I’ve been a member of MDC (formerly Mothering Dot Commune, currently Mothering Dot Community) since 2004. I have four children, and I practice attachment parenting , as well as elimination communication, family bed, gentle discipline, homeschooling and so on. We are also a vegan, enviro-conscious family. Mothering has been my home away from home for over five years. I can honestly say that I grew up on Mothering. I became who I am with the wise women from all over the world who taught me so much. For the last 3 years I’ve been a supporting member of MDC, and I’ve been a Mothering subscriber for 7 years. I’ve also supported the MDC Work at Home Moms with hundreds of purchases over the years. So the latest changes hurt.
When threads get moved around by moderators because we are seemingly unable to decide for ourselves whether our topic fits in Nutrition and Healthy Eating or in Health, I simply chuckle.
When the advertisements started to litter the interface, I was understanding—everyone needs to make money. In the tough economic times, MDC needs to support itself.
When my name and address were sold to a natural toys catalogue, I forgave.
When we were not allowed to simply gossip about celebrities, I rolled my eyes.
When the Politics and Current Events forum closed because we debated too much, I cringed.
When the Talk Amongst Ourselves forum got so over-moderated, I sighed and stopped posting there. Where is the fun in chatting when it takes 24 hours for a post to get approved? You tell me!
But when we are no longer allowed to have links to our own blogs in our signatures--our loss blogs, our homeschooling blogs, our craft blogs, our simply "life and sh#t" blogs- I move out.
No matter how heart breaking this decision is, I can’t support the incessant censorship and the dictatorship of Mothering. Enough is enough. We strive to raise our children in a consensual way, with dignity and respect, and yet we are treated as mindless children ourselves. We aren’t allowed to debate, we aren’t allowed to exercise simple decision making, we aren’t even allowed to gossip, and now we're required to hide our blogs, our stories about our passions, in our profiles!
Good Bye, MDC. I’m sad, but I’m also empowered to no longer be a part of the mainstreamization of Mothering.
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Wow, thank you for saying this Mama!
ReplyDeleteI was sad to see MDC change the way it did over the years, it took me a long time to realize it was only getting worse and I had to let go. Good post. :)
ReplyDeleteI left when they put up the Google ads, despite the protest of the community as a whole. It was too much to bear.
ReplyDeletei first joined MDC in 2004, right after my son was born in January. It was sad to see it degenerate from a board full of ideas and conversation and debate, to a board that basically exists to further the ideals of a stupid magazine. :(
ReplyDeleteI agree. It bothers me even more that there is no place on MDC where any dissent for these rules can be aired - even respectfully. I posted (ever so briefly before I got banned) a letter to the Mods. You can read it here: http://www.babydustdiaries.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-motheringdotcommunity.html
ReplyDelete@midwife, MDC has always existed to promote their magazine, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think they'd inspire a lot more loyalty by treating their forum members as adults, instead of like children.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, OP!
When they allowed ads for things that blatantly contridict the ideals behind Attachment Parenting and Natural Family Living, they turned into hypocrits.
ReplyDeleteI started on MDC in 01 or 02 and it's absolutely NOTHING like it was then. And that's a bad thing. There really is no true home for thinking, progressive moms that I've found like MDC was years and years ago.
couldn't agree more - I got shouted down for trying to introduce evidence (or the lack of same) into a particular tribe. I think the lack of scrutiny is doing mothers harm.
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ReplyDelete