The Mummy Bloggers by Holly Wainwright

Author:Holly Wainwright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2017-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

• • •

Abi hadn’t taken the podcast down. And Shannon Smart had been true to her word—she’d backed away from the comments and made a statement so infuriating in its ambiguity that Abi couldn’t believe it worked.

Shannon Smart would like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the views she appeared to express on the niche podcast The Green Diva’s Shed. The interview has been heavily edited, and Shannon’s comments have been taken out of context.

Ms Smart would like to make it particularly clear that she does not support calling any child ‘fat’ and she only advises that any parents who are considering the implications of vaccinating their child speak to their preferred medical professional.

But it did work. The tone of the raging media storm turned from attacking irresponsible Shannon Smart to eviscerating irresponsible social media ‘celebrities’ like Abi Black.

‘They’d rather go you than one of their own,’ Marg had explained to Abi on their first call. ‘Shannon has some serious status, and they need her to sell their shows and magazines. You, on the other hand, are fair game.’

‘Great.’

Abi didn’t usually shy away from a social media dust-up. She had built her brand on being the mainstream voice of alt-culture, and was more than used to the barrage of shockingly personal insults and death threats that followed an appearance. But there was something so unjust in taking the fall for Shannon Smart that made this onslaught worse.

Also, it was relentless. Wave after wave of abusive tweets, comments, messages. Even for Abi, this was too much. It was like being at war.

‘Take it down,’ Grace had ordered.

But Marg agreed with Abi. ‘It won’t make any difference now. It’s out there. Taking it down won’t change that. They’ll move on eventually.’

And they would. But not before Abi had to steel herself every time she glanced at her phone. Not before an all-out screen ban was finally imposed on the house by Grace.

Holding her tongue had been the hardest part for Abi, but it had also been Marg’s sternest advice. ‘Do not hit back. Do not attack Shannon Smart. Lie low. And stop answering all those requests for comment. Put my number on your voice message.’

Abi did those things. But she kept looking. It was impossible not to.

‘I’ve been upgraded,’ Abi had told Grace, after one parenting site ran a story titled, IS THIS THE MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN IN AUSTRALIA? ‘I used to be a dangerous cunt, now I’m the most dangerous cunt of all. Here, look.’

Abi Black thinks that children dying of obesity-related diseases is a product of ‘natural selection’, she’s against vaccination, thinks calcium-rich dairy is poison and that feeding your children a ham sandwich is like ‘signing their death certificate’…

‘You’re not supposed to be looking at that. It’s banned, remember?’

‘I didn’t even say that stuff! Shannon said that stuff. Now they’re just straight up putting her words in my mouth.’

‘Put it down.’ Grace grabbed the phone from Abi’s hands. ‘I’m burying this thing for twenty-four hours.’

‘Come on,’ Abi said.

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