About this “statement” of Munroe Bergdorf’s, which was apparently made on Instagram, which makes it a pain in the ass to quote or cite – it’s interesting that it starts with insulting women.
Note the disdain – “spurred on by a group of middle-aged cisgender women.” As if there’s something obviously contemptible and illegitimate about adult women having opinions and goals, and acting on them. He sounds like people ranting about “the Jews.” Yes, women are interested in this political movement, partly because it has such immense hostility and disdain toward women. Jews are interested in anti-Semitism and women are interested in men who claim to better women than women are.
Munroe Bergdorf is a man who performs “being a woman” by posing simpering coyly over his shoulder at the camera like a 21st century Betty Boop, while maligning actual women as hags who have no right to political action.
I’m tired of these guys.
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8 responses to “Middle-aged cisgender women”
I wonder if the demonization of Mumsnet in UK discourse is due partly to the fact that the site is made up mainly of thirtysomething and fortysomething women.
Hence the attacks on Mumsnet by journalists like Hannah Woodhead are driven by a desire not to be one of these “middle-aged cisgender women.”
If Munroe Bergdorf* had been talking about a helpline for Transgender Trend or 4th Wave Now I doubt there’d be the same sense of outrage over outsiders interfering with an organization designed to help children. We would all have little issue with helplines for gay conversion therapy or talking preteens into having the baby being inundated with critics.
Gender Identity is NOT like sexuality. They can repeat that endlessly but until they recognize that being aroused is simple, universal, and recognizable but an inherent mental state of “feeling like a woman” is confusing and covered with personal assumptions and cultural baggage they won’t understand the actual issue.
*(Incidentally, I want to point out that “Munroe Bergdorf” sounds like a somewhat upscale department store (“Fall Fashions have arrived at Munroe-Bergdorf!”)
Indeed. Bergdorf-Goodman anyone?
Wonder no more: Victoria Smith (Glosswitch) has been pointing this out since forever.
I would like to know what positions of power these women occupy. The only one I can think of who was anywhere near that was Kathleen Stock.
Who’s the most marginalised and bullied?
“…overrun by a network of transphobes…”
It just doesn’t enter their head that there might be multitudes of people arriving at opposition of Mermaids independently; clearly we’re a nefarious cabal mobilising the troops against them.
“…harassed and assaulted…”
Bad enough that he calls criticism harassment, but assault? Idiot.
And when the person in a position of power is a philosophy professor – well, let’s just say that isn’t very near power. Of course, they seem to mean J. K. Rowling when they say that. Yes, she has a large platform. Yes, she has money. No, she doesn’t have power. She doesn’t make laws, she doesn’t lobby lawmakers, she doesn’t own large corporations, she is a woman who writes and who is willing to say what she thinks…and able, because she is so popular and established.
Meanwhile, we see people who really have positions of power all scrambling to ring the trans bell and throw women (yes, including middle-aged “cisgender” women – I raise my hand) under the bus.
The ‘power’ that JKR gets from her money, and which infuriates them so much, is the ability to NOT have to shut up just because they say so. Even if they could make her lose her studio deals and publishing contracts going forward, her wealth means she can just keep on keeping on–which means they have no leverage over her, in comparison to the women they can force out of jobs and income.