The purpose of separate mums' and dads' forums

Sapindus

I'm puzzled why there are separate sub-forums for mums and dads.  The dads' one makes more sense as it contains topics such as moustache-growing and dads trying to keep in contact with their kids after divorce.  But the mums' one contains threads about things like re-using bread bags and days out which would be just as useful for dads.  So what are the rules?  Is a mum/woman/female allowed to post advice in the dads' forum?  Is a dad allowed to contribute to a thread on the mums' forum which isn't about anything specifically (traditionally) mum-related?  Is having these gender-separated spaces necessary or useful in today's society?

HampshireH

I reply on both  

Both are fairly quiet and generally aren't gender specific in their topics (odd few maybe) 

Probably neither necessary or useful to separate them instead of having a "parents" one or a "mums and dads" one

Sapindus

I HampshireH said:

Probably neither necessary or useful to separate them instead of having a "parents" one or a "mums and dads" one

I think that would be the best solution. Rename the mums/dads forums to men's matters and women's stuff, and keep general parenting questions in the main families section.

74jax

I've been on these boards for years.... And years.... 😂 
When the new boards were created a lot of us tried to get them to revert back to what the originally were (I forget now, it was many years ago) but the boards remained. If I remember correctly, there was a really useful board which just disappeared and these two came in its replacement.
I don't really look at either too be honest anymore. 
Rules are, you post on the most appropriate board. Not gender specific really.,just what suits the topic most.

Here's the link to when it happened... 2012! my gosh, I thought it was maybe a couple of years ago..... 😂
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4330065/poll-keep-or-lose-moneysaving-mums-and-dads-sub-boards

Langerhan

74jax said:

I've been on these boards for years.... And years.... 😂 
When the new boards were created a lot of us tried to get them to revert back to what the originally were (I forget now, it was many years ago) but the boards remained. If I remember correctly, there was a really useful board which just disappeared and these two came in its replacement.
I don't really look at either too be honest anymore. 
Rules are, you post on the most appropriate board. Not gender specific really.,just what suits the topic most.

Here's the link to when it happened... 2012! my gosh, I thought it was maybe a couple of years ago..... 😂
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4330065/poll-keep-or-lose-moneysaving-mums-and-dads-sub-boards

Wow, literally only one person voted to keep them. Agreed that it's bizarre to have them in the first place - there's nothing linking mums and dads to specific ways of saving money apart from outdated stereotypes.

Retireby40

In terms of money saving there really isn't any point having separate ones.

However I think each place represents a place for either Mums or Dads to express their feelings, maybe talk about a particular situation that has come up in the relationship, and maybe to interact with Mums/Dads going through similar things without judgement based on sex.

Women support women but very rarely do men have the same support. 

Sapindus

Retireby40 said:

Women support women but very rarely do men have the same support. 

I absolutely agree with that.  But it should be wider than dads.

Retireby40

Sapindus said:

Retireby40 said:

Women support women but very rarely do men have the same support. 

I absolutely agree with that.  But it should be wider than dads.

100% agree. Men in general. 

JReacher1

It’s a bit surprising that MSE is not more inclusive really. Suspect if they were setting this forum up now they wouldn’t split threads by peoples gender. 

Spendless

Was part of a re-vamp. Though like 74jax has said, I hadn't realised how long ago either.  Neither sub-board has ever been very busy. There's other things on MSE that could do with going trough, there's one to do with discussing house prices that got closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic but still sits there, unlike the Discussion Time and Money saving arms boards which were popular but I suspect they wanted rid for years due to the monitoring of them, though all that has happened is more 'discussions' pop up in other threads.

74jax

Spendless said:

Was part of a re-vamp. Though like 74jax has said, I hadn't realised how long ago either.  Neither sub-board has ever been very busy. There's other things on MSE that could do with going trough, there's one to do with discussing house prices that got closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic but still sits there, unlike the Discussion Time and Money saving arms boards which were popular but I suspect they wanted rid for years due to the monitoring of them, though all that has happened is more 'discussions' pop up in other threads.

@Spendless have we really been around this long.... 😂 Honestly, I thought it was something like 2 - 3 years ago....., that's not a sign of getting older is it.... 😂