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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

The Bluestocking Women’s Pub: Where Clever Women Sit and Think, While Gerbils Run the Bar.

1000 replies

MyrtleLion · 06/02/2026 20:30

Come in. Yes, you’re in the right place. No, you don’t need to explain yourself.

Coats will be drycleaned before you depart. Bags won't be stolen because Gubbins will play her triangle. And you really don't want to hear it.

The gerbils run the bar.
They are small, brisk, and unionised.
One is polishing a glass with unnecessary seriousness.
Another is keeping the tab and will remember what you ordered last time.
There is a triangle involved. No one knows why. It keeps Gubbins happy.

Sit. Think. Drink. Join in.

The gerbils have it from here.

Previous thread...
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5481554-the-bluestocking-womens-pub-definitely-full-of-ludicrous-halfwits-who-refuse-to-get-a-grip-with-unionised-gerbils

The Bluestocking Women’s Pub: definitely full of ludicrous halfwits who refuse to get a grip (with unionised gerbils) | Mumsnet

Welcome to The Bluestocking: convivial by design, opinionated in the *^best^* way, generously stocked with excellent food and drink that complies with...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5481554-the-bluestocking-womens-pub-definitely-full-of-ludicrous-halfwits-who-refuse-to-get-a-grip-with-unionised-gerbils

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86
MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 21:56

ChristmasStars · 21/02/2026 21:51

Oh I've longed to try one of those since I was a kid and first discovered the books.

You've come to the right place😄
Though I can't help thinking that the green tinge is provided by a slug of Swarfega...

EdithStourton · 21/02/2026 21:56

Magpiecomplex · 21/02/2026 21:50

I see it as a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, personally.

I'm sure it can do double duty.
I still think a UXB would be a good addition (dam busters vibes). Or maybe some dry ice?

Or perhaps a small axe, rather than an umbrella?

Magpiecomplex · 21/02/2026 21:58

EdithStourton · 21/02/2026 21:56

I'm sure it can do double duty.
I still think a UXB would be a good addition (dam busters vibes). Or maybe some dry ice?

Or perhaps a small axe, rather than an umbrella?

Your dry ice, modom.

The Bluestocking Women’s Pub: Where Clever Women Sit and Think, While Gerbils Run the Bar.
SionnachRuadh · 21/02/2026 22:04

There's an old story about two Belfast men who went on their holidays to Rome, and went out for a drink, and asked the barman what the Pope drinks, and the barman said creme de menthe, so they ordered two pints of creme de menthe.

When they came around, they observed that, if that's what the Pope drinks, it's no wonder they carry him round in a chair.

MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 22:16

SionnachRuadh · 21/02/2026 22:04

There's an old story about two Belfast men who went on their holidays to Rome, and went out for a drink, and asked the barman what the Pope drinks, and the barman said creme de menthe, so they ordered two pints of creme de menthe.

When they came around, they observed that, if that's what the Pope drinks, it's no wonder they carry him round in a chair.

Never heard that one before, Sionnach - very good😂

MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 22:24

Hi Britinme, are you there? I PMed you about your book.

ErrolTheDragon · 21/02/2026 22:34

Magpiecomplex · 21/02/2026 21:50

I see it as a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, personally.

BiscuitBiscuitBiscuit !

ChristmasStars · 21/02/2026 22:37

Magpiecomplex · 21/02/2026 21:54

Hopefully it wouldn't be as disappointing as the Butterbeer at the Harry Potter thing. That was just all sorts of wrong.

Oh that's a shame. I guess it's the drink version of the saying "never meet your heroes".

ChristmasStars · 21/02/2026 22:37

MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 21:56

You've come to the right place😄
Though I can't help thinking that the green tinge is provided by a slug of Swarfega...

Mmm lovely 🤢

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:06

Britinme · 21/02/2026 21:36

DH recently read Temple Grandin’s book “Visual Thinking” and was blown away by how much he resembles that (which is why he’s an architect and sucks at maths I guess). I’m definitely a words thinker, though as I age I discover that I’m actually more logical than many others, which I didn’t understand in my youth. I get quite impatient with people who can’t follow a logical sequence.

How can an architect not be a mathematician? Architecture is the application of maths to art. That is what makes architecture the perfect art.

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:12

SionnachRuadh · 21/02/2026 22:04

There's an old story about two Belfast men who went on their holidays to Rome, and went out for a drink, and asked the barman what the Pope drinks, and the barman said creme de menthe, so they ordered two pints of creme de menthe.

When they came around, they observed that, if that's what the Pope drinks, it's no wonder they carry him round in a chair.

Is that story related to the one where a couple of lads were on the ferry to Liverpool and were advised by a Priest to only drink in a Trueman's pub. They arrived in Liverpool and walked from pub to pub until they found a Trueman's pub. And then they ordered two pints of Guinness.

AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:14

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius : I did the Daily Calm meditation for a while - not too much visualisation but lots of focusing on your breathing. I don’t know if it did me any good - maybe I should go back to it.

The Long Covid recovery programme recommended that to me, too. Maybe we should both go back to it - for March, or Lent, or something?

I've noticed that ITV 3 or 4 has something similar in the early hours called 'Unwind with ITV'- Daily escape designed to calm the mind and encourage relaxation and reflection

Britinme · 21/02/2026 23:15

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:06

How can an architect not be a mathematician? Architecture is the application of maths to art. That is what makes architecture the perfect art.

