Jack Monroe #42

[Eurgh]

Well firstly she was a call handler, secondly ‘fifteen odd years co-parenting a revolving door of foster children’. You were not co-parenting from the age of 7. You were a child.

 

[Silver Linings]

It's such a fake tumblr way to begin a story.

*closes 8yr old tumblr blog* Yes twitter is generally 6months to a year behind tumblr. And now instagram is screenshotted twitter posts which are actually 5yr old tumblr posts. The circle of life.

 

[LennyBriscoe]

Hello everyone, first time posting here! Tell me if I'm not doing it right...and apologies for length. I have lots of observations about this chick!
I'm so glad to see these threads about JM as I thought I was the only one who saw through her BS. I used to think she was ok although her culinary ability was always clearly completely exaggerated - an early recipe of hers in the Guard was, IIRC, 'cheesy peas pasta' which was pasta, mushy peas and cheese all heated up together. That was it. That was the recipe. The only way that could be seen as a serious recipe would be if it was on a blog for hardcore stoners who can barely find their kitchen let alone cook in it. But still - I just thought it was the usual Guardian fetishization of the 'deserving poor' especially since she was pretty and LGBT - usual stuff from the Graun.
But as the years went on I could see more and more how fake she is. The first red flags were the constant new health / identity dramas - trans / anorexia / alcoholism / autism etc etc. It was always something. And when I began following her on Twitter I realised that her 'working class single mum' shtick was as fake as they come. Her tone, phraseology and vocabulary are all very middle class and very privately educated posh girl middle class at that. Other working class people on this thread will know exactly what I mean. I grew up WC but got into the MC through going to uni and getting into a MC profession so I've been well placed to see the fundamental differences in the way people communicate. That humorously self-deprecating tone, the arch irony, the quirks like ironically using capitals for A Very Important Thing, subtle word choices (e.g. "your support means the ABSOLUTE WORLD") - WC people just do not talk like this. They are more direct and very, very rarely use self deprecating exaggeration at all. She's faking her background. Of course, Jack's fans wouldn't recognise this as they are all MC themselves.
As for the period of poverty. I believe it's totally exaggerated: not necessarily the depth of it but certainly the time period. Reading between the lines of various interviews I reckon what happened was that she lost her job at the fire station and then had to wait the customary 6 weeks for her benefits to come through. And yeah, if you don't have savings, that 6 weeks is hell. If you have maybe £150 of savings or can get a loan or overdraft then you can eke it out on food but without housing benefit you are truly stuffed when it comes to rent. And yeah it is depressing and terrifying, I fully get that. The thing is it's not uncommon. The things she's talked about (unscrewing lightbulbs, going to bed with clothes on cos cold, not having second helpings) are things that I and many on this thread and MILLIONS of others in this country have experienced, many for much longer than 6 weeks. It's horrible, but usually you manage to get out of it. And it's far from uncommon. But she's made it her entire personality and uses it to fish for constant attention and to bully and dogpile others. I mean, how did she get her big break in the Guardian anyway? I know loads of single mums and none of them have got fawning Guardian articles because they cooked a basic meal. Believe me the girl has media connections. No way did the Guardian just 'find' her. And the thing is her followers believe her tale of woe because they're all MC and the idea of having to ration your heating to them sounds like the equivalent of living in Raqqa under ISIS because they have no idea that this is normal and sometimes what less well-off people just have to do.

As for the dirty hands. I'm ethnically similar to Jack - but a bit further east and both parents. I'm much darker skinned than she is. So I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that that's not melanin, it's DIRT.

FFS, this girl is fake and she's poison. I have some observations about her shitty, damaging use of AA and alcoholism claims too and also the possible psychological effects of her upbringing which could explain her current behaviour but will stop now as don't want to thread hog on my first outing lol

Welcome!! If you haven’t read all the threads yet, I would thoroughly recommend #31....

I never thought of that before but I think you’re right. A connection in the media makes perfect sense! It bamboozled me regularly how she has as much exposure as she’s had.

I am WC and so is my husband. I don’t really think about class much but we’re not poor like we were when I was a kiddo (after my dad fell ill he had to stop working and for a long time, he couldn’t really be left at home alone so my mum couldn’t work either). My brother has a real issue with how we didn’t have any money growing up, even now he has a dickish attitude to cash. But he’s a twat. Me and Mr L own our home, run a car, my SB goes to private nursery and we have some “smile money” and that’s okay for me.

I have worked in the civil service for 20 years and everything is increments so if a man on my band is paid more than me, it’s because he’s been there longer. I think I’m underpaid but my job is quite niche (FANCY) and I’m so glad I haven’t encountered sexism in the workplace. I consider myself fortunate for that. @heretoreaditall2019 what you posted really touched me, your experiences sounded like something from the 70s. It’s appalling it’s so rife in this day and age.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Yep, he's old enough to be my Dad too He's got something about him.

I can’t believe he’s 57, I genuinely thought he’d be in his early 40s tops?! Boris Johnson is YOUNGER at 56!!

