The 76-year-old actress and gay icon tweeted on Monday: “WOMENS OF THE WORLD! They are taking away our rights to our bodies, our lives and even our names!”
She added: “They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore.” They call us “people who give birth” or “menstruating people” and even “people with vaginas”!
“Don’t let them turn you off! Every person on earth owes you!”
Midler’s comments sparked a quick backlash, with 11,000 retweets and 61,000 likes in less than 12 hours.
He appeared to be referring to a New York Times opinion piece published on Sunday.
This saw columnist Pamela Paul criticize the use of terms such as “people who give birth” and “menstruating”.
Supporters say the controversial terms include trans men and non-binary people, but critics say they effectively erase another historically oppressed minority — women.
Tennis icon Martina Navratilova – who has angered transgender activists by questioning whether it’s fair to let trans women compete in certain sports – was among Midler’s supporters.
She said: “Watch out Bette – you’ll be called transphobic or worse…” she said, with the “scared” emoji.
Bette Midler, photographed in December at the Kennedy Center gala, on Monday sparked outrage by tweeting that women were being “erased” by the jargon of the woke.
Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi joked: ”I’m excited for drinks with some laboring people I went to school with… we’re having a proper period night out!”Let me know when that happens. At the moment it is just a polite nod to the inclusion of a tiny minority.’
And singer Bradley James Skistimas, aka Five Times August, tweeted: “I agree with you on this one. Has your account been hacked?
“Also, where were you when women all over the world were forced and coerced into putting a vaccine in their bodies?”
But predictably, thousands more quickly descended on the famously liberal Midler to accuse her of bigotry.
“No,” said Irish drag queen and gay rights activist Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera.
“Don’t fall for the fake anti-trans panic nonsense. No one erases women.
“In some small health care cases, where necessary, they use inclusive trans language. That’s all.’
Derry Girls actress Siobhan McSweeney responded: “That’s not true. xxx’
Midler, who appeared in November 2019, angered many with her tweet — but others supported her
Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in New York, said it doesn’t have to be a “them or us” scenario.
“Using gender-inclusive language does not deny my womanhood,” she said.
“Liberation is collective.”
Author Chanda Prescod-Weinstein tweeted: “The stupidity of TERF semantics knows no bounds.”
TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” and is a term used to describe women who do not believe that trans women should be afforded all the gender-based protections that correspond to their gender.
Trans journalist Nikos Stratis said: “The thing about Bette Midler’s post is how the language is a direct line from that NYT article, the power of the paper to play on people’s fears, insecurities and lack of proper information creates this space. where the idea that trans people erase women becomes a reality.’
This isn’t the first time Midler has waded into the fray of the culture war, though she generally stays on the progressive side of online battle lines.
In May he caused outrage by responding to the nationwide shortage of baby milk with the message: “TRY TO BREASTFEED! It is free and available upon request.’
He immediately faced a wall of criticism from figures as diverse as Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s hardline speechwriter and John Oliver’s executive producer.
Many pointed out that a significant percentage of women are unable to breastfeed, despite their best efforts – a lactation consultant and author, Diana Cassar-Uhl, put the figure at 12-15 percent of all mothers.
Others noted that some babies have certain nutritional conditions and don’t respond well to breast milk.
Still others pointed out that tens of thousands of babies are adopted and others are born through surrogates.
And gay men — who make up a huge faction of Midler’s fan base — were also outraged by Midler’s remark, which emphasized that a gay male couple should not be able to breastfeed their baby or toddler.
Tim Carvell, the executive producer of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, tweeted: “Imagine having a large gay fanbase, many of whom are raising children in two-dad households, and you think that’s a good proposition.”
Miller, Trump’s staunchly loyal aide, tweeted in response to Middler: “What a deeply offensive and ignorant statement.
“There are countless reasons why breastfeeding is not an option for many mothers – too many to go into here. And if you’re using formula, you can’t just flip a switch. Not to mention millions of babies with milk/food allergies…”.
Ilyse Hogue, president of the progressive social change campaign Purpose, tweeted: “Bette, with respect, this is a very bad idea. I had twins. I wasn’t making enough milk for both. Without formula, I would have had to choose which one to eat. To say nothing of the children who are separated from their mothers when they were born too young.”
One replied: “I love you Beth but it’s not ok. I struggled to breastfeed my son, he continued to lose weight, despite my best efforts, including lactation specialists.
“It was emotional and sad, I felt like a failure and at 3 months I switched to formula because of the stress it was putting on me and my son.”
Another joked: ‘No, Bette says get a nurse! (Never mind that they charge $1000+ a week and that’s something working families can’t afford, especially in an age where EVERYTHING costs more.)
Midler, however, doubled down.
“People are piling up because of old tweets,” he said.
“It’s not a shame if you can’t breastfeed, but if you can and you’re somehow convinced that your own milk isn’t as good as a ‘scientifically researched product’, that’s another thing again.
“News about Monopoly is news to me, not lies. #WETNURSES’
He also said he has confidence in President Joe Biden to find a solution.
Elise Stefanik, the chairwoman of the Republican House conference, tweeted that Biden has “NO PLAN.”
In response, Midler then retweeted a comment from podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen.
“Besides the fact that you want to starve babies and accuse anyone who disagrees with you of being a pedophile, Joe Biden actually has a plan,” Cohen said.
“It’s right here. You are lying.’
He attached a link to the White House’s newsletter from Thursday, detailing the steps they took to bring the problem under control.