He uses a structural engineer for that. Structural engineering can make a building that stands up but it isn’t necessarily a good design.

inkymoose · 21/02/2026 23:19

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:06

How can an architect not be a mathematician? Architecture is the application of maths to art. That is what makes architecture the perfect art.

That's a bold statement!
I like the idea that architecture is the application of maths to art, but I don't understand how, if your statement is true, architecture must therefore be the perfect art.

I find some areas of maths difficult. Not all areas, but I have trouble counting properly and I'll get numbers in the wrong order. I enjoy art, and I'm interested in architecture, up to a point, and I like accuracy, but I also like free expression, or playful art.

AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:20

@AuntieMsDamsonCrumble wrote I sometimes see pictures when I'm reading, but most often I hear voices and each voice is distinct and accented, even for things like MN posts.

Accented voices is very skilled, I think.
As anticipated, DH does see pictures when he reads novels. What I've been missing...

I have a friend, author of romance novels, who if I remember correctly is also aphantasic. I'll have to ask her if she imagines the backgrounds when she writes or just knows how to describe them in words, the way I could describe an apple without having a mental picture of it. Or perhaps I've already asked her and forgotten - blame Long Covid. 😪

MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 23:30

Determined to get to bed before midnight, for a change, so g'night, dear Stockingers, special thoughts to Myrtle, continued recovery to Cake, same to Boily, hello as always to dear Swash, and a restful night and acceptable dreams to all🌛

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:38

inkymoose · 21/02/2026 23:19

That's a bold statement!
I like the idea that architecture is the application of maths to art, but I don't understand how, if your statement is true, architecture must therefore be the perfect art.

I find some areas of maths difficult. Not all areas, but I have trouble counting properly and I'll get numbers in the wrong order. I enjoy art, and I'm interested in architecture, up to a point, and I like accuracy, but I also like free expression, or playful art.

TBF, architecture and music are both the perfect conjunction of art and maths (to be clear, I do not have an artistic bone in my body). They create beauty and elevation of the soul from the application of mathematics.

@Britinme your husband may rely upon a structural engineer to ensure that what he designs stands up but the forms that he designs, the proportions and symmetry, are almost certainly based on sound mathematical principles.

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:44

Sorry, this is getting far to heavy for a convivial drink. I'll have a quick glass of white Burgundy and bugger off home.

AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:48

@EdithStourton wrote It had never occurred to me until a few years ago that some people didn't see memories of events like still images, or even movie clips in their heads (mine are a bit like old cine, they tend to get blurrier as time goes on). It boggled me, TBH, as I rely on mental images to navigate, for example - I couldn't necessarily tell you which exit you need off the multi-exited roundabout, but that it's the one just after you past the <mental image>.

I find navigating multi-exited roundabouts very difficult, especially when you have to change lanes at the appropriate time. Some say, it's the third turn or such, but that doesn't work, either. I could remember that it was the exit after the sign/turn/exit for The Bluestocking or somewhere, though.

This reminds me of many years ago, when I used to work on Saturdays but have a Thursday off, ideal for going to see cheap matinee performances in The Big City. I used to take my bike on the train, but I had a bad experience when I was tootling along in the left lane of three, next to the kerb, and suddenly went round a corner where 2 lanes of traffic joined from the left and found myself in the middle lane of a busy 5 lane roundabout. A mental image wouldn't have helped me then, but the online maps would as I would have avoided it.

AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:51

Google likes Capability Capybara’s choice of colours this evening.

The Bluestocking Women’s Pub: Where Clever Women Sit and Think, While Gerbils Run the Bar.
AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:57

MarieDeGournay · 21/02/2026 23:30

Determined to get to bed before midnight, for a change, so g'night, dear Stockingers, special thoughts to Myrtle, continued recovery to Cake, same to Boily, hello as always to dear Swash, and a restful night and acceptable dreams to all🌛

Good night, dear Marie. Midnight was my target, too.

Good night and good wishes. all.

AsWithGlad · 21/02/2026 23:58

(Click on the picture in my recent Google post to make it make sense. MN has hidden the edges)

JanesLittleGirl · 22/02/2026 00:05

DD has aphantasia (no mind's eye). I used to put it down to some sort of mental laziness but it is a right bugger. She cannot create an image of something that she cannot see. It is actually quite debilitating.

AsWithGlad · 22/02/2026 00:40

JanesLittleGirl · 22/02/2026 00:05

DD has aphantasia (no mind's eye). I used to put it down to some sort of mental laziness but it is a right bugger. She cannot create an image of something that she cannot see. It is actually quite debilitating.

How did you discover this, @JanesLittleGirl ? Was it something you knew to ask her about because of what she said or did, or did it reveal itself in another way?

(I'm not quite managing to be in bed by midnight, but I was doing Important Online Jobs elsewhere while the house was quiet.)

SionnachRuadh · 22/02/2026 01:00

JanesLittleGirl · 21/02/2026 23:12

Is that story related to the one where a couple of lads were on the ferry to Liverpool and were advised by a Priest to only drink in a Trueman's pub. They arrived in Liverpool and walked from pub to pub until they found a Trueman's pub. And then they ordered two pints of Guinness.

I don't know that one, but I've heard about the two lads who were waiting for the ferry and had a few hours to kill, and the first lad says to the second lad, here's a couple of quid, go buy us a pack of cards or something to pass the time, and the second lad goes off to the shop, and then he comes back with a packet of Tampax, and the first lad says "what did you get yon for" and the second lad says "sure look at the packet, it says you can go swimming, play tennis, do all kinds of things"

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