What is the line between 'bitching' and 'debating'... it seems like quite a gendered one...Oh believe me, I ask myself this question a lot! I do love a good bitch and gossip online. But in my defence, I don’t like bitching for bitching’s sake... I prefer my bitching to be funny and clever and (most importantly) justified
Just read her article (Emma Kennedy) in the DM (sorry!) today about her mother’s death. Tied up with bows about how things should not be left unsaid but am I the only one who thinks saying your mother was mentally ill after her death when she is not there to defend herself it’s a little distasteful along with making money out of grief...I just remembered a story – triggered by someone mentioning Emma Kennedy. She didn’t know Simon Ricketts (Guardian writer age sub) but when she found out on Twitter that he was terminally ill, she elbowed her way into the situation and kept posting updates (gleaned from the updates of people who actually knew him) about his situation as if she was the official spokesperson for him. And when he did she did a lot of demonstrative public mourning for him despite never meeting him or even “knowing” him on Twitter. Remind you of anyone?
Oh, and I heard that at her birthday parties, Emma Kennedy would make everyone sit around her in a horseshoe and applaud when she opened each present. This was not when she was a kid. This was when she was in her 30s and 40s.
Just googled it and it's interesting that along with the article that came up there was also her tweets taking the DM to task on terrorism and equality. She must have forgiven them so she could work for them.Just read her article (Emma Kennedy) in the DM (sorry!) today about her mother’s death. Tied up with bows about how things should not be left unsaid but am I the only one who thinks saying your mother was mentally ill after her death when she is not there to defend herself it’s a little distasteful along with making money out of grief...
I am not sure I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. There is something cathartic and honestly therapeutic about reading the experiences of people whose histories are similar to one’s own. I know it’s certainly helped me. And on the issue of mother-daughter estrangement which is still quite a taboo, articles like these are certainly welcome, in my view at least.It’s a horrible thing to write (particularly for the DM) and for what purpose? To fill column inches and garner sympathy for yourself. Same with the one Sali wrote, which her brothers made her take down. Dreadful invasion of privacy.
It’s a shame you’ve taken that decision but you have to do what’s right for you. Do remember that you don’t have to communicate with Sali if she decided to post here .All you lovely people here, I’ve decided to delete my account. After reading the Sali response on the Mumsnet thread I just feel sick.
I’m a very anxious person and she comes across as aggressive. I’m obsessing over it. I definitely would not be able to handle a conversation with her.
Am sorry as I think this thread is super important.
And for the record I think you all here are wonderful
Yes like you and Carryonnursing I do sometimes think what I have said is unkind. Well I know it is. But - and it is a big but - Sali and others have talked about all aspects of their life for financial gain as you say. Quite often changing the narrative to suit themselves and I hate to say it sometimes lying. Also getting aggressive when anyone even meekly challenges them. I hate the way they wriggle and wriggle to avoid saying THIS WAS FREE. And not just that but I WAS PAID TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO BUY IT whilst pretending to have loved it for years. So many people on this thread were formerly Sali fans. We can't all be wrong can we?I think it’s a fair point to ask ourselves if we’re just bitching needlessly. Yesterday it occurred to me that things had come to such a head that if Sali (or CH, or any of the others) had single-handedly saved the lives of 6 kittens right in front of me, I’d have found a way to have a problem with the way she did it. This is true.
HOWEVER: I do think that these people are not yet subject to rigorous enough scrutiny in how they earn their living and how they gain their freebies. It has been eye-opening to many of us here that since the law changed earlier this year, we’ve started to see quite how much shit they got away with for years. In many cases they did this while claiming to be consumer champions, whose opinions weren’t for sale- simply couldn’t be bought.
The law has not yet caught up with many of these people. I hope that in time it will. I hope that they are told that if they accept a free haircut a year (or 8 or 9 of them), they’ll need to declare it as a gift (not a PR experience), put it in their tax return and pay any tax due on it.
They have been absolutely getting away with murder on this front for too long, and what really galls me is that while they’ve been doing this, they’ve pretended to be our friend, our neighbour, our mum, our Everywoman. They have played on “relatable” posts about their kids and their marriages, their skincare concerns, to monetise our own fears for their personal gain. So to return to my first paragraph, I don’t think this is needless bitchery. I think we’re sore because we feel we’ve been lied to.
I think it’s a fair point to ask ourselves if we’re just bitching needlessly. Yesterday it occurred to me that things had come to such a head that if Sali (or CH, or any of the others) had single-handedly saved the lives of 6 kittens right in front of me, I’d have found a way to have a problem with the way she did it. This is true.
HOWEVER: I do think that these people are not yet subject to rigorous enough scrutiny in how they earn their living and how they gain their freebies. It has been eye-opening to many of us here that since the law changed earlier this year, we’ve started to see quite how much shit they got away with for years. In many cases they did this while claiming to be consumer champions, whose opinions weren’t for sale- simply couldn’t be bought.
The law has not yet caught up with many of these people. I hope that in time it will. I hope that they are told that if they accept a free haircut a year (or 8 or 9 of them), they’ll need to declare it as a gift (not a PR experience), put it in their tax return and pay any tax due on it.
They have been absolutely getting away with murder on this front for too long, and what really galls me is that while they’ve been doing this, they’ve pretended to be our friend, our neighbour, our mum, our Everywoman. They have played on “relatable” posts about their kids and their marriages, their skincare concerns, to monetise our own fears for their personal gain. So to return to my first paragraph, I don’t think this is needless bitchery. I think we’re sore because we feel we’ve been lied to.
I read that article. The comments left afterwards were sad and more interesting than the article. I am not familiar with Emma Kennedy.Just read her article (Emma Kennedy) in the DM (sorry!) today about her mother’s death. Tied up with bows about how things should not be left unsaid but am I the only one who thinks saying your mother was mentally ill after her death when she is not there to defend herself it’s a little distasteful along with making money out of grief...
Have been awol and not caught up with the past couple of pages but I am really sorry to read this. The fact you do feel that way speaks volumes about the sort of person she is though.All you lovely people here, I’ve decided to delete my account. After reading the Sali response on the Mumsnet thread I just feel sick.
I’m a very anxious person and she comes across as aggressive. I’m obsessing over it. I definitely would not be able to handle a conversation with her.
Am sorry as I think this thread is super important.
And for the record I think you all here are wonderful
Some can be via WayBack Machine! The internet never forgetsLet us not forget that Sali's column for the The Pool was headed 'Sali Hughes puts the world to rights' as of course only she knows the right way to do everything.... It is a shame none of these articles can be found online as it would make great fodder for this thread.
You summed it up brilliantly. One of the things I find really distasteful about Sali is her ease at changing her own backstory to suit whatever situation she is trying to shoehorn herself into at the time. There are so many holes and discrepancies.I do my best not to focus on the look of Sali, Caroline or criticise the choices they make to improve what they think their faces need ; they both look very fresh and healthy. I don’t think I’m scathing with regard to them personally.
I am , like all posters, pissed off with Sali because she clearly uses procedures to look good yet doesn’t state that fact with any clarity at all.
She’ll write #nofilter #notouchup yet that’s not true because she’s done something to herself.
It’s not bitchy here; it’s annoyance that someone who was once a hero for women is now one who we question for her ethics.
I got fed up with the 'Women we love' segment (amongst other things) and assumption we all think exactly the same (as you say the acceptable mainly London based woke echo chamber).I used to enjoy The Pool, but it was very white feminism, and very London based.
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