
Are hateful and unloving in their groove

But as they delve deeper
Into the world of Mums and their kin
They find no trace of the hate
That they thought was deep within

Instead, they see mothers
Sharing stories of love and care
Supporting one another
Through the ups and downs they bear

These are not bad people
But mothers, fierce and strong
Who would do anything for their children
No matter the right or wrong

They speak of their fears and struggles
And seek advice from peers
But never once do they discriminate
Based on someone's gender or queers

The student realizes with a start
That their perception was wrong
For Mumsnet is not a place of hate
But a community where love and support belong

They close their laptop with a smile
Feeling grateful for this lesson learned
For sometimes, the truth lies hidden
Until it's willing to be discerned

So let us not judge others
Based on what we hear or see
For beneath the surface, there's a story
That may change our perspective, just like Mumsnet did for me.'

ETA I've actually read it now. What a terrible poem it is.

Imagine staring into the abyss, and it gives a Paddington Hard Stare right back and offers you a pointedly non-linguistic biscuit emoji.

Yes, this is poor. The idea is the ask a question then explore it, no? Otherwise what's the point of the research?

The Farmers?

Do you remember the wee group of wankers who were posting on a thread as a group and got caught out when they posted the group chat link by accident? It really was very funny how very quickly the posts from several fly by posters stopped on that thread.

Yes. And I think we found some sort of Mumsnet chat generator script on GitHub.

There was also a man scraping Mumsnet for transphobia before. A different one.

Well they will be able to find some

I think many of the long timers will have reported a post they felt crossed a line into just plain nasty

Especially if they get a mate to post for them - I am pretty sure we have had people post stuff just so they can link to Twitter as it was to show how horrid we all are

I thought the radical feminist thread in AIBU smelled a bit footwear-y.

Scrape that for the record, Eden.

Yes, remember the time DisgustedofManchester (?) posted a screenshot from MN on Twitter (as it then was) and decrying it as wretched transphobia from the nest of vipers? And you could tell from the colour it was his own post?

And that's happened with a number of posters. It's why there is the note about that technique that in Bunbury's PSA.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womensrights/3438714-Bunbury-s-Public-Service-Announcement-2

As an aside, is there are special term for when the subject of a study realises they are being studied? Something German perhaps…

LOL.

A bit like "Who's watching the watchers?".

The Hawthorne Effect is the one when research participants change their behaviour when they become aware that they are being observed for research purposes.

I expect they might need to coin a new term for when participants realise that they are being watched, turn their gaze on the researchers and deftly dismantle the research ethics and methodology 😁

RainWithSunnySpells · Today 12:29

ETA I've actually read it now. What a terrible poem it is.

Oh? I thought it was quite good. I suppose I've just outed myself as a terrible Philistine.

I hope they don’t infer anything from most of the emojis. I’ve yet to find a definitive list of them all and their meanings. I squint at them and if they look about right. If there’s a bland one labelled “judgy face” somewhere and I thought it was a wry smile, uh oh. 😏

"Eden" is the garden
Where Adam and Eve were made.
The tree of Life begged pardon
‘Cos the apple IDs as a spade.

I watched a lot of the Jo Phoenix tribunal and heard the majority of the OU witnesses, as well as reading their statements. This feels like same shit, different bucket when it comes to personal biases and (lack of) intellectual rigour from academic staff. Even down to having an IT department involved.

I did some research for a Masters degree which involved asking people questions anonymously online, and then some follow up interviews with volunteers. There are plenty of posters who are very knowledgeable about this due to where they work, but for anyone who hasn’t been involved in this kind of thing, or who like me it’s been a long while since their uni days, I can tell you that the ethics requirements are made VERY clear when you do any research that involves a human being. I was required to demonstrate I followed ethics processes by including evidence in my dissertation eg the ethics clearance and redacted permissions from interviewees. I had to store all information related to participants, including the interview recordings, on my university OneDrive account, which was then zapped when I graduated. However, looking back, no one actually ever checked whether I had also stored the recordings elsewhere, which I could have done easily. However, if anyone was ever unhappy at my use of their data, they had the details of the ethics committee and my research number (as I had to provide that information to all the participants) and they could make a complaint. So Eden’s research fails the basic requirements for me by not making Mumsnet aware that research was being carried out, and by not providing MN of details of the governing ethics committee.

[I’m also proud to say my research was useful and relevant to my profession. I got two papers published out of it and I’m using the information regularly at work and getting paid by clients for the knowledge I gained. Not sure Eden will be able to say the same]

We need a response from MN and / or Aaron, if someone is willing to write to the chancellor. I'm worried about outing myself in doing so though. We need to know what is being done about this.

In the meantime presumably all MN posts are being scraped and analysed for whatever purposes and I think the rest of the community should be aware not just the feminist board.

Sorry I meant Aston, autocorrect

In the meantime presumably all MN posts are being scraped and analysed for whatever purposes and I think the rest of the community should be aware not just the feminist board.

I completely agree.

Not sure Eden will be able to say the same

Fairly sure that this PhD topic and publication will catapult Eden into employment with the Global Disinformation Index or similar. From the sound of it (Unherd threads), Eden will fit right in.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womensrights/5051835-unherd-editor-on-ratings-agencies?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5051761-worth-watching-unherd-investigation-inside-the-disinformation-industry-kathleen-stock-specifically-mentioned?reply=134599072&

I looked at @SaffronSpice 's emojis at the end of her 11:38am post and puzzled about why she had included 56 pairs of dancing knickerbockers. I had to zoom to 200% before I realised they were pairs of socks and then it all made sense, especially since I now understand all about MN's socks. 😀PS. I hope someone, somewhere in Aston has to double-check why MN is talking about dancing knickerbockers.