I am too innocent to go onto the hunks of parliament thread, I haven’t recovered from the wooden spoon spankings from DKL I can’t be exposed to thoughts of Tory penises

 

[spirals]

My husband is half Spanish and goes ridiculously dark skinned at the first hint of sunshine (while I go a lovely bright pink, not jealous at all)

He is, however, white and he never looks like his hands are dirty either.

Edit: Does this mean we aren't allowed to have anymore Grunka thread titles?

 

[Motherwellgirl]

Had a look on mumsnet yesterday. Much the same comments as here.

People really don’t like her bullshit. I honestly struggle to believe she has so many ailments. And that so much negative stuff has happened in her life.

Which has of course been drip fed to the media every time she wants her name in the press.

She’s just an Internet gangster. I actually feel really sorry for her sons dad if he was the person who bought the DW books.

Like. They are kids books. It’s not the complete works of Shakespeare. They aren’t supposed to be taken that seriously.

Her ex had a lucky escape. Imagine coming home to all that angst and rage every night of the week. It would do my head in.

She’s an absolute moron. My mum grew up in the 50s and she went to school with kids who were very poor. Of course it can’t have been nice for Jack to have been in that situation but if that had been me. I’d have gone to stay with a relative if they had had the spare room. Not a chance would I have been unscrewing lightbulbs and selling all my possessions.

She plays on the fear of being poor again. It’s ten years on. She’s not poor. She needs to give it a rest.

 

[Silver Linings]

All of the jokes were made literally 10 hours ago. urgh she’s annoying me tonight.

 

[Harrybosch]

I'm so shocked at reading all your stalker accounts. I don't quite know what to say, other than reach out, talk to people. Don't carry this shit all by yourself. It's too much.

In other news, Keir and his gorgeous wife have sensible yet mutually fulfilling sex. (pure speculation).

 

[MrsOgre]

The context of the Tweet she replied to. She is defeating her own argument View attachment 175465

But her hands are filthy dirty in many photos, and she has said she is as white as Mayo. She doesn't make sense at all.

 

[chocolate choux]

Maybe she is monitoring Tattle, again, and reacting in real-time!

In which case

Jack, take the kitten to the vet

 

[Flumps]

@MancBee to you. You speak meaningfully and bravely and I'm so impressed by you taking your experiences and using them to help others. I'm silent about mine, in the world as it were, and I think your way is wonderful. Take care of yourself. I think JM is so triggering because she so lightly uses hers as a defence and a shield against censure and there's something horrible in that that's really hard to articulate. I think it's the casualness of it, which could be because she has refused to process things and accept the depth to which they affect her, or because of more, umm, unpleasant reasons. Either way, it feels dismissive, both of her own experience and other people's. Words do have power and someone who uses them to earn a living really ought to be more careful about how they wield them. x

 

[Flumps]

I read the name as Ian Bishop - Harold Bishop/ Ian Smith and thought he'll smell like biscuits. I got very confused with the description of crisp smelling/autumn and had to reread and it all made sense

Having read at a fast pace over the last few days perhaps I can now slow down and read properly again.


I read the name as Ian Bishop - Harold Bishop/ Ian Smith and thought he'll smell like biscuits. I got very confused with the description of crisp smelling/autumn and had to reread and it all made sense

Having read at a fast pace over the last few days perhaps I can now slow down and read properly again.


I read the name as Ian Bishop - Harold Bishop/ Ian Smith and thought he'll smell like biscuits. I got very confused with the description of crisp smelling/autumn and had to reread and it all made sense

Having read at a fast pace over the last few days perhaps I can now slow down and read properly again.


I read the name as Ian Bishop - Harold Bishop/ Ian Smith and thought he'll smell like biscuits. I got very confused with the description of crisp smelling/autumn and had to reread and it all made sense

Having read at a fast pace over the last few days perhaps I can now slow down and read properly again.


I read the name as Ian Bishop - Harold Bishop/ Ian Smith and thought he'll smell like biscuits. I got very confused with the description of crisp smelling/autumn and had to reread and it all made sense

Having read at a fast pace over the last few days perhaps I can now slow down and read properly again.

U ok, hun?

 

[MrsOgre]

These people need to be directed here

 

[choccydigestive]

Maybe this should be Jack Monroe #42: The one with the coriander! 23andme says I have an aversion but while I don’t love it, I could get by as long as there’s not too much.

Most importantly, thank you all you lovely opinionated fraus for your love and support with my dilemma. I’ve saved copies of some of the message threads for future reference, contacted a youth mental health service, and am going to email the pastoral officer at school tomorrow. You’ve all been so wonderful in your solidarity and your suggestions and I appreciate every single bit.

@Breakdance Badass I’m so sorry to hear your boy is going through something similar. It’s such an awful feeling, isn’t it? I really hope his situation is solved quickly and properly

 

[Flumps]

I'm from a middle-class background and went to private school, but one in a part of South London not known for its poshness. I code-switch like mad and it's not even vaguely deliberate, but I roam up and down the scale of accents like Paul Young looking for somewhere to hang his hat,. I think my 'normal' accent - the one I use with my partner (though he's privately educated at a very posh school so tends to drag me upwards), my close friends and my family, is very similar to Jack's.

