Actress and singer Bette Midler’s criticism of trans-inclusive language sparked backlash among critics.
Midler tweeted over the weekend, “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!”
WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us “women” anymore; they call us “birthing people” or “menstruators”, and even “people with vaginas”! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) July 4, 2022
Critics were quick to tell Midler she was wrong for her remarks:
.@BetteMidler language is in constant movement. As a singer, you know that words matter and as we progress, their meanings change.
— Alexandra Billings (@IamABillings) July 5, 2022
Your tweet is hurtful and promotes. the erasure of non binary humans. You are now becoming part of the problem.
Do better. Listen more. https://t.co/frvEk1JIhu
Incredibly disappointing. When will white women learn that by being inclusive, we lose nothing and gain everything? I am a mother. If calling someone else a birthing person or a parent makes them feel safe and acknowledges their identity, what do I lose? Nothing. I lose nothing. https://t.co/qET4F7EVkZ
— Isy Mutebutton Oderberg (@yodaberg) July 5, 2022
Cis women’s insistence on not being called people is really fascinating.
— Mx. D. E. Anderson (@diannaeanderson) July 4, 2022
Also stop comparing people using inclusive language to the bigots who are taking our rights away. https://t.co/IDuXSqcmuQ
For a demographic that’s always allegedly on the verge of being “erased,” women still seem more than capable of loudly raising their concerns https://t.co/8as3Q4WWTf
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 4, 2022
Bette, as a fan, seeing this tweet from you is just heartbreaking. The point of the anti-choice movement is to try and control the bodies of people assigned female at birth, including trans men, and force gender identities and gender roles on *all* of us. https://t.co/xxGbHMri8H
— The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (@IBJIYONGI) July 4, 2022
Suddenly I don’t want Hocus Pocus 2 anymore…… Really shocked to see she has fallen into this Voldemort way of thinking… https://t.co/MqswujjZ56
— Roly West (@RolyUnGashaa) July 5, 2022
This goes too far and I don't know why everyone feels the need to attack trans people, as if it's the biggest national emergency (let alone the right thing to do). But the term "birthing people" instead of "mothers," if used generically, is absurd. https://t.co/3WdR9xQunH
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 5, 2022
Midler later responded to the criticism, saying, “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! My tweet about women was a response to this fascinating and well written piece in the NYT on July 3rd.”
She added, “There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that.”
PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! My tweet about women was a response to this fascinating and well written piece in the NYT on July 3rd. https://t.co/MlsATlrr1r. There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) July 5, 2022
The actress again landed in hot water this week after tweeting a photo edited to show all but the three liberal justices dressed to look like they are part of the Taliban.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) July 5, 2022
One user argued that the “Islamophobia is truly hurtful especially when Islam is the most feminist of all religions.”
The Islamophobia is truly hurtful especially when Islam is the most feminist of all religions. https://t.co/w9n8Btjtgu
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) July 6, 2022
Another told Midler her “Islamophobia ain’t helping nobody.”
Your Islamophobia ain't helping nobody https://t.co/XwJs3oo4Po
— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) July 6, 2022
One user called on the actress to delete the tweet, adding, “There’s no reason to bring Islam into this — AT ALL — especially since the anti-abortion movement has been powered by white Evangelical Christians.”
Bette, please. You've been down bad, lately, but you can still delete this.
— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) July 5, 2022
There's no reason to bring Islam into this — AT ALL — especially since the anti-abortion movement has been powered by white Evangelical Christians. https://t.co/pBue19fCAq
Midler previously issued a strong reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, as IJR reported.
“Time to ban Viagra,” Midler tweeted.
She added, “Because if pregnancy is ‘God’s will’, then so is your limp d***.”
