I appear to have broken my filter

I spotted the Fake Mamamia hashtag on twitter this morning and wasn’t going to get involved. That is, until I saw a real MM article about some lady who got an all expenses paid trip to Tasmania – a place she thought that she hated, and bagged out plenty. But apparently in this day and age, an all expenses paid trip wins, even if you think you’ll hate the location.

She went on to be ASTOUNDED and AMAZED that she actually (wait for it) ENJOYED HERSELF.

Shock. Horror.

I was offended and said so on twitter.

Then I looked at the #FakeMamamia hashtags and I couldn’t help it anymore, I joined in, because come on, that site SO had it coming. Click baiting headlines, setting women up against each other, hating on people for making different choices, you could argue that Mamamia is all that’s wrong with women’s media at the moment.

It was HILARIOUS. I haven’t had that much fun on twitter in a very long time.

Why female body hair is the sign of the devil, and how you can remove it painfully to punish yourself. #fakemamamia

— Veronica Foale (@VeronicaFoale) November 16, 2012

Worried about your vagina getting all creased up between your legs? We show you how botox is solving this major problem. #fakemamamia

— Veronica Foale (@VeronicaFoale) November 17, 2012

“I fantasise about my husband” and other secrets that will get you kicked out of the club. #fakemamamia

— Veronica Foale (@VeronicaFoale) November 17, 2012

Men only do housework for blowjobs. Are you holding up your end of the bargain? #fakemamamia

— Veronica Foale (@VeronicaFoale) November 17, 2012

Why Challenging the Status Quo is Bad For You #fakemamamia

— eutraphalia (@eutraphalia) November 17, 2012

Other Women: Ten Ways They Are Doing Their Lives Wrong #fakemamamia

— Whorelando Bloom (@allthepie) November 16, 2012

There were hundreds of fake headlines. It was fantastic.

As I tweeted though, enjoying every single minute of mocking that I did, I realised something: I’ve broken my filter.

I’ve spent the last 17 days writing fiction for NaNoWriMo. I’ve removed the ads from here. I’ve turned down all the sponsored posts I’ve been offered. I (mostly) stopped checking my traffic. I stopped caring.

And I haven’t regretted a single moment of it. I wasn’t tweeting this morning worrying about what people thought of me. I wasn’t crippled by angst over the unfollows I got (and trust me, I checked, I got plenty of those), or about whether I was annoying anyone.

I was having fun, saying exactly what I wanted to say. I didn’t even freak out when my tweet ended up on the SMH [who, incidentally, completely missed the satire of the whole thing, and seemed to think that one single tweet had “caused” it, rather than a buildup over god knows how long] and then syndicated through a bunch of other news sites. Eh, it could have been worse.

Fiction writing has broken my filter*. And it’s awesome.

*I should clarify that when I say my filter, I mean the filter of “oh noes, what will people THINK OF ME” filter. Not that handy one that stops me oversharing about my vagina, or telling hilariously embarassing tales about my 6yo. Also, when I talk amout MM, obviously I am grmbling about the site in general, not about the woman who runs it. No personal attacks occured during my hilarity. Calm down.