Yeah I’m with you
@EddieBeds It’s good to hear everyone’s opinion on the flexible working issue. It’s clear it’s not a one size fits all scenario and people take different things from their work.
Anna’s campaign is a start and it has merit but I think the fact she has a “cause” means she’s untouchable. As someone said above, people are assuming she’s some kind of charity worker. She’s not, she has a cause and that cause has opened numerous doors and financial opportunities for her and all her family.
I went back to the start of her Instagram. She was 33 then and her account from the get go is heavily curated. This wasn’t an accidental trip into the world of selling your motherhood. It strikes me that she was just another instamoma reeling out the same old
tit, showing arty photos of flat lays and “kicks”, Starbucks coffee cups, need wine/gin/Prosecco, mummy merch and memes about not sleeping. Maybe that was revolutionary 5 years ago
She comes across to me as a very privileged MC white London mum, living the beautiful London life in media. I mean who has the time on their commute to/from work, with their kid in tow, to take arty photos with urban backdrops? Has she always got someone with her to take those photos or does she take a tripod to work?
Also the lovely midwife St Clemmie features heavily in her early posts. Women supporting women...until they come to Tattle and start slating them eh?
I know I sound like some jealous old troll but the truth is I’m just fatigued by this Instagram bullshit. She’s been freelance most of her working life, freelance gives you flexibility but also means you have to make hay while the sunshine’s so it’s a tough one to juggle with kids. Having a regular job gives you maternity benefits you don’t get when you’re working for yourself, I think she’s found this out the hard way given that she was back “at work” two weeks after her youngest was born, that would not happen if you were a salaried employee.
I find her stuff like university politics, she’s jumping from one bandwagon to another and throwing in the odd swear word...how radical.
I know for many women this “mum chat” feels open and honest, many can relate because they have the same thoughts and feelings. This is a generation of bloggers and floggers who see every aspect of life as an opportunity to write/talk about every aspect of “female” life, from periods to miscarriages, from childbirth to PND from
crappy nappies to tantrums. That’s not in itself a bad thing and it would be really refreshing if it was just that but what they are actually doing is engaging to reel women in to flog them stuff. That’s not feminism that’s the absolute opposite, it’s taking advantage of women at their most vulnerable.
I know that in the next 5-10 years when these women start experiencing the peri-menopause that they will jump on that too. We will have the “too hot
to handle” and “why my husband irritates me” memes. It’s just women selling to women because we have more trust and respect because we all go through these things and we believe they can empathise.
I’d much rather come on here and talk to real “anonymous” people about their experiences knowing they are talking about them and not lining their pockets. THIS is refreshing, real and raw and I personally genuinely appreciate hearing other people’s views and experiences.