10 FT.COM/MAGAZINE OCTOBER19/202019
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Mumsnet and the
greatmarge boycottTo contribute
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adaytimetelephone number and full address
(notforpublication).Letters maybeedited.ILLUSTRATIONBYLUCAS VARELAROBERTSHRIMSLEY
THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION
I
can’t believethey’resobitter .Type
“Flora” intothesea rchbox on
theMumsnetwebsiteandenjoy
thefury.Regularsont heparents’
discussionforumareinarageafter
themakerof thebest-sellingmarge
saiditwasendingitsassociation–
that’ sadsto youandme–withthe
site. Yes;th efatis flying,or fleeing.
MumsnethasbeendeFlora-ed.
Mumsnet’s offencewasallowing
discussionoftransgenderissues.A
transactivistsawandwasoffended
bysomeoftheposts,tweetedoutan
angry respons eurgingfollo wersto
boycottthemargeand,badabing,
thewebsitewasic edbyUpfield,
Flora’sDutchparent .Itt urnsout
that Upfieldtakeshumanrightsso
seriouslythatitcannolongerbe
associatedwithan ysiteanywhere
that everallowsanyonetosay
anythingthatupsetspeople.SoI
guess youalsowon’tbeseeingany
associationwithFacebook,Twitter
oranysignificantnewsoutlets.
Nowangrymumsarere taliating,
withcallsfortheirownboycott.
Itraisestheugl yprospectoft he
wholethingbeingfoughtoutin
oursupermarketsasMumsnet
usersbulkuponBertolliwhile
transactivistsflocktoFlora.It’s
kickingoffinthewhitefatsand
lards aisle.ThefloorsofTescowill
runyellowwithvegetableoil.
To beclear ,Mumsnetitself
didnotsa yanythingtransphobic
but,being aplatformofdebate,it
allo wedotherstodisc ussgender
issue sinawaythatsomeone
decidedwastransphobic.Thesite
hasmoderatorstoremoveoffensive
postsbutUpfieldarguesthatthe
controlswerenoteffectiveenough.
Whetherthecommentswere
transphobicorj ustremarkstrans
activistsdislikemaybea rguable.
Ingeneral,mystartingpointis
thattranspeopleha vefacedyears
ofappallingabuseandprejudice
andsot hecommunitycanhardly
beblame dforhittingbacknow
peopleha vestarte dtol isten.Butitisals otruethatsometransactivists
havearecordofa ggressively trying
tosilencelegitimatedebate.
Intruth,however,thisis
notreallyastoryabouttrans
activists.Theyjusthappentobe
thecampaignersinthisinstance.
Itcouldjustasequallyhavebeen
anotherminority-rightscampaignor
areligiousgroupor,inf act,anyone
withana xe togrind,afewhundred
follo wersonTwitterandalineto
StopFundingHate,acampaign
thatexiststopressureadvertisers.
Whatiti s, isastoryofcorporate
capitulation.Itisataleofh owa
market-leadingfoodmanufacturer
fledatt hefirstwhiffofgrapeshot.
PerhapsUpfield reallybelievesitis
doingtherightthing.Perhapsithas
calculatedthatthetransactivists
andtheirsupportersweremore
likel ytoc arrythrough aboycott
thantheordinaryMumsnetusers.
Floracertainlymeetsoneofthe
criteri aforaboycottint hatthere
isareadysupplyofalternatives.
Butthistrendisg rowingand
advertisingboycottscanwork.
Fairenough;whyshouldn’t
peoplewithdrawsupportfrom
companiesthatdothingsofwhich
theydisapprove?Butsuccesses
meanthisformofactivismisonly
goingtog row, whichmeansmore
andmorebusinessesaregoing
tofacecriticismandattack.Advertisersaretheweaklinkfor
thosetargetingamediabusiness.
Mostad vertiserswantaquietlife,
wheretheon lyissuetalkedabout
istheircampaign.Floramaycare
deep lyabou ttheissuesraised
oritmayjustcaredeeplyabout
gettingthehelloutofthisrow.
Eitherway, thetactics workbut
campaignersnowknowthatUpfield
canbepushedaroundwithjusta
fewsocial-mediaposts.Let’shope
envi ronmentalcampaignersdon’t
findoutaboutitsuseofpalmoil.
Theconsequenceist hat
activistsscentweakness,andthe
boundariesofa cceptablespeech
arebeingredefine dawayfrom
pureprejudic etowardsanything
overwhichagrouptakesoffence.
Iftheissue sdon otaffe ctthecore
business, mostcompaniesare
inclinedtoavoidcontroversy. But
businessesaregoingtofacealot
moreofthisandtheyaregoingto
needtobealotcl earerintheirown
mindsaboutwhentheyaregoing
tostandfirmandwhentheyare
goingtofold.Asyet,theboycott
threat shavemostlybeenoneway;
thatmaynotbetrueforever.
Theproblemwiththiskindof
attack,asthemakersofFlorashould
understand,isitspreads.In the latest transatlantic podcastwe talk toMark Bradford,who represented the
US at the 2017 Venice Biennale,about the politics of abstract art. Plus: theFT’s
US media correspondent onNetf lixand the streamingwars;ft.com/culture-call QuizanswersThelinkwas adjectives of temperature1.T he Arctic Monkeys(Whateve rPeople SayIAm, That’sWhatI’m Not)2.Burning Man 3.”Cool Britannia”4.The SpyWho Came in from theCold5.Frozen- Hotmail
- “The
warm South”8.Baking soda- Nippy10.
Parky(MichaelParkinson)PicturequizFiona Phillips+BruceWillis =Fiona BruceRe “Poverty,priestsand
politics:whyPeronismisback
inArgentina”(October12/13).
I’ve beentoldthatthebestway
tounderstandtheArgentine
mentalityistoconsiderMaradona’s
twogoalsagainstEnglandinthe
1986WorldCup.AskArgentines
whichgoaltheypreferandmost
willsaythehand-of-Godgoaland
notwhatmay we llbethegreatest
goaleverscored.
CaptainSensibleviaFT .comRe Ro bertShrimsley’scolumn
“Whymiddle-agedmenhate
GretaThunberg”(October12/13):
Istartedoutthinkingshewas
incrediblyannoyingandhave
comeroundtothinkingthatshe
isright,notannoyingatalland
probablyont hesideoftheangels.
SirCompton ValenceviaFT .comItwasanabsolutepleasuretor ead
“LeonCEOJohnVincent:whywing
tsunisbetterforbusinessthan
‘TheArtofWar’”(O ctober12/13).
Itofferedadifferentperspective
forrunningabusiness,adifferent
mindsetformanagingtheself,
andhealthyfoodtotopitall.
TheBlackSheepof
BankStreetviaFT .comAt lastawell-balancedarticle
aboutoysterfarming(“Theproject
torestoreBritain’s native stocks”,
October12/13)–welldoneFT.
Therehasbeensomeridiculous
presscoveragerecentl ytrying
tosensationaliserockoysters
as“alieninvaders”threatening
tooverrunthenative stocks.
Oysterfarmers,andmostofthe
scientistsworkinginthefield,
agreethatthetwospecieswill
happilyco-exist.Alloysters
aregoodfortheenvironment–
NaturalEnglandpleasenote.
MolluscanviaFT .com[email protected]
@robertshrimsley@EmmaLev_travOctober 13
I’mturning 50 in afewweeks.Iwas
copingfineuntil this doom-laden
piece fromSimonKupervia@FT