 

[ShowMeYourFeline]

As much as I detest Walliams, Monroe doesn't half come across as a screwed up, nasty piece of work. I really admied how she took down Katie Hopkins but I think it must have given her too big of an ego boost because Monroe has been insufferable constantly going after people. I would be fearful if I ever got in her path. She has way too much power.

She really shouldn’t have won that case to be honest.

I think Katie Hopkins lost purely because she was Katie Hopkins. She was stupid and stubborn for not apologising, but she did delete the tweet. It was her second tweet afterwards comparing Jack Monroe to some other wokester that Jack successfully sued for, and I really can’t see what is sue-worthy about it. It was rude and that’s it.

This isn’t a defence of KH, I just think the victory was absurd and it’s gone to JM’s head.

 

[Harrybosch]

Just a quick message to reassure people that I'm ok. I was, and still am, amazed at the support shown on this forum for someone that you have never met. I am truly appreciative of your kind words.

JM antics had got to me little (well a lot if I am honest), something I shouldn't let happen. I have dealt with bigger issues than a ridiculous self absorbed narcissist. Why she triggers something in me I do not know. The flippant way she threw around her alleged abuse did trigger something in me though. She only ever talks about her abuse, her illness, her woes, it is always about her. She purports to be an activist, a champion for the poor, the abused, etc, etc etc. But she only ever highlights these problems by the way they affect her, she is never empathetic.

To this day the first time the man r***d me (it carried on for a couple of years) I recall every second, the clothes he wore, the colour of the wallpaper, the aftershave he used, the pattern of the carpet, the book that was on the floor, his hair, his breath. She brought all that back to my mind at a time I could least deal with it.

The way I used my experience to positive effect was to become a supporter and volunteer at a local charity that helps male abuse victims, an area that is sadly poorly catered for. This poor provision is undoubtedly a factor in why there are so many young male s******s. The way she uses her experiences is to wallow in self pity and make every controversial issue about her.

I have only skim read the past couple of threads, though have come to realise a few things about JM and life in general. Not all people get the comeuppance they deserve. Undeserving people often prosper in life, and getting upset about that fact harms me not them.

JM may well limp along in her sad little world braying to her pack of loyal hounds. What I comfort myself with is that what she is doing is not making her happy. Indeed it seems to be fuelling her unhappiness. It might seem cruel of me to revel in her unhappiness, but I will try to explain why later. I am still getting my thoughts together. I know what I want to say, but can't quite get my sentences together yet.

I will keep reading in the meantime, and will contribute when I have reflected a little more.

Thank you all again. You may be a cabal, canal, or a coven, but what you definitely are, is a group of amazing supportive people that understand how words affect others.

@MancBee, much love. I think it's not unusual for people who have experienced what we have to be quite empathetic. I know what triggers me in her - it's her claimed victimhood yet complete lack of empathy or interest in others. It makes me want to scream! How could you have had all those experiences and not care about what other people are going through? Remember that recent tweet where one of her followers poured her heart out about how homeschooling was so tough and she couldn't cope and all Jackie said was 'babe -same'. (I'm paraphrasing, but you all know what I mean).

I may be projecting, and if I am, please accept my apologies. You strike me as someone who 'feels' a lot. This probably makes you a wonderful person in real life, but you need to also look after yourself (and by the sounds of it you already know how to do this, though we all stumble ocassionally). My therapist helped me with this a lot by getting me to visualise a large, lovely bubble. I can put myself in that bubble, I can hear and see everything, and everyone can hear and see me, but 'stuff' just can't get to me that much. A bit of a shield if you will. I have to say, that bubble has helped me so much over the years. To be clear, I'm not permanently floating around like Dumbo after his bath, but when it's needed, I can remove myself a bit whilst still being present, if that makes sense.

Anyway, take your time, do what you need to do, the canal is ready for you to jump back in when you are.

 

[GrunkaLunka]

Someone in the Downing Street Men thread pointed out he looked like Woody from Toy Story and I cannot unsee it
(He’s a good man, though)

He can round me up, show me the snake in his boots and poison my water hole any day.

 

[Tabitha D]

assuming it’s seen one since she’s said it needs splints

I’m not so sure. She only came up with the splints thing conveniently soon after another cat owner had said that this was the solution in her case. So I think she may have co-opted that. (It’s a common technique with munchies too, to use details they’ve gleaned from genuine sufferers from specific illnesses.). Particularly when she also said that “we” had consulted a vet, or something like that. Who is “we”? The previous owner? The royal we??

 

[GrunkaLunka]

Sometimes I love coriander and sometimes it tastes like soap to me.



(Why is that gif so hypnotic?!)

@heretoreaditall2019 I've been thinking about your post all day about being working class in your industry.

It was such a raw and honest account of the way you are affected and it really was moving.