Thread 2: A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of linguistic transphobia on Mumsnet

[VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia]

At fewer than 20 posts left, time for part two.

Thread 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5057460-a-corpus-assisted-discourse-analysis-of-linguistic-transphobia-on-mumsnet

Site Stuff thread that tipped off MNHQ: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff/5057903-mumsnet-corpus

Tagging along; don't understand half of it but get it's a Very Bad Thing.

Also here for beetle's memes

Re data accuracy - Aston researchers hadn't realised that posters name changed. They also should bear in mind that some posts are made by bots. And some username accounts are used by more than one person. And of course we have bad faith trolls making disingenuous posts all the time.

Just thinking about ways of confusing scrapers now.

Half my comprehension issues lie in the fact that I'm very visual and keep visualising ice scrapers

It seems oddly naive that they hadn't considered all the different ways language is used on here.

Just had a glorious reminder of that bot that just weakly said

"Edit?"

Before giving up the ghost

Ah the malfunctioning bot!

If indeed they haven’t it’s not surprising at all, we’re just thick mummies after all.

I also wondered about Pistonheads. And guessed not.

Have they scraped lipstick alley?

Why mumsnet?

We could all try learning pigeon English.

Then morph into weetabix English

To:NicciMacleod
From:EdenPalmer

Hi Nicci

Thanks for your comments on my preliminary findings. Here's my immediate response -

Number of users: this is tricky. HYPOTHESIS 1: there are 6 users and they change names constantly to give impression of large numbers of posters. HYPOTHESIS 2: there are approximately 80 garillion transphobes and they ALL post on MN. Really tricky to know which to pursue so I've set up a focus group.

Yes, agree, they are completely fixated on Tunnocks!!! Still looking into the meta-discourse around this & cross-referencing with the use of the emoticon. Also wondering if we need to look at Tunnocks trade with Tufton St addresses in Phase 2?

The frequency analysis on "Bunbury" and "Malaga airport" needs further investigation - surely even TERFS don't go to that many Oscar Wilde plays/ holidays in Spain?? I mean, even their cultural heteronormativity must have some limits, right?

Can't believe how obsessed they all are with gardening!! It's weird though - they never mention any actual plants. Going to pass that over to Dr P in the EthnoBotany & Linguistics subgroup.

Really looking forward to Thursday!!!!! Obviously our usual safe-space rules apply, yeah?

Peace and love, Eden

Aston might put one of their PhD supervisors onto that code…

This is a good point. Also Dennis Noel Kavanaugh and Sarah Phillimore both post under their own name on here. So could do SARs. Also, in the case of named individuals surely the baseless decision that their posts are 'transphobic' or cause 'transphobic' actions in real life is more clearly defamation that could be pursued through the courts.

Am I imagining this or was there a long thread some time around Christmas 2022 with a trying and repetitive OP that was eventually sussed out as a probable training run for a bot. Maybe, who knows, launched from Aston, ouroboros style.

I wonder if they've considered at all that women communicate in different ways to men. We already have to speak differently because of MN rules - so our speech whilst freer than in most places is not entirely natural. We're used to being told we're bigoted for describing our lived experience and many of us have experienced abuse so I think a lot of women on here change subtle details about events - the core of the story is true but they know the extent to which abusive men will go in order to find them, so are extra careful.

I'm inclined to think they're so far up their own backsides they probably haven't considered any of these women-centred issues.

The odds of your average MN user being involved in stabbings or making improvised explosive teacakes is fairly low, I'd wager. I'd ask if she had better things to do with her time than seek out people who have described their experiences of childhood abuse, domestic violence or experiences on the class WhatsApp so the world can laugh at the trauma as well as see they have a comprehension of the differences between a mutable social construct and a biological fact, but clearly not.

Just catching up on this (you really need the bandwidth for some threads). WTAF?

Regular name changer here. My dislike of Tunnocks makes me feel vulnerable.

Possibly the one that pleaded for an edit button in its dying breath?

@Ereshkigalangcleg I only watched a bit of that 2019 conference that you posted, but did you get what they meant by ‘authorship’ within the MN ‘sandbox’ ie were they trying to \ did they establish who was the real life person posting? It wasn’t clear to me what they had done with the MN data from that one talk.

new user name, as per previous pp. I often leave and rejoin so that my data is lost . I have no way of proving that I am off the number in the study

New username for the second thread.

Has anyone contacted the Sandbox Doxxing Guys?

https://hatespeechdata.com/

They've done a lot of Twitter scraping, too, by the look of it.

So when posters get upset about:
The in jokes/jokes/non standard uses of words
The potential that some of us might have MET UP IN REAL LIFE
The requests for actual evidence rather than googling it and posting the first thing that pops up, that usually disproves the point they think they are making

It is a possibility that they are just students trying to prod for the scraping tool to pick up responses.

I am wondering why the decision to anonymise the other forums and yet name Mumsnet in that presentation shot on the other thread. This definitely needs to be followed up.

And

I am laughing hysterically at the MALAGA AIRPORT types being fuming that MALAGA AIRPORT types are super annoyed that MALAGA AIRPORT is the most super heteronormative airport and JUST THEIR LUCK TO GET THAT AIRPORT ACRONYM LIFE IS SO UNFAIR.

Just read the first thread, and want to repeat this line, 'cos it's probably the most succinct description of this whole gender-bollocks thing.

"Lie down ladies, we wish to walk all over you and you’re being inconveniently lumpy."

poemai.net:

'There once was a treat so divine
That made my taste buds truly shine
With chocolate and marshmallow inside
It was hard to resist or hide

But alas, I do not like
Those Tunnocks teacakes in sight
The fluffy filling, too sweet for me
Leaves my tongue in a state of unease

But fear not, for there is still hope
For another treat that I can't elope
Tunnocks Caramel Wafers, oh how I adore
With every bite, I want more and more

The crispy wafer, the gooey caramel
It's a match made in heaven, can't you tell?
So while others may rave about teacakes
I'll stick to my wafers, for goodness sake

In the battle of sweets, I have chosen my side
And Tunnocks Caramel Wafers are my pride
So let the teacake lovers sneer and mock
For I'll be happily indulging in my caramel block.'

PS. Sorry if you don't like any Tunnocks.
PPS. The use of 'elope' in this poem is very weird. Is anyone planning on running away with and marrying a Tunnocks edible treat?