Stop bitching and contribute positively please!

After the past few weeks of facebook status update and comment watching I have been shocked, appalled and at times totally disgusted by some of the things woman have been saying to other woman. Referring to each other as " bitches, weirdo, stupid, fucked, ignorant, intolerant, gross, wrong and freak" just to name a few. Some ladies have gone so low as to stoop to attacking innocent children,its way out of hand.

Personal attacks seem to be a common everyday occurrence at the moment and I am left wondering where has the respect gone? With no topic seeming to be off limits the past few weeks I have sat and watched as friends, acquaintances and even people I don't know come under fire for their personal choices. The criticism, judgement and plain nastiness that has been spewed forth has been nothing short of unbelievable.

Breastfeeding, parenting choices, schooling possibilities, formula feeding, community groups and activities and religious choices all coming under fire. I don't know about you but woman I have had about enough. Now I am not a prude by any means and I myself am guilty of telling someone to fuck off on facebook a couple weeks ago ( this person was attacking my 2 year old Goddaughter and being a tool) but still there was probably a better way to handle the situation.

Woman of the Internet lets get over ourselves and realise we NEED each other. The majority of us are mothers ..I am a mummy of 4 and know that there is no way I could parent my cherubs on my own. I am glad to have a place like facebook where I can put a status update asking a wide variety of people for suggestions or advice on things... for example my littlest bub is teething and I had asked for some advice on alternatives to drugs given they don't seem to be working, and the response was great, but when I see nasty and ignorant comment after comment it really gets me down.

How can we spew forth this venom to each other and possibly think it is acceptable?
If we were teenage girls this would come under the label of cyber bullying and I think it needs to stop. Today I read over 43 comments on a friend/acquaintances status update where she was ripped to shreds for doing something that is perfectly natural and acceptable to her, she was not causing physical harm to anyone or to herself yet she was criticised, judged and put down by several other woman because of her personal choice! Personal choices MUST be respected, even if not agreed upon. We all have the right to choose what works best for us in our family and personal lives and to put someone down for their choice just isn't right. I really think we need to break down the walls of intolerance we have been building around ourselves and work together to gain a greater understanding of what each others values and beliefs are....I think lots of us will be surprised at just how similar we are.

Like I said before we need each other, parenting, working and just being a female in an often male dominated world is hard enough work on its own without attacking each other and making life tougher. If you see something you don't agree with how about saying that's your choice I don't agree with it but I respect you and your right to choose?? Or sticking to that oldie but goodie that our mum's used to say to us... if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all!! That's not to say we cannot express our opinions of course we should but that doesn't have to come in the form of personal attacks. I think we all could be a little more accepting of each others differences and if we see something we don't understand rather then attack it,( or fear it) ask that person about it. I am sure if it means anything of value to them they will be happy to explain it and as previously said you may be surprised at how similar your views are to that of others you may have judged to harshly or quickly in the past.

I love that in Facebook I can connect with such a diverse and wide range of people and am getting to know some beautiful families who parent in very different ways to me (NOTE not wrong just different) I am re establishing past connections with high school friends who have moved into differing and similar areas in life as myself I am friends with hippies, born again Christians,artists, gays and lesbians, people older and younger then myself and academics and I love the wide range of information I get to sift through everyday as I get a small glimpse into The Loves of Other Peoples Lives.