Social media and the new feminism
Where should a 20-something feminist go when faced with a online barrage of rape and death threats? Unsurprisingly, Laura Bates turned to an anonymous talkboard to ask for help soon after she founded the Everyday Sexism Project 18 months ago. Less predictably, perhaps, the childless campaigner chose to do so on parenting website Mumsnet. Within hours, Bates had almost 100 responses. They ranged from the serious to the scatological, but all of them were supportive. To her concerns that she was being followed online, BasilFoulTea wrote: "Well, if they're stalking this one – hallo, nobbers. I bet you needle-dick wankers can't get a woman to shag you on a voluntary basis because you're all repulsive with halitosis and a total lack of sex appeal and charisma. <Waves>"
"That was the first time I'd laughed since the emails began," says Bates, who is now feted by politicians and companies alike for her work tackling sexism. "I have a real soft spot for Mumsnet."
Much has been written over the past few months about so-called "fourth wave" feminists, young media- and internet-savvy women like Bates, whose online petitions and direct action campaigns – from UK Feminista's campaign against supermarkets displaying lads' mags to No More Page 3, which has so far garnered 116,750 signatories asking the Sun newspaper to scrap its pictures of bare-breasted women – are tackling some longstanding issues.
Far less remarked upon, however, has been a quieter revolution that has been going on for some time, in anonymous forums, about all sorts of subjects, from baking to relationship advice to work crises – and very often, in spite of those who argue that retreating into motherhood is notfeminism as they know it, on sites such as Mumsnet. The website, with its four million users, nearly all of whom are women, is possibly the most mainstream and politically important example of this slow-burn resurgence in feminist thought.
Natasha Walter, the feminist author, was struck by the supportive atmosphere of Mumsnet when she was writing Living Dolls: the Return of Sexism, a few years ago. "It was quite a dark time for feminists, before the current campaigns against Twitter and Page 3. It just wasn't mainstream. People weren't challenging everyday sexism. So I was really struck by the conversations on Mumsnet. I'd go on and listen and be heartened by the way women were responding."
The sort of anonymity that has been so problematic on the web has also allowed women to speak out about sometimes appalling abuse. Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts says: "The original We Believe You Campaign[to raise awareness about rape and sexual assault] was a good example of this – a safe, anonymous space for people to post accounts of things that had happened to them, often decades ago, and say: 'I was sexually assaulted and I'd always just shrugged it off/blamed myself.'"
Last month, Mumsnet looked into whether its members regarded themselves as feminist. Roughly twice as many (59%) identify themselves as feminist as those who do not (28%). More importantly, the 2,034 respondents are more likely to self-identify as feminists since joining Mumsnet, with just 47% doing so before joining.. read more:
